Going to places the Navara can't

The adventure bug has really bitten my wife and I and we're looking at adding a little more to our travels.

We want to add some canyon (smooth, calm water) trips to our list of things to do.

Basically we'd like to set up camp somewhere and drop a 2-person kayak in the water and paddle our way into canyons to take photos and enjoy the scenery. We don't want to do white water, rapids or ocean. Inland rivers, lakes and maybe estuaries are the limit for us, we're not young and just want to enjoy the scenery, not the thrill of a defibrillator being applied.

In order to maintain my vehicle for work, I can't have roof racks on it (nor can I install any form of lift kit - I'm nearly shaving the roof in the car park as it is).

With a limitation like that, I'm looking at an inflatable and so far, with decent storage the 5.30 metre long Gumotex Seaker II is leading the pack:



Since we aren't ever going to take it into surf, white water or perform HALO jumps in it, something like this is more than satisfactory for our needs. I'd even consider second hand as long as it wasn't torn from bow to stern.

I've looked at a Coleman kayak - it's a bit flimsy for my taste, and some of the ones that look like balloons just don't do it for me either.

But here's the discussion that I'm hoping to invite:

* Have you been kayaking in places like we want to go, and where was that, would you recommend it as a suitable place for us?

* What kind of kayak would you recommend we get, since I'm a novice at this I'm very open to suggestions and recommendations

* Am I being ridiculous by insisting on inflatable and should I just bite the bullet and put a solid hull up on my roof, removing the racks for normal driving?

These are some of my favorites.
*Yardie Creek, Ningaloo reef, WA
*Victoria River, NT
*Gordon River, Tas
*Pieman River, Tas

Tassie is my favorite place. But the ruggedness of the Kimberly or NT is pretty good too.
Go a solid hull, I have no brand preference as long as it floats!

I'd go solid hull too.

Lucky bugger Tony, you seem to have all the fun.

No idea about which one to buy but years ago I did Kayaking at school, very ver fun.

Good luck.

Dave.

Saw a bloke the other day in an inflatable in the Yarra - around Richmond. He was fishing (!) around a bridge and it looked like a great setup. Cant say what sort of craft it was but it did peak a bit of interest in the same thing you are after Tony. Not sure that I would eat anything out of the Yarra though.
Will watch this thread because I have considered getting some sort of paddle powered craft to look around harbours and estuaries.

Had a paddle here once in an old fibreglass canoe,good fishing as well. Camped at Sandy point.Big area,watch out for the n/e wind from around 11 am onwards in the warmer months. The Betka is good for a paddle as well.
Mallacoota Inlet Map

I fish from a kayak, an ocean kayak scupper pro, picked it up from a job I did, good setup, rod holders, fish finder etc, you feel so much more like man v wild fishing from a kayak than a boat, pure bliss when the conditions are right.
I'd have to say you should go for a solid hull, the inflateables are twice as hard to paddle, and it sounds like you will cover some distance doing what you want to, not to mention the concern of getting punctures and the pain in the arse of pumping the bugger up!
try Australian Kayak Fishing Forum - Australia's biggest collection of Kayak Fishing resources for any info you might need. (have a look at the bloke who got a 79kg marlin off one last year too!)

navarian said:

Had a paddle here once in an old fibreglass canoe,good fishing as well. Camped at Sandy point.Big area,watch out for the n/e wind from around 11 am onwards in the warmer months. The Betka is good for a paddle as well.
Mallacoota Inlet Map

Click to expand...

The best place for a canoe up there is north of Gypsy Point. Of course you wouldn't stay there as the price is about 3 times as much as staying in Mallacoota but north of Gyspy there is plenty of brilliant fishing spots that are just too hard to get to in a boat.

A side note for those who know Mallacoota: As of Friday last week the lake was so high that the car park at the first two boat ramps was under water, the road around to Karbathong was under water and all the lake side camping ground was under water with boat markers usually at the edge of the lake about 15 foot from the waters edge. They opened the entrance on the weekend but apparently the water level still isn't quite back to normal as of today.

Hey Old.Tony,

My parents live on Lake Mac just south of you, they kayak around it quite often. They both have solid hull but more sit on top. Real easy to paddle even when the wind picks up except ur ass can get a bit wet unless the water is glass smooth. Both have water tight storage front and back and 1 has a bill on the front so it doesn't nose dive in waves, the wind can pick up some pretty decent waves even in the lake. U can also get some pretty sweet accessories for them, have seen small sails, esky attachments and rod holders at bcf.

Definately worth the investment, nothing beats gliding around the lake at sunrise!

Could only find one (bad) pic with them in from last trip back home but u get the idea.

Hey justdrinkbeer do u have any photos of ur set up? have been keen to get one for fishing also since i saw the guy on IFISH truing to pull in a Gt with a shark attached to the end in vanauatu or something, ended up with half a fish and brown pants!

Thanks for the pic Roundy, saw a couple of kayaks like those in at Ray's, very sleek and about 4m long but still only a single seater. At $1400 I was thinking "yeah, but not alone!".

The young 'un wants me to take her to Lake Mac in a kayak so we'll probably head around Toronto way (not this weekend, maybe next) and go for a paddle.

I was looking at one of the fishing kayaks (solid, some sort of poly plastic thing) in a camping store, it had 2 seats and loads of storage, looked like a camouflaged barge rather than a kayak (which I've always considered as graceful water craft). This one looked like it was ready for use in a war zone! They've got some neato gear.

I've also taken a look at some Rhino quick-release roof racks and kayak mounts, I'm still not happy with the idea of having it up on top but the idea is growing on me. Speed isn't important, getting places is, so the inflatable idea is still viable.

I was introduced to a 2-man inflatable for $199 (brand new, in box) - a Tahiti or something like that. I'll have to hunt down pics, but the box was small and sang "I'm just a weird shaped party balloon" ... I wouldn't have a lot of confidence in that.

The fishing ones look great, especially for camping if u want to ge to that secluded spot!
The kayak fishing site mentioned above have a few for sale in the east, tho no doubles that i could see. Could save a fair few $$$

The lake is a great spot, we're from the other side to toronto, silverwater/sunshine.
Thought i'd attach a lake pic for some encouragement to get out there, buggered if i know why i'm not there right now!

Solid hull is the go - I did the Gregory River Canoe Marathon for 3 yrs (up near Lawn Hill Nat Park in NW Qld). Its on every May long weekend in Qld. Gregory is tiny, but they make a weekend of it - horse racing, rodeo, the canoe race on the Sunday morning. Race is a 42km paddle with two small falls of shallow grade. We bounced our canoe down them no worries. Mostly long calm pools. Camping by the river..... sigh. Why am I at work?????