Reply With QuoteScented candles, flowers and massage oil......should be a good night
I use to do the flame thing but then I help try to put out a boat (FG) that had caught fire ...... no flame on my boat now and i haven't look back once.
and fresh coffee is sooo nice in the morning.
BigE
Scented candles, flowers and massage oil......should be a good night
Cruise Craft 685 means you are camping, treat it that way. If the wife thinks its a hotel room before hand, she will not do it again.
Cooking, keep it basic. Best thing you can do is reheat pre-cooked meals on an exploder (those cheap canister stoves).
Forget things like 12V stoves and fridges unless you have a few hundred amp hour battery pack, carry a genset and/or have a few hundred watts of solar. FWIW, my boat has 400W of solar, and 200ah of battery and it has struggled the last few weeks with all the cloud in Brisbane. A small fridge and a house battery will get get you through a weekend, not much more.
Re swinging on anchor, get used to it, its part of boating. Its more comfortable swinging than putting out a stern anchor, the exception is if you are in wally world (like the gold coast broadwater) where rivieras are flogging past at 20 knots. In the latter case you need to keep the bow facing into the river. IF you find yourself in that situation, you wont make that mistake again, I promise you.
Last but not least, you are camping (did I say that before?). Once you get used to it, its the best camping you will ever do!
I've been spending a fair bit of time on the Clyde over the past 9 months - I actually camp out on one of the Islands .
The Clyde is a big river & you can nearly get 30km up from Batemans Bay - the first 10km up to Nelligen you'll find quite a few moorings . plus there are a few bays that you can anchor in - just watch the depth as there are well defined channels . The area up around little & big islands is good & there is a really nice sandy beach on little island ( my favorite spot ) The Island 1.jpg
Bugs on the Clyde aren't too bad ..... but cabin lighting will bring them in . This time of year you'll be trying to keep warm at night .... but you still want ventilation .
Just get out there and enjoy it .....
Chris
Give a man a fish & he will eat for a day !
Teach him how to fish
& he will sit in a boat - & drink beer all day!
TEAM MOJIKO
I have been thinking about getting one of these to simplify over-nighting and do away with flames on the boat.
https://www.macfarlanegenerators.com...able-Generator
Perhaps you could consider this to power your standard home comforts. Happy wife happy life with benefits could well result.
An unhappy first camping on the boat is something i believe you should go all out to avoid.
There have been lots of great tip so far so your challenge is to distill it all and find out what she who must be obeyed is really thinking! (44 yrs of practice tells me so!)
Cheers
Chimo
PS Don't forget you must report back with the results of the overnight with pictures; its the least you can do. Without pics it didn't happen......
What could go wrong.......................
thats a cheap generator!. on a whole generators are getting cheaper for sure.. id imagine they would not last as long as better quality units. but considering a genset can cost 20+K i can see just having a little portable unit to keep things topped up is worth it.
Hi Moose
Its an Aussi compnany that sells a heap of different units inc diesel and it has a 12 month warranty and seems best value for money with 2.4 kva 2.1 kva operating so could be tha go.
The Cromtech Outback 2.4kVA portable inverter generator is a super quiet and compact unit that has multiple power options including USB, 12V and 240V power. It's Ideal for camping, caravanning and home use. This is a very popular generator and has all the handy features you'd expect in a portable generator such as alarms for low oil and overloading, an eco mode, a protective cover, and a 5L fuel tank.
Every generator that leaves our store is given the Macfarlane Generators quality treatment - we pre-deliver every set (including oil, run check, and more) and we make sure your generator is ready to go from the moment you get it. We're believers of quality products that you can see, touch, and test before buying.
Details
Cromtech Outback Portable Generator
Features 2 x outlets (single phase - 15A) USB (5V - 2A) charging 12V-8A battery charging Pure Sine Wave <2.5% THD suits precise instruments Super quiet running - 52-29dB Low oil alarm, overload alarm, output indicator, eco mode Eco mode adjusts output as load requires and lowers noise 5 - 20 hours continuous running (depending on load) Bonus protective yellow cover 4-stroke, forced air-cooled, OHV engine 5.0L fuel tank Lightweight & compact design Recoil start with direct gravity fuel supply for starting within 3 pulls Easy maintenance with quick convenient access ports Durable, cast iron cylinder liner 1 year Cromtech warranty
Applications Camping Caravanning & RV's Home and small office backup power Shop and production use Precision instruments Small power tools Fetes Markets
*Free Shipping to Melbourne Metro, Sydney Metro, and Brisbane Metro
Specifications Power 2.4kVA Phase Single Fuel type Petrol Starting System Recoil start Max. Watts 2400W Continuous output 2100W Rated power factor 1.0 Alternator type Brushless Voltage regulation Pure Sine Wave Battery charger 12V-8A Overload protector Yes Engine make LH148F(G) Engine Type Cromtech Engine kW 2.6kW, 79CC Engine features Forced air cooled OHV Fuel tank (L) 5.0L Noise level 52-59dB @ 7m Weight 19.9kg Dimensions 514 x 315 x 447 mm (LWH)
For more detailed specifications, please view the document below.
Related Downloads
24kVACromtechOutback.pdf (768.37KB)
What could go wrong.......................
Link above got me thinking. On eBay looks like you can get a 1kw 2 stroke for sub $200. 4 strokes about $658 for 3.7kw which seems like a lot of bang for buck kw wise. 1.8kw from Alibaba to your door from China about $685.
