Looking for a tinny

[slothparade]

After a lot of thinking, were looking at the possibility of towing a tinny up to Cape York and completing the old tele track. Looking for advice as to what sort of tinny would be best suited for this. Obviously want something relatively small and light, thinking a small 5 HP motor. Any model suggestions would be much appreciated. Also any advice as well would be much appreciated. 

Guessing were going to have to reinforce the trailer quite a bit as well, so have taken that into account. 

Did look at the possibility of a roof top tinny, but really didn't want to put so much weight high up. 

Thanks 

[dirvin21]

You'd woth decent sides  for croc safety especially up there, they're everywhere and the biggest ones are in small freshwater areas

5hp is not going to be adequate to push a big enough tinny with the amount of current in the tropics 

[big Neil]

I agree with dirvin21 a tiny tinny is not going to be safe enough. The cost of towing something suitable, compared to the tiny tinny, would be minimal. Once you get up to cruising speed the additional weight is insignificant really. Above all you need to consider your safety. I don't think many local boat owners up there would be using really small vessels with underpowered motors.

Have a wonderful trip, whatever you decide. Take lots of pics and fill us all in on your adventure.

Safe travels mate.  bn

[mrsswordfisherman]

What vehicle are you intending to tow with? 
@dirvin21 and @big Neil have given you excellent advice. 

 

[zmk1962]

Excellent advice from Dave and BN already given regarding the vessel. It's a tough trip and not all sealed roads. In addition to strengthening the trailer, you will also need to consider strengthening the tinny to withstand the constant rubbing on the trailer bunks or rollers plus carrying the outboard on the transom across unsealed roads. I don's see it being a cheap proposition. 

From memory @JonD towed a vessel up there - maybe he can chime in with his first hand experiences.

Cheers Zoran

[Restyle]

you could tow it up there and see if you can leave it at a caravan park, do the tele and then pick up the boat to do whatever boat activities you need to, this would allow you to also get a decent boat for the salties 

[frankS]

I done the trip some years back with 3 mates. Toyota high lux ute back loaded with gear, tents fridg/freezer and heaps of camping gear, 14 foot Brooker tinnie with 25hp 2 stroke motor and 12 foot punt sitting upside down on top of the 14 footer, the punt had a 9.9hp motor and transom mount electric Minn kota which were carried in the ute tray.. Got to longreach without a hitch then done wheel bearing on trailer, had spare hubs loaded with bearings and packed with grease which made the repair easy. got a bit further heading to Burketown and corrugated roads threw both mudguards off the trailer . Buy the time we got to Burketown there was 2 inches of red dust all over both motors and everything that wasn't covered with tarps. Couldn't repair guards till will got to karumba.

We spent 8 days fishing and exploring the area and I wish I could go back and do it all over again.

Caught barra, Threadfin Salmon, and heaps of mud crabs and long claw prawns.

The threadfin were the prize catch, better fighters than the Barra and much better on the plate.

Take plenty of fuel and water and provisions. If you just go to Karumba or there abouts it's tar road all the way so no problems, it's when you get off the main drag that you need to take extra care.

More info PM me.

Frank

Edited July 11 by frankS

[zmk1962]

There you go. I knew one of the raiders had done this trip - just got the wrong one - sorry Frank !  
when you mentioned the mudguards I actually remembered this very conversation we had over a cup of tea. 
cheers Zoran 

[slothparade]

11 hours ago, dirvin21 said:

You'd woth decent sides  for croc safety especially up there, they're everywhere and the biggest ones are in small freshwater areas

5hp is not going to be adequate to push a big enough tinny with the amount of current in the tropics 

Don't have to warn me twice about crocs. Mate lost his leg to a big one. They used to come up and sun bake on the beach all the time. It's definitely surprising the puddles they manage to disappear in. Most of the time you'd never guess that there was one in there. 

Thanks for the advice, what about just in the smaller creeks? Have family up there with a much larger proper off shore boat, so that's sorted, not keen on towing an 8m boat around 😂. 

Thanks. 

[slothparade]

9 hours ago, big Neil said:

I agree with dirvin21 a tiny tinny is not going to be safe enough. The cost of towing something suitable, compared to the tiny tinny, would be minimal. Once you get up to cruising speed the additional weight is insignificant really. Above all you need to consider your safety. I don't think many local boat owners up there would be using really small vessels with underpowered motors.

Have a wonderful trip, whatever you decide. Take lots of pics and fill us all in on your adventure.

Safe travels mate.  bn

Thankyou. Do you believe that using a smaller boat in the small creeks would be safe enough? If you don't mind, what size range should we be looking at? 

To explain our plan a bit more, our plan is to head up through old tele track, and get right to the top of cape, while fishing the small creeks. Then our group splits up, mates head down the west coast while partner and I drop into the property and pick up the larger (8m) boat to head offshore with. 

Thanks very much. 

[slothparade]

5 hours ago, mrsswordfisherman said:

What vehicle are you intending to tow with? 
@dirvin21 and @big Neil have given you excellent advice. 

 

Most likely behind one of the 79s. 

Definitely have, and am very appreciative of their advice. 

