Has anyone taken a Zodiac up north

Hay Wheaters.

I have lived in Croc country for 36 years, the first tinny we had was 12 foot, my new bout is a 4.75 metre Sea Jay, mainly for the fishing space, also for the free board.

Would I put a Zodiac in the waters above the 26 parallel?? NO.

Have a fun trip.

Cheers Steve.

Hi Wheaters,

I'll tell you a story that to this day makes my mate and I shudder.

Our first trip to Cape York was over 25 years ago at the ripe old age of 22. Both of us gamer than Ned Kelly and dumber than Paris Hilton in the way of crocs.

We took a 3 metre, an old fashioned 10' Zodiac and a 2HP Mariner outboard. Bloody fantastic yacht tender and a death wish in croc country.

At one stage we where camped near the mouth of the Pennefather River just north of Weipa. We decided the mangroves on the north shore would contain more muddies than the south shore.

Out comes the Zodiac and the 2HP Mariner. Off we go, set the traps and motor home, no worries at all.

Next day we decide to check the traps. When we get over there to a one they've been mangled and I mean very seriously mangled !

So with a rubber ducky full of crab traps and no crabs we set off back across the river. It was the longest time of my life.

Would I take a Zodiac into croc country?

{Insert appropriate expletive} WAY!

Seriously, after that our night time sport was spotting the red eye's watching us from the river!

A much older and wiser,
Geoff

We use a 3.7 tinnie with a 15HP Yamaha 2 stroke. We are very wary of any water larger than a puddle when North of Capricorn. In fact, after reading some recent posts, we may extend that caution to a point somewhat below Capricorn. You may not see, but rest assured, you are being watched.Regards.
Roger B........

I lived most of my life in Cairns before we left to travell full time & have a 3.2m Achillies that we have used to chase barra in Lakefield & all the rivers & inlet (& the occasional trip to dunk from south mission) around the area where crocs live & to be honest i cant see that a tinny of the same length is any safer than a good inflatable

A inflatable is a lot more stable than a tinny of the same length & if a croc decides to climb aboard or take a bite i think you would be in trouble in either

In areas where there are crocs you need to be careful what ever you are in

As far as hitting snags go a good hypalon inflatable is pretty tough but you need to be a bit careful on what you run into & any punctures are repairable without to much drama

My thoughts but many will probably disagree

Regards Don

As one of the oldest supplies & the largest service centres of inflatables in Australia & one of the few true Australian Manufactures of inflatables. I would take & do, I have travelled from Carins to New guinea, Broome to derby & many more remote places in Australia & abroad, have supplied people like Ben Cropp, Malcombe Douglass, Alby Mangles, Jack Abslom that have & do use inflatables in the north,I have supplied The Army, SAS, Navy, DMS, Customs etc all use small inflatables in the north as well & have sold hundreds over the years that have all been used, as the largest supplier to Australian Surf life Saving, Both Darwin & Broome clubs use my craft.

A lot of people call all inflatables a Zodiac which is a brand so I am not shore on what brand you have.
However it would be better if you have a craft made of hypalon as it will take the harsh environment better (most commercial crafts are made of hypalon) & can be repaired if damaged easily but if it is a PVC just take a few more precautions to protect it from the sun as much as possible try & pack it dry ,Do not leave it rolled up & wet , wash it regularly & remove fuel spills & you will not have a problem if its a quality craft if you do needed to patch a PVC craft try to do it with the low as possible humidity (below 72%)

Remember if you treat it like a glass boat & don't drag it about it will be fine & will be a safer craft compared to other types for the size

I have not made reference to brands or named our's so as it could not seen to be advertising a brand, & hope i have helped

regards Vince

My son was with Norforce based in Darwin, he tells the story of shooting a croc that became attached to their inflatable assault boat while they were doing a routine patrol up there.

30 5.56 rounds through it's head in a burst sorted the problem but scared the cr@p! out of the guys in the boat.

They returned to base with only 3 of the 4 inflation cells inflated the rear one was torn to shreds.

After that they patrolled in tinnys unless absolutely necessary.

I cant see what the problem would be .
Once a tiny has got 2 fellows in it its got more hot air in it than a blow up boat.

All the best
Eric

Many years ago, when young and bullet proof, a couple of us did a lot of the Daly River in a inflatable ... was probably a zodiac brand ... Maybe we should have started at Darwin and seen what was in the museum rather than working our way up to it ... lol

Would I do it again ? ...... Not now, boat type irrelevant.

With the increase in croc numbers over the last twenty odd years, ... that makes the percentage of cranky, dangerous ones higher as well ... and the risk, that much greater. The average sizes of crocs may have fallen with their over population but the territory they need hasnt. Lots of bad attitude crocs out there now ... all staking their claim to a patch of water. Not too mention how cute it is, to teach them how to jump out of the water higher enough, to be able to land in a small boat. A natural ability fine tuned into something else ??????

