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What a great wife I have

daedong

New member
Most years around April May my wife and I take about six weeks holiday. This year we are going to be a little more adventurous than our normal camping road trip. We have decided to travel the length of the Murray River in a tinny and camp in a tent. The navigable section of the river is around 2000 KM. The first 500KM or so, is narrow and shallow in parts, full of snags (dead river gums). The upper reaches are obviously in high rainfall but as you come down stream it travels through desert, very hot and isolated. It is known for its snakes and wild pigs.



Last week I ordered a 14’ tinny (vee nose flat bottom) from a local boat builder and bought a 25 Hp mercury outboard to go on it.

As most on this site know that I have a houseboat this probably sound a little crazy.





http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Murray_River
 

Big Dog

Large Member
Staff member
GOLD Site Supporter
Wow, thats sounds like fun! Good luck and have fun, be safe..... :)
 

Doc

Bottoms Up
Staff member
GOLD Site Supporter
Vin,
I missed this post when you originally posted it.
How long will this trip take to complete? Sounds like quite an adventure. After weeks of sleeping in a tent I bet you'll sure be glad to get back to the comforts of home.
Is this a group venture or just you and your wife?
I've wanted to travel the Ohio River to the Missippippi and keep going all the way to the gulf coast, but never had the time off or a big enough boat to make the trip the way I'd like.
 

daedong

New member
Doc,
My wife and I over a bottle of red only last night were discussing what river we should do after the trip down the Murray, and the Mississippi came up as one we would hypothetically like to do. But we concluded (not knowing the USA at all) that there would be very few camping spots.

The trip down the Murray will take us probably the six weeks. Yes, just the two of us. There are several small towns scattered along the river so we anticipate an odd night in a motel.

I was only talking to a guy a few days ago that was telling me that out in the middle of nowhere we may have to drag the dinghy due to shallow water. Also in the tinny we will have to carry reasonable amounts of fuel as there are some parts where it is 180 km (approx 110 miles) between fuel stops.

Just as a point of interest this Friday we are going to the "caravan and camping show" to look for a tent. I think we will buy what is called a "30 second tent" http://www.expresstoolsandcamping.com.au/oztent.htm
 

Melensdad

Jerk in a Hawaiian Shirt & SNOWCAT Moderator
Staff member
GOLD Site Supporter
Vin, I only know parts of the Mississippi, but the parts that I have been on while fishing don't strke me as anywhere I would consider relaxing. There is a lot of barge traffic on the Mississippi and those are HUGE! Perhaps up where the river originates might make a nice journey?
 

Kubota King

New member
Vin -

One of my employees took 8 weeks off & he & his wife kayaked the mississippi river about 2 years ago. This couple does wild adventures every year. They hiked the appalachian trail from start to finish (georgia to maine) on foot. He did say that the Mississippi was rather unfriendly to what he had in mind. The large barge & other boats were burtal. He said the water was what he felt to be unsanitary. This guy is by no means a premadonna, infact he is one of the most rugged guys I know both physically & mentally. If you want his email address to ask him more just PM me.
 

daedong

New member
Yesterday we headed of for the night just for an experimental run, to check out the freeboard and see that every thing we need fits in OK. It got down to 0 degrees overnight so it was a good test for the sleeping gear.
Here is a couple of pic taken last night and this morning
DSC_0044.jpg

DSC_0047.jpg

 

Doc

Bottoms Up
Staff member
GOLD Site Supporter
Good pics Vin. The river looks beautiful there and plenty big.
Have a GREAT trip (or should I call it an adventure?). :thumb:
I look forward to seeing more pics after your trip.
 

daedong

New member
I hope everyone here on FF is ok, we are home a little earlier than anticipated as we were able to travel a little faster than expected


It's been one hectic time, pack up, and unpack almost daily, it gets a bit tiring, We covered about 2300 km in total. In the first 400 km we dragged the dingy over sand bars, road logs, hit rocks and clay bars. Destroyed 2 propellers and smashed the shallow drive brackets twice. Used about 660lts of fuel, of which most I had to carry on a hand trolley back to the tinny, sometimes up to 3 km from the river to get fuel.
About a 100km before the mouth we had to cross a large lake, that was a little scary in a flat bottom tinny. Waves were about 1 metre high with short chop, we bobbed around like a cork, took some water over the bow and in general shit ourselves, but we survived to tell the tale.
 

Ice Queen

Bronze Member
SUPER Site Supporter
It all sounds rather scary to me, but the best of luck, I hope you have a super time. We look forward to seeing pictures.
 

Doc

Bottoms Up
Staff member
GOLD Site Supporter
Welcome back Vin. Glad you had a successful trip. Post a few pics when you can. :thumb:
 

BoneheadNW

New member
daedong said:
we bobbed around like a cork, took some water over the bow and in general shit ourselves, but we survived to tell the tale.
Sounds like Junkman..........on a good day!

Welcome back Vin.
Bone
 
P

Pigtails

Guest
daedong said:
I hope everyone here on FF is ok, we are home a little earlier than anticipated as we were able to travel a little faster than expected .
Welcome back.But would like to see some pics if you have some?:D :weneedpic
 
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