Smithy
Howdy, just been reading consumer comments on these and the Aust network for repairs and warranty seems to be good value. One guy had an inverter fail and they gave him a new machine. Whats the support and warranty and repair set up for the ones you mentioned above?
Cheers
Chimo
What could go wrong.......................
I have a yamaha 2400 (2.4kva) genset, weights far to much for boating and is way to big. I am actually going to buy a little 1kva honda specifically for my boat. They are whisper quiet and a pretty light.
Dont waste your money on a 2 stroke, the are rubbish and will end up going over the side as an anchor!
The Cromtech generators are Chinese made, yes, but backed by Crommelins Machinery. I should know, my late mate Terry Crommelin owned the company. They are Robin Subaru importers, and recognised the need to compete with the cheap Chinese stuff a few years ago. They have full support, unlike so many which are imported cheap. I bought a Bushpower 1000 from Australian 4WD Direct in 2011--it gave good service for 6 years, then something went wrong with the electronic governor. No support from the agent at all, no parts on the net. So I bought a Cromtech 2.4kva same as in the link. Appears to be very good value for money.
That said, i wouldn't be carrying a portable generator on a sub 9 metre boat. Even the "whisper quiet" ones are noisy enough when they are only a couple of meters away. And electrical safety is something you should think about, no real protective earthing. Plus the "no flames" angle--I've seen a portable generator set fire to and sink a 55 foot fibreglass boat. If the boat isn't big enough to have a permanently mounted and well soundproofed genset, stick with 12v, double up on your house batteries for the trip, and throw out a flexible solar panel on the roof if you have to. Make sure all your lighting is LED, right down to your anchor light. And stay away from bloody 12/240 inverters, absolute battery killers, and again, electrically not very safe. Get proper 12v stuff, power draw is only a fraction of inverting it.
I have done a lot of overnight stays over the years, can I suggest that you try to keep it simple for the first few.
We have even had a full size outdoor café heater on the deck to keep warm under as we cooked and ate, mind you we set fire to the tea-towel that we had under the pressure pack camp cooker too though.
Maybe take a thermos of hot soup, simple cook up on a butane pressure pack cooker and see if you like the boat overnighters. I have had the strongest stomached people throw up when out on the boat in true darkness, seasickness can come on quickly with the slightest movements once the sun goes right down and the real dark sets in.
Like it or not you are also likely to have to do number 2's in the morning, plan this before hand.
Good luck and enjoy.
Darren
Supa 4WD still have the 4 stroke 2kw KINGS gen sets for about $350 mine hasn't let me down yet it not much louder than my brothers 1KW honda
I dont run mine for long just to cook and make coffee , it nice and compact and fits between the cabin bunks with the centre cushion covering it.
I take it out and set it up on the transom or if i'm being lazy just on the floor.
Ranmar is correct you still need to be safety conscious when using gen sets it a potentially wet environment but with some common sense and fore thought it's not that hard.
My boat has a loo as well so its user friendly to over nighting.
hmmmmm coffee
BigE
Price check now $429 guess i got mine at the right time.
Doing and awsome deal on 1500w inverters ATM
BigE
Wow, thanks for everyone’s input. How good is boating, fishing, and life !!!
Unfortunately work, kids and grandkids have being consuming my time so have not been able to get back to see the advice.
My wife and I have camped before, including 4 months travelling on our bicycles with a 2 year old carrying all our camping gear. But as has been stated, it is very important the wife is happy and comfortable, and we are now the other side of 50. Upside he wife is keen so, like The RealAndy says we hope “Once you get used to it, its the best camping you will ever do!”.
We have fished the Clyde River a few times. The plan is to overnight as far up the river as viable (past Nelligen). Whilst making our way up the river we will call in and get a couple dozen oysters and catch a few flathead (including spots suggested by RayLamp), we hope, for dinner. Would love to catch a gummy shark. Hadn’t thought about Maloneys Beach. We can motor up to there from Broulee another time.
The boat did not come with a fridge, just 2 x 115L eskies.
The current approach/checklist is:
- Make sure the wife’s needs are covered.
- One of the kill tanks will be the drinks chest for the champagne (see point 1), vodka (see point 1) and beer.
- I like the idea of no flames on board. The boat has 2 batteries already installed. Pretty sure they can be isolated but will check (thanks Spaniard_King). I have a spare deep cycle battery and was going to attach a female car lighter interface. Once we see how much we love it we will look at the best way to power our needs.
- 12v coffee machine (excellent idea as wife loves coffee)
- Some sort of 12v cooker
- 12v fan
- Pre cooked meals
- Croissants (outstanding idea) with fresh flathead in the morning (hopefully).
- Make sure we have water under us at low tide !
- Mossie net.
- Anchor as far away from the shore as possible.
- Drift anchor alarm.
- We have 50 litre fresh water tank. Will be starting to get on the cool side when we go so it might be the warm washer shower (great idea, thanks ranmar850).
- We have plenty of deck space so thinking of sleeping in swags on the deck (thanks for picture Chimo, it gave us the swag idea). Otherwise off to kmart for the mattress topper as chocolatemoose suggested.
- Insect repellent.
- We have an excellent plough and anchor as suggested.
- We have cameras ready to record the first outing, even if only for a night in what is a pretty calm river.
A chemical toilet came with the boat. What is the story with no. 2s. ? In a bag to be stored and thrown out, in the toilet (and only in the morning as Mr_Bean suggested) ?
Once again thanks everyone for their help !
Nick
Posting Permissions
