Boating
We used to do a lot of boating and fishing mainly on Blue Rock lake, but we have travelled as far as the lakes to the west of Melbourne and Lake Jindabyne in NSW. Sadly we sold the boat after Joe had a shoulder injury, but we still have many fond memories.
Boat Ladder
Carrying a 3m, 60kg, aluminium boat on the roof-rack of an X-Trail is no easy thing. So we designed a wooden boat ladder to make loading and unloading the boat much easier. The operation can be accomplished in 20 minutes. Here is how it works:
Step 1. Arrive
Step 2. Remove the straps and unpack the wooden boat ladder
Step 3. Hook the ladder onto the roof rack
Step 4. Lift the boat onto the ladder
Step 5. Raise the ladder to the horizontal position
Step 6. Slide the boat across the ladder to the first stop position
Step 7. Lower the ladder to the ground
Step 8. Winch the boat down the ladder to the second stop
Step 9. Flip the boat over onto the ground
Step 10. Attach dolly wheels and the outboard to the boat
Boat Trailer
While the boat ladder worked a treat, we eventually decided to bite the bullet and get a trailer. It was a Dunbier Nipper 4M-13L.
Boat Accessories
We installed the following accessories onto the basic Stacer 2010 Proline 3m aluminium hull:
- Honda 5HP 4-Stroke Outboard Motor - A 4-stroke will run all day on idle without fouling the plugs.
- Seats and cussions - The crew will run all day with warm, comfortable seats
- Console - All necessary equipment is at arm's length
- Downrigger - Scotty 1080 200ft - Trawling is very effecting on deep lakes
- Soanar - Humminbird 798ci DH SI - Shows where the fish are and where the downrigger bomb is
- 12V Sealed Lead Acid Battery
- Floor mats
Our extensive range of safety accessories included:
- Self inflating life vests
- Anchor and line
- Paddles
- Floating pelican case, with
- Flares
- Fire-Extinguisher
- GPS, Torch, First Aid
Funny Story
With all the registrations, licences and hundreds of dollars of safety gear we had on board, we had never been approached by fisheries inspectors. Some other boaters that we met had none of these things, not even life vests! One day, fishing on lake Jindabyne, we were approached by a fisheries boat. We proudly showed the inspector all our gear, documents and licences and waited expectantly for congratulations. He said "These are Victorian fishing licences". "Yes" we said. "But this is New South Wales" he said, while writing out an infringement notice. D'oh! It never occurred to us we had crossed the border.