Hobie Kayak in the Kimberley - and how to get it there... advice on corrugations

Hiya Dave

Where can I get a list of the geocache loactions on the Great Central Road??
I had a look at the site...when nothin informative there ??
Can ya help.
Cheers D&J

Hi Dave,
Haven't carried a kayak, but I have carried an inflateable Sevylor 3.6m boat. Wrapped up carefully and sitting on dense foam, it carried no problem.
I have paddled the Hann River (Moll Gorge) out of Mt House and also Dimond Gorge on the Fitzroy, both on the same road to Mornington. Only saw freshies on the Hann - we paddled about 5km upstream, having to portage across rocks at times, but the experience was fantastic.
But the big problem is carting the damn thing there over endless rocks at other gorges. Dimond Gorge was bad enough, and that was only a few hundred metres.
Would love to check out the lower reaches of Bells Gorge, but it's too much effort to carry the craft that distance.
The Calder River, east of Mt Elizabeth, feeding into the Walcott Inlet is very navigable over about 50km, but the salties think so too :D
But, I reckon that the Drysdale River from DR Station would be a good possibility - haven't stayed on that river campsite in years, but I recall it looked quite navigable. A call to that station might be worth it. On the lower reaches, it is accessible from Carson River station, part of Kalumburu, but a permit would be required, and you may not be able to camp. I recall at least one other member has paddled this section upstream. And the salties might be in that area as well. They're certainly in the nearby Carson River near the station.
For the anti-chafe foam, I bought a foam campers bed roll. The boat seemed to survive ok and the foam was inexpensive.
cheers
Gerry

We have used Spirit Surf Skis in the Mornington Gorges in the Kimberly, Carawine Gorge in the Pilbara and at various beaches down South. Always carried the two skis on purpose built Rhino/Rola ski holders either on the roof or on on top of the trailer being towed at the time.

We did modify the camper trailer and added Rhino/Rola ski carriers to the purpose built rack.

We also used the same configuration when at Ningaloo last year.

All of the north west trips were over typical corrugated roads and we never had any problems with cracking, slipping etc of the skis.

Wouldn't hesitate to to do the same again.

Hi Dave,
we took two sit on top Ocean Kayak 'Scupper Pros' on top of LC100 around the block including Oodnadatta up to Dalhousie (short paddle in the springs), Meerenie Loop, Great Central Road, Ningaloo, Karijini, GibbRR, Borroloola to Hells Gate and down to Lawn Hill. Kept in place with Rhino aerobars and the kayak /canoe carrier (560 model). Only one scary bit when a passing road train sucked one of the yaks off the rack.... the yak ended up alongside the drivers window caught on the wing mirror. I made sure I tied off through the drain holes after that. It would have been nice to have had a bull bar to tie down the front end as well... but they survived the 49,000ks. No noticeable rub or wear marks. The tie-downs look a little worse with UV damage.
Kayaked wherever I could except for salty territory.
Have fun!