Cartopper boat

[Maxhead]

G'Day all,

I'm looking for a boat to chuck on top of the Patrol for when I head up north next year. Around Cape York. Weipa, Cooktown, Port Douglas,etc

Firstly, what sort of boat and weight? It will be me and the missus lifting it.(she's small)
What sort of roof racks do I need, just normal or do I need a roller?
And what size motor, it will be used in tidal rivers and estuary.

I'm just starting to do the research so I've got no idea what I need yet.

Or am I better of hiring boats when up there???

Any ideas or advise will be muchly appreciated.

Cheers

[AB]

A lot of people are using Quintrex tinnies these days but I am not sure on what brands are best, etc.

For up north you want a light tinny with very minimal hull and around a 15hp Mercury engine would be my choice.

The deeper the hull the better stability for waves, etc so for up north on the rivers I would be getting the flattest hull possible.

I used to have a flat hull tinny, square front with a 15hp Mecury and it was great along the rivers, going over fallen logs, shallow water, underwater suprises, etc.

The flat nose and hull was ideal to stand on when bringing fish in and I am absolutely guttered I sold it!!!!

Also a must to get is the electric trolling motor as seen below to sneak into spots without disturbing the fish and to maintain slow speeds for currents, etc.

I think from memory mine was around 3.7m and weighed about 100kg for just the tinny. You might need some sort of hand winch to assist you on the roof unless your partner can lift a side of the boat, etc.

You could make up some rollers on the roof so you only need to take the motor off, turn the tinny upside down and rest it on the rear roof rack roller and either push it up onto the rest of the rollers or have some kind of hand winch at the front of the roof rack and simply whind it in.

My ideal set up will be a 7x4 4wd trailer with the gear on the bottom and a frame up top and electric winch and rollers to pull the tinny on and off....I'll show pics one of these years when I do it...lol

http://www.nissanpatrol.com.au/forums/images/imported/2011/09/38.jpg

http://www.nissanpatrol.com.au/forums/images/imported/2011/09/39.jpg

[Maxhead]

Haha. Love the little tug in the second pic....pretty cool.

Thanks for that mate. I actually started to look at the Quinies like this one (http://www.quintrex.com.au/Aluminium-Boat-Range/370Cartopper)

There is a 340 version which is 1.2mm all around and only weighs 52kg but I thought the 1.6mm might be a bit stronger and take a bit of punishment but comes in at 78kg. I'll get the missus to do a bit of weight training before we go...lol

Then I saw this (http://www.boatpoint.com.au/boats-for-sale/boatdetails.aspx?R=11252431)about 5min drive from me but don't know or heard of the SEA TREX brand.
Anyway this is all kitted up with trailer and motor for later use....

Hmmmmm...I'll keep looking

[Benno7]

Check this mob out Lazyloaders


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O4jgJWN23Go

[Maxhead]

Yeah saw these, that would suit me to the ground as I am pretty lazy but just couldn't justify the cost...LOL

[AB]

That's exactly what you want mate. Bring on the laziness I say...lol

You could easily rig your own thing up but if the price is right for something like then go for it!

[Benno7]

Here's another
Much cheaper more work tho plus you have to still get roof racks.
But could be made easily
http://www.boathoist.com.au/boat-loader.html