The number of Boat Hire operators in Australia has also been extended.   Last,but no least there’s a new facebook page for Australian Boat Guide, with a few snaps of the toys available at the Trailer Boat show.

Note: This boat has been sold.

Here’s the details of the listing:

Bought new on 29-Nov-2010. Used for one summer (about 10 times) and upgraded to a bigger inflatable for this summer. The boat and engine are in fantastic condition with the engine flushed with fresh water after every run.

Boat specifications

• Overall length: 2.9m
• 3Chambers: 3 Main + Inflatable keel + Air Floor
• Person Capacity: 4

Outboard specifications

• 5HP 4 stroke
• Weight: 24.5 kg
• Gear Positions: Forward – Neutral – Reverse

Additional

• Repair kit
• Carrying Bag
• Oars
• Pump
• Two Seats
• Towing Rope
• Owners manual for both boat and engine

It’s been a while since I’ve updated some ramps on here, so I took the opportunity to add a couple on a recent visit to the Central Coast.  There are now photos added for:

Woy Woy Boat Ramp, Woy Woy Channel Boat Ramp, Parsley Bay Boat Ramp, Mooney Mooney, and several boat ramps in Brooklyn.

At the Sydney Boat Show, I had a chat with a chap called James from Bay Sports – he sells a number of interesting things so we’ll read more about him later.  His business has a great line of water toys – trampolines, slides, etc for both personal or commercial use which would be absolutely fantastic in summer.

The sales pitch is pretty good.  No matter how big or small your boat, once you get somewhere the kids are going to get bored. Instantly.   So, you inflate your toys, anchor them – attach life jackets to kids – and you have instant entertainment.  If it’s as fun as it looks, you probably also have a collection of instant friends too as I can imagine with one of these beasties anchored off the beach kids would come running from far and wide.

There are a large range of different toys which all connect together if required – my personal favourite is the “Blast Off” (shown in the inset) where you can launch people into the air with ease.  You can see the full range at their site.

The only problem I have with this is going to be: how do I convince the wife that we “need” one.

They say no battle plan survives contact with the enemy – my visit to the boat show was no exception. This is the first time I’ve been to the Sydney Boat show and my plan was to go there and talk with as many people as possible. I particularly wanted to talk with people about Australian Boat Guide and it’s mission to help people who want to get started and get maximum enjoyment out of boating.   Unfortunately, there is just too much nice equipment there and I ended up mainly wandering around looking at expensive toys.

I found plenty of interesting stuff and I’ll add this to the site over the coming days.  Unfortunately, this will mean another visit to the show is required

What did I find ?

A great line of water play equipment – for personal and commercial use.  A selection of cleaning equipment for trailer boats (it sounds dull I know but it isn’t, trust me).   I had a good chat with a company that specialises in trailer repairs and customisations and I’m promised that there could be some articles about trailer maintenance so the day wasn’t a total loss as far as Australian Boat Guide is concerned.

Wandering around the marina, I drank water straight out of the harbour.  Thankfully, it was in a bottle of water courtesy of R Electronics from a demo desalinator unit .

Checked out some cheap good value inflatable boats, some expensive yachts and plenty of bowriders and fishing boats. There are some great deals and discounts to be had at the show – an inflatable with a 15hp Motor ideal as a first boat can be grabbed for $2600 if you know where to look.

I’ll just load up a few pictures and let them do the talking for now.  I need to go back and spend some time looking at the entry-level boats.

The Marina

Chaparral

Sunseeker Manhattan 60

But actually, the boat ramp was a treat – in great condition, and I could have brought the boat with me easily and launched no dramas.  Of course, it was winter which probably impacted the parking – but – at least I managed to get another ramp added to the Sydney Harbour Boat Ramp guide.

For the full story on this ramp, click here to see it in the guide.

As a novice boater I was (and still am) a bit concerned about the state and ease of use of boat ramps.  It took me a bit longer to get my boat on and off the trailer, a bit longer to get my motor started, and let’s not talk about my trailer reversing and parking.   So I wanted to have a look at the ramp before I went.

That’s where the inspiration of the boat ramp map came from;  a way for people to see the ramp, it’s exact location and nearby facilities and photos without needing to visit it first.

Check it out under “Boat Ramp Guide” – it’s broken down by region, and so far Sydney boat ramps is the most complete.

My new theme looks a lot nicer than the other site, and hopefully the cleaner design will make the site much more easy to use than before.

As before, we have the two key features of the site up and running – the boat ramp maps which show the location of boat ramps, and, as soon as I get the chance to visit each one – photos and useful information about it.    The dealer directory is also new, and is basically designed to just let you find your nearby boat dealers.  Nothing more than that.

The main thing I like about the new design of the site is it can combine both a website and blog in one package.  This will let me post when new content is added – as well as include it in the site.

All of the Sydney Boatramps I’ve visited have now been moved over to the new site.  I have also added ramps in Darwin and South Australia, as well as the boat dealer directory.

Some of the maps are not fully functional yet, and there is still a lot of work to do – but it’s coming together nicely.   Let me know what you think.

Mike