Inflatable boats and crocs

Gday,
Ya wouldn't catch me in one!!!!!!!!!!!

Fill it wit Heilium and if a Croc bites it it will fall about laughing with a squeeky voice....

Seriously ... don't.

Mmmmmm, an inflatable in croc country.

For the past 4 years we have spent much of the winter months in NT, bush camping and fishing. We have always used tinnies. Current one is a 3.95 with 30 HP. We are quite comfortable in a good tinnie, but have great respect for the traditional owners of the rivers.

I have no basis other than personal opinion, but I'd be a bit reluctant to be in an inflatable, though I have no experience with them. Are they built in a way that if punctured, only a small part deflates? How much damage is needed to sink one?

You say you have heard many stories of attacks on tinnies by crocs. Before we started our regular trips up that way, I did a fair bit of research (admittedly restricted to the www). I could not find any attacks on tinnies by crocs that resulted in death that were not a direct result of a silly act by the person in the tinnie. Interested in any other info you might have.

Anyway, my view is that the likelihood of your boat being attacked by a croc is low if you are not doing something silly (cleaning fish and tossing scraps over the side, tethering fish, using a keeper net, etc, etc). In the unlikely event of an attack, the questions are how stable will the boat be and how seaworthy will it be if holed. I've seen thousands of tinnies in croc territory, but have not yet seen an inflatable. That might be due to ignorance and (ill-founded?) personal opinion, but you have to wonder.

I hope you find a solution you are comfortable with as fishing and camping in the far north is something special.

My Blog on fishing NT:
Norm & Kabby's Fishing Adventures

Norm C

Spent a bit of time in the Kimberley and Kakadu in a tinny and no problems but keep your wits about you coz they can sneak up . . . we found them very curious and generally not scared but best defence is attack . . .keep rocks in the boat and if they come closer than 15 - 20 feet. . . let em have it they will take off
Take Care

Well we did see one onthe Roper on year, very small, they survived. If you see a big croc move on. You have stated that you have fished the North "from the safety of the bank", well that being true you will be much safer in an inflatable. The bad thing about them is they last just past there warranty period, ie, 3-4 years and fall apart. I'd buy new.
I even know one bloke who uses a Porta Boat, Chris...............................

We've used a medium sized Metzeler (25hp) up at Kalumburu & it went well. They have 5 seperate air compartments so aren't going to sink, in fact a tinny would probably have a greater chance of going under. They are an extremely stable craft for fishing although it's always on your mind where you've put the hooks. Clearly the use of a gaff should be rethought :-) The main consideration in croc country is you sit on the side of the boat not in it so feel a little vunerable. I felt alot safer in a tinny but of course they are alot more trouble to tow/carry on the roof offroad.
Cheers Craig..

We are originally from FNQ (travelling full time at the moment) and have a 3.2m Achillies inflatable (hypalon) with a 8hp Suzuki & have fished most of the NQ River systems & coastal areas (Johnstone,Mulgrave,Barron,Daintree & Lakefield NP) where crocs are & to be honest i feel safer in the Achillies than i would in a equivalent length tinny (although if a decent size croc tried to climb aboard i would not want to be in either)

In regards to the inflatables lasting 3-4 years mine is a 1982 model with only 3 patches (probably from trebles on lures) so a good hypalon boat looked after will last for a long time

The inflatable is stable (good to stand on when removing lures from trees),more seaworthy than the same length tinny & mine has 3 seperate compartments plus a air keel under the ply floor so it would take more than one bite to sink it & when we fish out of it i have two ply seats that velcro across the top of the tubes so you dont have to sit on the sides

Disadvantages are longer set up time & less space inside due to the sides extending past the transom & the width of the side

Both types have there advantages & disadvantages but a good quality inflatable isa handy boat to have

Regards Don

Good advice from Norm re avoiding contact with crocs. Brenda and I have a 3 meter Quicksilver inflatable with 8 horse power motor and have used it at Kalumburru and at the Daly river on a couple of occasions with no trouble. They are much stabler than a tinnie to stand and cast from and have 4 air compartments and actually have greater free board than some one sitting at the rear of a small tinnie. You do get some looks from the locals though. The last time at Kalumurru we refrained from launching ours as the local croc had taken a liking to anything rubber or plastic (buoys etc..) at night. It actually had ripped to shreds a Zodiac which remained on the beach.

Whilst I would use it again up there I am looking to replace it with a larger more solid boat.

