travelling with boat long term

Well, you could always upsize the boat and use it as a caravan.
I do that with a 8m trailer sailer, works for me ;-)

Your only option is to carry it on the ute on a set of racks. Probably need a winch to get it on and off though. Also, one of those fold up trailers would be handy for getting it too and from a launch point.

Hi Chris ,

I use a 3.75 V nose on my cruiser and after always loading my 3.1 then stepping up it seemed huge ,having said that I have seen as big as a 3.95 on the roof of a Ute and I thought it looked a bit suss ,can I ask how much your 4.3 weighs as it would be a good idea to know what the car and racks max weight allowance is and also what size motor are you running and where do you put that ? all this adds up and buy the sounds of it you are also going off road ,bumps add to stress on all fixtures? I hope some of this helps :)


Cheers

I have a slide on camper for my toyota ute as well and for the same reason and that is so I can tow my 4.3m centre console boat. I have looked at travelling in comfort and having my boat with me so many times that this was the best solution I could come up with. I would think a useable boat - one that won't get eaten buy crocs or sharks - can stand up to a bit of rough ocean chop just is too big to be roof racked.

I have a mate who racked a boat on the camper trailer and toured the entire eastern seaboard including Tassie and never once used the boat - it was just too much hassle with a family to take the boat (including using the trailer camper) out fishing even though he is a very keen fisherman. This made me think you really need your boat set up on its own trailer to make it useable. Hence my purchasing a slide on camper.

I have considered, if on my proposed travels, I go serious off road I could have the boat trucked to the next destination that is fishable so I could meet it there. That would be about the only solution for you to have a caravan and decent boat.

David

What about day hire of boats - I have noticed a lot of these businesses springing up around the traps. I am starting to think the hassle of always hauling a boat for just a few fishing trips just isn't worth it. I now take a kayak for the safer waters - ie: where I am the top of the food chain. Then hire a boat when the opportunity arises, the operators generally offer good tips on where the fish are too.
Cheers
John

I was having the same thoughts. Is it really worth the trouble of carrying a tinny around even if I had a boat rack on the Camper trailer?

In general how often would you really use it?

One option was an inflatable has anyone used them as an option? What about a canoe or Kayak

I have been through the same dilema. First took a trailer behind Falcon with kayaks on roof and bikes on rack.
Then went round Oz Ford Courier with canopy and Aussie Swag camper trailer, kayaks on truck, bikes on trailer, went on charters when needed a fish.
Then tried an Adventure tray top on Ford Ranger towing my 4.85 trailcraft 60hp yamaha, great fishing but camper a disaster as set up and pack up about least 1 hour each.
Now I have an Active tray top camper, fitted a camera to rear so can launch boat and never have to take tray top off. Set up and down in less than 15 minutes and am now a happy boaty camper. Will be heading off to WA later this year for 4 months with the boat as missed so many great spots I would have loved to have my boat at on the last trip.
On the road in the last 2 years I have seen some elaborate rigs the most impressive was a large motor home towing a double deck trailer witha Suzuki under a 4.5 metre tinny with 25hp motor, but I would hate to handle it as it looked like a Tolls car carrier with all the winches and hydraulic rams.
If you look at the economics you would probably be better off with a good caravan and go charter fishing where ever you go.
Good luck in your search
Colin

Chris, if you move to an off road caravan, I think losing the 4.3m boat might be the compromise. As you know, life is full of compromises.

We have a Land Cruiser Ute (new 4.5 V8 TD), with full aluminium canopy. We tow a Kedron Top Ender off road van.

Our boat is, I believe about the biggest we can handle. It is a Sea Jay Angler 3.95. The bare hull weighs 115 KG. We carry a 30 HP Merc 4 stroke (weighs 73 KG) on the draw bar of the van and a Real Easy folding boat trailer with coil springs on the back of the van. We also carry a 55 lb Min Kota bow mount.

I use a home made crane with 2,000lb elec winch to lift the motor from van to boat and back. Another 2,000 winch pulls boat onto racks on canopy. All the boat stuff (and more) goes on the racks under the boat.

When set up, the boat has full floor (removable), electric start, live bait tank (approx 30 litre), 2 x padded folding seats, front casting deck, 70 litre Cooler and more. Certainly not as big or probably as good as your 4.3, but for a roof topper it is a lot of boat. We often spend 8 or 9 hours in it in a day and cover up to 140 KM in a day of fishing. We are currently at King Ash Bay in NT.

The key question is, what will you compromise - the boat, so you can tow a good off road caravan, or the caravan, so you can tow the current boat. I don't see a way you can have both.

Good Luck.

Norm C