[slothparade]

4 hours ago, Restyle said:

you could tow it up there and see if you can leave it at a caravan park, do the tele and then pick up the boat to do whatever boat activities you need to, this would allow you to also get a decent boat for the salties 

Definitely a good idea, plan is to drop into familys property and pick up a much larger boat to head off shore. There's also plenty of land based opportunities if a boat doesn't work. But yeah crocs have been on our minds. 

Thanks 

[slothparade]

4 hours ago, frankS said:

I done the trip some years back with 3 mates. Toyota high lux ute back loaded with gear, tents fridg/freezer and heaps of camping gear, 14 foot Brooker tinnie with 25hp 2 stroke motor and 12 foot punt sitting upside down on top of the 14 footer, the punt had a 9.9hp motor and transom mount electric Minn kota which were carried in the ute tray.. Got to longreach without a hitch then done wheel bearing on trailer, had spare hubs loaded with bearings and packed with grease which made the repair easy. got a bit further heading to Burketown and corrugated roads threw both mudguards off the trailer . Buy the time we got to Burketown there was 2 inches of red dust all over both motors and everything that wasn't covered with tarps. Couldn't repair guards till will got to karumba.

We spent 8 days fishing and exploring the area and I wish I could go back and do it all over again.

Caught barra, Threadfin Salmon, and heaps of mud crabs and long claw prawns.

The threadfin were the prize catch, better fighters than the Barra and much better on the plate.

Take plenty of fuel and water and provisions. If you just go to Karumba or there abouts it's tar road all the way so no problems, it's when you get off the main drag that you need to take extra care.

More info PM me.

Frank

Definitely sounds like the trip of a life time. 

What sort of trailer did you use? And how did you avoid bending the chassis or doing any major damage? Did you end up bracing the trailer? 

Pre packing hubs and bearings is definitely an extremely smart idea. Did you match the trailer wheels and tires to your cars? Just so that you could use your spares on the trailer or car? 

Good thing guards aren't the most important 😆. Yeah the dust, goodness, I still remember around oombulgari, the dust was ridiculous. 

These trips last a life time, I can't wait for the day that I finally can go back to the Kimberley. 

Might need to disagree with you about that, barra might slightly be tastier than threadfin. But very close though. 

We really wanted to do the Frenchman's track as well, but maybe next time. 

Thanks for the great advice, much appreciated. Definitely good to hear from someone whose actually done the trip. 

 

[dirvin21]

1 hour ago, slothparade said:

Don't have to warn me twice about crocs. Mate lost his leg to a big one. They used to come up and sun bake on the beach all the time. It's definitely surprising the puddles they manage to disappear in. Most of the time you'd never guess that there was one in there. 

Thanks for the advice, what about just in the smaller creeks? Have family up there with a much larger proper off shore boat, so that's sorted, not keen on towing an 8m boat around 😂. 

Thanks. 

The small creeks are where the big lizards like to hide

[big Neil]

3 hours ago, slothparade said:

Thankyou. Do you believe that using a smaller boat in the small creeks would be safe enough? If you don't mind, what size range should we be looking at? 

To explain our plan a bit more, our plan is to head up through old tele track, and get right to the top of cape, while fishing the small creeks. Then our group splits up, mates head down the west coast while partner and I drop into the property and pick up the larger (8m) boat to head offshore with. 

Thanks very much. 

I have to say that I have no personal experience of fishing small, crocodile-infested creeks in a low-sided tinny. I have heaps of experience fishing freshwater creeks and rivers in a 3.45m tinny with a 15HP Yamaha, tiller operated, outboard. dirvin21 has a tinny that I would be looking at feeling safe in. Ask him for details

Don't neglect to factor in the higher than average tides and associated stronger currents that can exist in tributaries up North. I have a vision of a strong current, a very small motor and a vessel that could easily be turned over. No need to paint the picture any more than that really. A lightweight tinny with high sides is a safer bet, particularly if there are 2 or more occupants...accompanied by at least a 20HP outboard. Maybe 4.2m -4.5m with high sides.

I don't wish to put a damper on your trip, just to encourage you to anticipate the possibilities. It's too late if something does happen.

Good luck, have fun, and keep safe.

bn

[frankS]

11 hours ago, slothparade said:

Definitely sounds like the trip of a life time. 

What sort of trailer did you use? And how did you avoid bending the chassis or doing any major damage? Did you end up bracing the trailer? 

Pre packing hubs and bearings is definitely an extremely smart idea. Did you match the trailer wheels and tires to your cars? Just so that you could use your spares on the trailer or car? 

Good thing guards aren't the most important 😆. Yeah the dust, goodness, I still remember around oombulgari, the dust was ridiculous. 

These trips last a life time, I can't wait for the day that I finally can go back to the Kimberley. 

Might need to disagree with you about that, barra might slightly be tastier than threadfin. But very close though. 

We really wanted to do the Frenchman's track as well, but maybe next time. 

Thanks for the great advice, much appreciated. Definitely good to hear from someone whose actually done the trip. 

 

The trailer was home made by myself had 13" wheels with very high profile tyres which made them equivalent to 16" wheels, the larger the wheels the less rotation per mile and the cooler the bearings stay. I had 2 spare wheels for trailer but never used them, didn't get a flat. 

Matter of fact I still have the 2 spare wheels down in one of my sheds.

Learnt a lesson about guards and all trailers I have made since have guards that won't shake loose.

Frank