Good luck,
Mike.

i think i would be giving that a miss mate. Just fish off the land i think you will be safer

I have been North many times and fished every time,,,,,, the crocs we have seen in QLD are few are far between which could give you the feeling you could get away with an inflatable.....

On the other hand,,
The crocs we have seen in NT around Darwin etc are quite a lot more and were not that curious,,,, but would make think UH UH...Not a good idea...

But Then,,,,,
In Arnhem Land,,,, not so much around Nhulunbuy but when we were in remote locations such as Old Arafura etc etc,,,
each time we even aproached the water you could see the interest in the dozens of crocs which were not really scared at all and even went out of their way to challenge us at certain times.......

So to cut a long story longer,,,,NO!!!!!....
There would not be many river systems north of The Murray River i would pump air into a boat and use it..

I too would say no,I have spent over 3 years in Arnhemland- the last 2 at Oenpelli and Nhulunbuy,so have seen a few. (Crocs-that is)
You would never feel safe in an inflateable.While you would probably never interact with a croc,you'd never feel comfortable.
If you always watch them, they wont bother you. But sometimes...well.. you get distracted or tired. then they'll come over.
So..yeah...I also concur with the naysayers :)

Mark

Wow that's a lot of differing opinions. Thanks for all the replies. Going by what I've read and some of the replies

here it seems being in an inflatable boat carries an unsafe feeling with it because you are sitting on an air

cushion rather than in a solid metal hulled boat. It also appears to be a question of how well they will hold up if

bumped, attacked, snagged etc


I know that the inflatable boats I'm looking to buy is virtually impossible to sink having 5 separate air

compartments and being quite wide for an inflatable. The brand is Aakron and they offer a 5 year warranty on seams.

measures 3.8x1.7 meters. I will have all the space to myself too as I'll be travelling solo. By the way if anybody

ever finds an unoccupied half deflated aakron boat adrift please notify my family:-)

Have a couple more questions on crocs. Firstly why is it that crocodiles will take people from the rivers edge but

far less commonly from a small boat?

A number of people have been pulled from canoes. Perhaps an easier target or the shape of a canoe?.

Being 2 foot from the rivers edge or sitting on an inflatable is not that different is it? I can only think that

crocs perhaps have better footing in shallow water to lunge and are used to attacking on the river banks. The

adelaide river crocs I see in the jumping croc cruises has me shaking my head though. Is it only me who thinks

training crocs to associate food with humans by having them jump up next to boats is a dumb idea and has anyone had

bad experiences fishing this section of water?

Have thought about buying a sacrificial dog to take out fishing but might become emotionally attached

Remember Sweetheart, who resided in the Finniss River in the late 70,s think she was about 16 foot long....Love props off outboard motors, wander if she left any descendants who like similar things LOL

Good point about not returning to the same spot at the bank daily. I hadn't thought so much about that. Guess we are creatures of habit.

I remember seeing that crazy crocodile at the darwin aquarium. Apparently this crocodile had a bullet lodged in it's spine which caused it constant pain believed to be a contributing factor why it was so aggressive to boats. I hope i won't come across one like sweetheart. What a monster croc.

I remember on my last trip north I passed through a very small indigenous community west of katherine and spotted children swimming in the Daly river crossing. I stayed at a mango farm/caravan park just down from the crossing. Was called Perry's on the Daly. Saw a 4 meter salty swimming about 500 meters from the crossing early the following morning. I wonder how often people go missing there unaccounted for. We throw rocks in the water before we go swimming to scare the crocodile away is something I remembered a local women say.

Hi Erik

This question has come up before and there is an archived thread on the topic which is worth a read (follows). Mostly the same advice as offered here, but there are a couple of counter-arguments that are worth reading. Particularly Vince M (NSW) who appears to specialise in inflatable boats.

Good luck....

Inflatable Boat Thread - 63471

thanks landy I did find that thread yesterday actually doing a more thorough search of the forum. Very interesting. After doing a lot of research and having many of my questions answered here on the forum I think the inflatable boat is the best choice for me. I saw a couple deflation tests done on youtube and it appears even when all 5 air chambers are deflated these boats will not sink as there is still enough air trapped in pockets to keep them afloat and limp home.

my 3.8m infltatable and 15hp yamaha outboard just arrived. No croc can intimidate me in this thing. It's unsinkable and mean with it's yellow nose and striped pontton cones. Even has special croc proof ply coated boards. My new found confidence comes from paddling around in my dam for 2 hours with old car tires representing floating crocs.