Coorong Travellers

LONGTAIL powered Coorong Traveller

Longtail Long
by CRAIG NELSON

designed by Robert Ayliffe

by October 21 the boat was finished (~60 hours) and the Longtail as well. A few changes were made to the Vietnamese Longtail design, a lot of their canoes had GX160 Honda motors direct driving a 2 bladed prop running anti clockwise at up to 3800rpm. I couldnt find a prop like that so I bought a secondhand 6-8hp 3 bladed prop off a Johnson outboard ($25). Like the Vietnamese I used a GX160 honda (5.5hp 4 stroke stationary motor) that I borrowed off a spare water pump. I mounted the motor on top of the tail, turned it around and through a v belt and two pulleys, managed to get the motor at max 3800rpm, to drive the prop at ~1800rpm clockwise. I turned up a nylon bush for the wet end of the tail and a bearing housing for motor end (5/8 shaft stainless). I then fabricated a stainless leg, skeg and anti cavitation plate and a motor mount, tiller and spring loaded idler etc, in mild steel for ~$150 and 15 hours time. A friend who shall remain nameless helped the last night with a spray on clear 2 pak finish. I added some extra buoyancy compartments to the design. I suggested at 11pm not to worry about fitting the covers and hatch, but the nameless friend decided it might be a good idea to do so, at midnight the boat was finished.

ETURNING from a holiday in Vietnam in March 2002, and having spent a fair bit of time in various size boats from the Mekong Delta to Hanoi, from canoes to 50 seaters, they all shared several thins in common. 1. always Longtail powered; 2. always long and skinny; 3. always operating in very shallow water at very high speeds. Returning home to the farm I decided that a longtail powered fast canoe would be just the shot for the lakes and rivers around the district where we live (near Stirling Ranges in Western Australia). A search of the net for plans left me a little confused, I chanced upon Australian Amateur Boatbuilder #37 in the newsagent and opened up and found Duck Flat-Wooden Boats had just released plans for the Coorong Traveller, which looked like just what I wanted. I purchased the plans and some materials in Perth and started work in July in the lounge room of an unused old spare house on the farm, complete with open fireplace for those frosty days. I then learnt about the wonder of stitch and glue and Bote Cote, particularly how when thickened for fillets, it sets like granite and takes a fair bit of sanding. Working mostly after dinner and the odd Sunday,

64 Australian Amateur Boatbuilder

Next morning we were all too busy to find a decent stretch of water for a maiden voyage, so a small dam in a gate swamp near the shed was chosen instead. I went out first and was a bit nervous, so I sat low in the boat and putted around the dam five times and chased the ducks. So then it was time for the nameless friend to have a go, with a comment along the lines of I know boats, sat up on the seat and motored about five metres heading for the bank when the MK2 tiller came up against his body, so he just leant back and tipped the boat upside down, which stopped the Honda pretty quick. The particular dam has a large duck population so the water is black and full of duck poo and who knows what else, he came up gasping minus glasses with mobile phone floating away. The nameless friend had to continue with his day without a shower due to Western Power having a fault somewhere. After draining oil, fuel and taking out spark plug and drying out motor it started and was fine. The second test a week later with the MkII tiller was way better, we found the faster we went the more stable the boat was, we also found the prop

OUTBOARD powered Coorong Traveller

was too big for the motor when loaded up and we stayed dry! I then machined a bit off the prop in a lathe (a bit too much). A mate, Graham Laslett from Perth, also built a Coorong traveller but runs a 3.3hp Mariner outboard instead, so on a visit to Perth we took up the Longtail and handheld GPS for trials on the Swan River. We found the Longtail with one person is good for 17.5kph and two people 15kph, with the 3.3 Mariner speed is up to 22kph with one person, 20kph with two up, however at full speed it can cavitate badly and have to slow right down. The main difference being the stares the Longtail gets from the other river users, wanting to know what the F*#@ was that going past? The Longtail is a lot heavier motor and a lot of its weight is high, so it feels more unstable than the outboard but however shallow the water, if the boat floats the Longtail will drive. A recent trip up the Kalgan River was a bit scary, with a 3.6m dinghy with 15hp and three pissed yobs pulling alongside whilst travelling, asking directions and then left at full throttle, the wake they threw up nearly tipped us out and we took a bit of water on as well. Later in the day we saw the head yob standing up swaying around, as we went past. We plan to explore our local rivers and take camping and fishing gear with us. Thanks again to Duck Flat for a great design. The project was a great way to forget about the drought for a while last year. I have caught the bug and have lots of plans, and catalogues but cant decide whats next yet. I
Australian Amateur Boatbuilder 65

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