Tinny's are safer ???? ... recall an account of a 14' tinny attacked in the late eighties (?) ... lost the prop and thumb sized holes in the transom. How big was the croc ? ... Ocean going and a crew of six - according to the boat owner .... LOLOLOL

All said and done though .... One is probably more likely having a car accident on the way to N.T. compared to having a croc problem once there ... Just remember - camping in croc country is not like setting up your tent in a botanic gardens ... there be beasties ............

Look fellas, this is supposed to be a forum for chatting about exploring and travel. So why are we so concerned about food packaging?

It seems to me that most food is packaged these days and whether it's packed in a metal container, plastic or some other material, it doesn't seem to affect the quality or the taste.

;-)

Michael

Great call Michael,

i think all of you are having a ball at my expense,

It has been a very funny 24hrs since I posted this one.

I think I will stick to tours,

Thanks Guys for the laughs !!!!

Lived above the 22nd - and visiting yachts from down south invariably had a inflatable on board.

Once they got into the Kimberleys their blogs would all refer to the inflatable as a crock teething ring, they love them and regularly rip em to shreds overnight - most folks ebd up getting a tinny in broome as a result.

Cheers!

they call inflatables "Croc Chewies" up in the Kimberleys. Says it all !

Perhaps this may convince you.

Feeding Frenzy

Cheers Steve.

About Crocs...An excerpt from a short story >Close encounters with wildlife< from my website

Saltwater Crocodile

In my time in the Top End of Australia a number of encounters with the reptilian giants, made my blood turn as cold as that of a crocodile.

I teamed up with another bloke and took tourists out on adventures on the South Alligator River. I had the 4x4 and tourist numbers and the partner had a 5 metre fishing boat powered by twin 80hp outboard engines.

The boat was licensed to carry 9 passengers. We ran day trips from the South Alligator River Bridge on the Arnhem Highway, downstream some 20km, to a bird nesting area.

This day saw us in and around the bird sanctuary, marvelling at new life of Spoonbills, Egrets and Cormorants. After a while I told my passengers I would run them up an inlet to look for some of the fabled large goanna's, which were seen on the plains occasionally. Here I made a small tactical error, as the tide was going out. Not taking too much notice of what was happening I pressed on upstream into this narrow mangrove inlet. Around a bend in the creek I saw a very large crocodile swimming towards us, obviously heading to the deeper waters of the river. There wasn't going to be space for us to pass each other and I made a hasty decision to turn the boat around. But I had to reverse the boat to turn it around. By this time all passengers on board were well aware of what was happening. The inlet wasn't wide enough and the boat got stuck sideways in the mud. The crocodile kept swimming towards us. It seemed that it was resolute to ram the boat but managed to dive underneath. Two young ladies on board screamed as the dorsal fins of the crocodile scraped against the hull of the boat. They leapt away to the other side of the boat and the other passengers followed suit. I yelled at them not to do that as the boat came close to rolling on to its side and a mate and I strained like mad on the other side using our weight to counter balance the boat to keep it upright. Everything happened in slow motion. The boat stayed on even keel and the crocodile wriggled away heading downstream

There we were, stuck fast in the mud with the tide receding rapidly. I asked my passengers to all go to the back of the boat so as to get weight away from the bow and without further notice jumped overboard and sank up to my thighs, into the black, mangrove ooze. I attempted to lift the bow to shift it around so that we could get some draught again. It was working, but not enough. So I yelled at my mate, George, who was along as a tourist for this day, to help. He wasn't too keen to jump in to saurian infested waters. I insisted quite vehemently and in colourful language that he had better help me quickly, and luckily he had a change of heart, and jumped into the mud with me. This took more weight out of the boat and we were able to pivot the boat on its stern and slowly turn it around by rocking it so that the bow was back in the water. It was an extremely messy and smelly event as we churned in the decayed mangrove mud but within minutes we were afloat again. George and I scrambled on board and the boat drifted with the outgoing tide. It my haste to get on board I relinquished one of my shoes to the mud. I thought at that moment that maybe in a million years time some archaeologist would discover my shoe, preserved in rock in pristine condition!

I restarted the engines and tilted them to just below the surface of the water and on slow revs in the swirling black mud, we made our way back to the river.

Quite a number of cold ones were sunk at the South Alligator Pub later that arvo, with the tourists excitingly relating their stories of adventures to others in the bar. I wanted to hide somewhere as the regulars just shook their heads in disbelief and nodded in my direction.

Some time later I had another 'experience' at the same bird sanctuary. I had learned my lesson with going up inlets and was content to idle the boat within range of seeing the birds at their best. This time it was a rising tide. We normally made lunch at a mangrove island where there was some dry space to put the tables out for a spread. But the tide was still not high enough for easy access so I decided just to idle the boat in midstream and commandeered a tourist to hold on to steer the boat l while I organised a feed for everyone.

We were sitting there in mid-stream enjoying lunch and champagne when this crocodile surfaced right next to the boat. Now, I had seen many large crocodiles in the wild and in captivity, but this one was huge. A fleeting glance estimated it longer than the boat and about two metres wide. I took command of the Captain's chair with haste and we sped away from the scene. The crocodile sank again out of sight and left us all very breathless.

Take an inflatable into those waters? Not me!!!....LOL


Cheers