My brother fished for a few days with a bloke who had one and he was pretty impressed. One limiting factor would be that I think you are limited to a 6HP outboard. I much prefer the versatility of a 15HP. Fine for dams rivers and sheltered salt water, but for me I would prefer a tinnie for limited sal****er fishing. Pro of course is that it is easy to transport. You dont need a trailer, but then if we are staying somewhere for a week or more and you have to travel to launch its much better to have a trailer. Because you can leave all the gear, rods crab pots etc in the boat and the motor on the back petrol tank in, flooring etc and not have to unpack everything each time
wonder why i got **** when I typed saltwa*ter? lol - oh now i got it on the second edit rotflmao
-- Edited by petengail on Tuesday 12th of April 2011 04:55:11 PM
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If there is such a thing as a tourist season.... why cant we shoot them?
we are from brisbane also just starting out. currently in sapphire and heading for clermont and lake theresa (barra and redclaw)
my previous boat was a 14ft quinnie and 25 evinrude but now with towing a caravan had to rethink the boating side of things.
bought a 10ft8inch portabote with a 2hp aircooled honda
the motor was a bit slow so have put on a 4hp merc which with 1 person planes fairly easily. the pb is light and after a few tries not too difficult to put together.
I wrap mine up with a car cover tape it up and put it on the roof rack when travelling when we stay somewhere longer than a week I will assemble it and have made up from plastic pipes as a sort of guide and lift it from the rear of the vehicle onto the roof racks and just take it where I want assembled the motor crab pots etc go in the back of the sorento. If you are lucky enough to find a park that is on the waterfront you can lock the motor on and also lock the bote to whatever with a stainless steel cable and just go out whenever you want with little hassle. (but probably not in a populated area)
pro's
light bulletproof planes with small motor easy to transport
cons takes up a lot of space for the 3 seats and aft assembly you also have to find room for the motor
lugging a 25kg motor each time you want to go out is a pain
but the only alternative is a roof loader for a tinnie which is expensive and unless you have room for a fold up trailer you will still have to carry the motor
hope this helps
Although we have just started out I still think the porta bote is the way to go (until you can tow a caravan and then a boat following the van)
just not sure which way to go was thinking of the new 14ft Porta Bote . I think that it can have a 9 hp motor but am also worried about the weight of the motor as my backs not that good .
How does the seating in the pb go for comfort and are you able to put rod holders on it.
have asked for some details from Porta Bote Aus and that should arrive soon.
Please let me know how you at catching some barra.
yeah theres so much to think about as to what boat u take with you but there is one thing for sure i am going to take one with me so i will have to make a discission on what type i take.
As far as the motor weight the easiest way to see how you will go with your back is see if you can locate the size you want at a boat yard and take it for a walk you will suprised at how cumbersome they can be if you are carrying them any distance. The seats are okay for a short trip but after a while it can become uncomfortable I am looking into some sort of waterproof cushioning at the moment also being black they can get very hot on sunny days.
I haven't looked at rod holers as yet but you should be able to buy or make up something that would suit I will make something up when I have the tools availible that would not require any holes to be put into the hull.
Just as an aside I met a guy at yeppoon with a pb and he had drilled a hole at the back and put in a drain with a bung (as they dont have one) If you are going to have the pb on a trailer it would make sense I usually leave mine upside down when not in use so no need for one at the moment
