To take the tinnie around OZ or not?
Submitted: Monday, Feb 14, 2011 at 12:23
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John P
Hi all! Dear wife and i have just decided to explorOz with our 2 kids. We are planning to purchase brand new kedron top ender van and new 70 series turbo diesel V8 landcruiser to pull everything. Have no time frame and may just contiue going round and round but the only thing we are alittle indecisive about is to take the tinnie or not. We would roof top it on the cruiser. Am a keen fisherman and from small trips we have done before, not much caught from banks. From some info i have read on net, some people say why would yah because of amount of use and the cost of carrying it around everywhere ie fuel economy. Then again some people have said fuel economy didn't change and got better as helps with wind deflection on the van. Is this true? Does anyone have similar setup? If so would love any
feedback in regards to fuel economy, tips, would you take it or leave it
home? What is the best roof top loader? Don't want to spend a fortune. We are really excited about trip and exposing kids to the best Australia has to offer and don't want to miss out on catching some beautiful fish and viewing some great scenery that can only be seen by travelling down the rivers etc. Any feed back would be great. Cheers!!
Reply By: Madfisher - Monday, Feb 14, 2011 at 13:10
Monday, Feb 14, 2011 at 13:10
Well if it was me I would consider it a wasted trip if you did not take it, but I am a mad fisher lol. The van is going to catch a lot of wind anyway, the pionty end of the boat may act as an aerofiol. At work we have quite a few pantechs, and the ones with aerofiols on them are more fuel efficent. With out it you can feel the wind holding you back.
Have a great trip, half your luck
Cheers Pete
AnswerID:
445401
Reply By: Homebrewer - Monday, Feb 14, 2011 at 14:08
Monday, Feb 14, 2011 at 14:08
g'day
John P,
I have done many trips towing a caravan with a car top tinnie, I'll give you my thoughts on the subject.
I have found that having a tinnie on the roof makes very little difference to fuel ecomomy, the tinnie sort of becomes a wind deflector for the caravan.
To make it worthwhile you'll need to use the tinnie on a regular basis. So you will need to plan on going to suitable
places and staying long enough to get plenty of boating in.
Yes, it is very enjoyable cruising or drifting the waters of a river or estuary system, and far improves you fishing results from being land based, plus you'll also get amoungst the mud crabs.
My recommendation is to have some wheels to launch and retrieve the boat, preferably a fold-up trailer with registration as quite often you will need to cross a road or travel a little distance to launch the tinnie.
I feel a 15 horsepower outboard motor is the way to go.
I cannot comment on which is the best boat loader as I use 3 Rhino roof bars with a roller system on the rear bar.
The car is a Nisson Patrol
The boat was hauled onto the roof useing the boat tailer hand winch attached to a bracket on the bullbar.
I hope this helps ... Pete.
AnswerID:
445407
Reply By: Member - Joe n Mel n kids (FNQ - Monday, Feb 14, 2011 at 19:00
Monday, Feb 14, 2011 at 19:00
take the boat .............
You are buying a BRAND NEW van and BRAND NEW cruiser, you dont care how long it is going to take and you love fishing and your worried about fuel consumption ???????
>>> or<<<<
There is this awsome video called "touring around Australia with a tinny", buy it and dont spend all that money on the Cruiser and van and sit at
home and watch it, you will get really good fuel economy ......
Just kidding, you will regret it if you dont but do you already have a tinny????? i think you do by the way you have put it but if you dont yet then maybe... start off without it and hire a few out and also ask around at the
places you go to and see how others are using them hands on and then you can make a far better decision on what to do, you can then get one fitted part way into your trip .....
Cheers
Joe
AnswerID:
445428
Reply By: Member - Darrin S (ACT) - Tuesday, Feb 15, 2011 at 00:27
Tuesday, Feb 15, 2011 at 00:27
Hi
John my wife and I travelled OZ for a number of years before we had kids and used the boat heaps, mainly in the top end for fishing but also for sight seeing in
places such as
Katherine Gorge, Geike
Gorge, Yellow Waters, Kingfisher
camp. If your boat is light enough to row or you have an electric motor you can use it at
Lawn Hill Gorge, Chamerlain
Gorge El Questro to name a few.
We are leaving to do a six month trip in mid April and intend on taking the boat again although I know it will not get near as much use as the first trip given that we only have 6 months & 2 kids this time round. The boat is a Quintrex 350 traveller which I carry on top of the Troopy. As this is a very light boat approx 60 kgs I don't require a boat loader. If you don't have a fold up trailer (can add quite a bit of weight and space) I would recommend some clamp on wheels for those short trips to the water.
Happy Travels
AnswerID:
445475
Follow Up By: Member - bungarra (WA) - Tuesday, Feb 15, 2011 at 22:03
Tuesday, Feb 15, 2011 at 22:03
having been down that decision path....new van ready in 8 weeks
we have decided to take the tinnie.....just today I took delivery of a fold up or portable boat trailer to go on the back of the carravan.........38 kg total weight..2 mins to assemble.....1 minute to pull apart.....fully licensed..........my mate has had one for about 3 months and he is very particular and researched throughly..........i watched and learnt from his experience
it is a mangrove jack
link
http://www.mangrovejack.com/products.htm
no affliation etc.make your own decision
cheers
FollowupID:
717844
Reply By: i'machocoholic - Wednesday, Feb 16, 2011 at 22:28
Wednesday, Feb 16, 2011 at 22:28
Hi
John,
We are currently travelling Oz and our set up includes the boat.
Whilst not being on the road all that long, we have had the boat off a few times, and with a homemade boat loader and winch off ebay, makes it really easy to load/unload. Given that we're hitting the coast soon, we hope to use the boat a lot more in coming weeks around the WA coast.
There is only two of us travelling, and although I was never originally keen on taking the boat, I LOVE IT - not necessarily for the fishing, but for photography too.
We have a portable trailer on the back of the van and another set up which my other half has been busy working on with just a set of wheels to tow it (not on the main road though)....rather than me explain it all here, you're welcome to look at our website which I hope might help:
http://grantandlinda.wordpress.com/
Happy and safe travels to you and your family!!
Linda.
AnswerID:
445713