Around OZ..with or without a dinghy

G'day,

Probably many different opinions on this one. We travelled with a tinny and hardly used it; just added weight and drag really and in the end was a hassle to set up for the little time we used it. We ended up selling it because we didn't even use it at home.

I have seen a type of canoe that I like though which would be easier to load/unload by myself on a normal roof rack and will run on an electric motor in inland water ways. You can see it at www.duraplas.com.au called the Jacobi Canoe (I have no vested interest). I figure for coastal areas I will hire a boat or go on a charter.

Each to their own I guess and depends how long you are travelling for.

Cheers
Ev

On a trip from Melb to Kalbarrie over 3 months in a camper van we found lots of places in South WA where we would have loved a dinghy.
Would it have been worth the hassle of carting it all that way?
Maybe not, but if it had been a couple of kayaks on the roof?
Definite possibility.

cheers

A bit of added expense I know but here is how we have solved our problem of taking our kayaks around Oz.

We are avid kayakers and hate getting to places and wishing we had them with us. Our "problem" is that our Jeep has a resin top and while I know we could fit racks its a lot of mucking around and amongst other things would greatly increase our fuel consumption. SO. I did a heap of research and we ended up buying (from USA cause it was heaps cheaper) a very high tech inflatable kayak. My husband has been a competitive paddler for years and even he was impressed when we took it for its first run a week ago, nothing like you would imagine. It packs up pretty small and fits under the bed in the van, absolutely perfect solution - for us anyway. I arent sure whether I can tell you the site to view them but if you go to U-tube and type in Inflatable Kayak the company has their videos showing them off. We got the double and our two jack russells fit perfectly with us!

What we save on not carrying the extra weight and drag, we can put into the odd fishing charter - they know where to go and know the waters and hazards which we don't. This of course applies to sea not the inland waterways.

Motherhen

We travel with a porta bote which packs up to a big surfboard size on the rack It takes us 12 minutes from the rack to the water with the yamaha and all safety gear ready to go. It is slower if people are around because they come up and watch and ask questions.

We have the 3.27 metre unit that will top 20 km on the water 2 up with our 8 hp motor.

Pete

I only did one trip without my 10Ft tinny on the tug roof towing the caravan & found it hard work in head winds. Dont tavell without it now find i use less fuel.

I think its a matter of how long your going for and how long you'd would use it.

If your going for 1 year or two I'd definitely take one ( I stopped in Cooktown and made good use of my tinny for 4 1/2 weeks)

If you are doing a quicker trip 2 -5 months then you'd have to way up the pros and cons. Fuel usage versus desire to use a tinny

I love my fishing so that dictates the areas i spend most of my time. When I do a trip thru the centre I generally leave it at home.

When I do the rougher off tar trips, It generally stay at home as well .

Cheers Wilko

Like Wilko said, it all depends on how long your going for and how much you like fishing and the freedom to use your boat when & where you want. We did an extended working trip between '97 & '03 and sometimes used the boat 20 days in the month. If u r planning to spend alot of time in the NT u need a boat.

We are planning another 6 month long trip in 2011 and are not sure whether to take the boat or not - space & weight will be the main issues as we now have 2 kids (5 & 6yrs).
Dammed if u do dammed if u don't!

Interesting comments about wind drag. I'm sure there was somebody on here recently, saying that a tinny on the roof actually improved wind-drag because of the pointy shape. Maybe that was opposed to a big roof-top tent or something?????????????

We take sea kayaks around with us and find little or no difference in fuel consumption (also have a little Jack Russell onboard)

Hello,

Depends on what you want to do. If it's merely fishing then you should get the dinghy. But if you are interested in exploring creeks, coasts, bays, you should get a kayak.

We had a kayak for almost 3 years (sold it now - with a toddler and a new baby on the way we haven't got time) and it was great. We did a lot of snorkelling and exploring the bays and was just great. It's healthy too because you get fit and also cheap as you don't need spare parts and fuel. We plan to buy another one when kid's ages will be right.

A dinghy gets you in troubles with loading/unloading towing issues where a kayak sits nicely on the roof racks.

Also if you are not a professional kayaker and don't have plans for doing sea kayaking for days you should get a sit on top as it is easy to get in the water (for snorkelling) and back. You can get a double kayak for around 1000 mark or a 2+1 for 1200 approx.

Good luck