Notopala Sublineata

an Interesting tail

Most of you know the early part of the story. Fancy houseboat with mates. Top deck late at night.

Dave and I with a bottle of Jamieson’s stolen from Tony:

Dave: Chris, we should build a raft and float down the Murray

Chris: Yeah. Right. (and promptly forgot the event).

Months later

Dave: Let’s get started.

Chris: on what? Oh OK

I came up with 2 alternatives

Six 44 gallon drums with some planks lashed across, or

PVC pipe and glue from Bunnings, Albury, with lots of polystyrene offcuts from an Albury packing

house.

Dave: It might take 2 years to drift down.

Chris: I’ll make time.

Dave: You have some irritating habits. I’d strangle you in less than 2 months.

Chris: OK, I’ll bring my canoe paddle. One day to get the materials and build the boat. Then down

the river.

Dave: It’s 1987 km

Chris: Oh. Maybe a Hobie Mirage drive thing, or one of those springy hydrofoil gizmos where we

both have to jump vigorously all the way down the river or we’ll sink.

I relegated the whole idea to a suitable place, but Dave got on with boat design. After much

deliberation he came up with . . . . . . . . . wait for it . . . . . . . . a rectangle!! Nice work Dave! KISS.

Months pass

Emy: Chris, let’s go to Adelaide. The show will be on in September. We can see Ray’s Carnie mates,

and Dave and Sue.

Dave cornered me in a café and showed me his rectangle.

Chris: Oh OK. Let’s build that, put a little outboard on it, and Robert’s our relative, and we can get

the thing over.

Dave: Oh no Chris. We must be environmentally sensitive.

Chris: OK. Batteries and a little electric outboard, plus a detailed list of places with power sockets.

Dave: Insufficient degree of difficulty. Let’s use solar panels.

Chris: and connect them to our electric outboard but do the whole trip standing on our heads and

juggling chainsaws.

Dave: Well, maybe, but it’s the Murray. For tradition’s sake we’ll have to make it a paddle-wheeler.

Chris: What, with a huge wheel out the back. That’ll take a lot of power!

Dave: Not really, if we build 2 side-wheels, and drive them with washing machine motors

Chris: Eeeeeaaaaaaaarrrrrrggggghhhhhhhhh!!!&*!

September 2017. We went to Bunnings (several actually, in South Australia – not Albury), bought

lots of cheap ply (meant for concrete formwork) and a staple gun and glue and got to work on the

rectangular egg crate. At Dave and Sue’s Finniss bush block where little tweety birds become quite

enchanting (by comparison with the alternative focus of attention).

Nice bookshelf Dave. Charmingly irregular. And why are the corners so complicated?

Why is it curved like that? Degree of difficulty, Chris.

Dave spent a couple of months thinking up more complications. Then, in December 2017

Making and painting paddles Painting the hull and preparing it for an attempted

drop on Chris’ toes.

Then Dave and Sue’s friend “Aid” from WA helped build paddle wheel covers, while Dave immersed

himself in figuring out how to operate and control those damned complicated new-fangled million-

pole washing machine motors. Some of you will be excited by the next photo.

He also decided that after travelling down the Murray on this thing, we should arrive at Goolwa in

time for the biennial Wooden Boat Festival in April. And it was already Christmas. Riiiiiiiiggght.

At the end of March I went back south for final touches, sea trials, mounting the thing on the trailer

which Sue had purpose-built, floating down the river and making the grand entry at Goolwa. When I

arrived I got an inkling of what “final touches” means, and the first engine was still on the test

bench, occasionally twitching feebly and uncontrollably. I finished up the same way.

Chris doing stuff while Dave prays.

For the boat show we need $10 million liability cover. Need to get the hull on the trailer and down to

the insurance guy at Goolwa. Dave, did you give the trailer manufacturer the right dimensions? We

got it down the hill. The insurance guys had a good laugh, but mostly with us, not at us. What got us

over the line was the fact that Dave based his hull shape on something Bryan Lowe did. The

insurance guys grabbed onto that. “We’ll say it’s a Bryan Lowe design”. Yep, it’s a rectangle.

Back up the hill Lots more to do, and we still did not have the motors working. But a few days later

we loaded it up again and headed for Clayton’s bay where you have Clayton’s sea trials.

Will it float? Yes Rigorous trial program

Takes a few hours to fit the paddle wheels’ paddle wheels, sponsons (great word. It means kind of

side-deck thingys) motors, solar panels etc. I only have video of this (no stills - but the support crew

took some) and am not yet set up to make the links. But it all worked IT ALL WORKED! apart

from a couple of problems with reversing. Minor really, though potentially deadly – like if we could

not back away from a waterfall.

Sea Trial Crew: Chris, Dave, Di, Ann and Neil Back up the hill so the Fixit Crew could do its

thing.

And Amy from far Western climes came o’er to lend a hand

A few more hectic days – including shopping trips for Chris so Dave could focus on the motors. Back

on the trailer (another few hours), and off to

Wombat Rest, for rebuild and launch tomorrow. It all still works!

On a reasonable day we can go all day at about 5 km/h and put enough in the battery for some

hours at night. Yeah!

The paddles go round at Wood’s Flat Dry and snug on a rainy evening

Followed by lagoon sunrise And Yuloh practice

Dress uniform day

Now about that festival. Break it down again. Put it on the trailer again. Drive to Goolwa in a big

storm. Take everything apart and dry our all the gear from the hatches where the rain got in (that’s

all of the hatches)

Tart up the livery with snail theme by Carolina

and golden ratio spiral

Back on the trailer. Down to the water. Back off the trailer. Few hours of assembly . . .

and we’re off to the boat festival supervised by the Financial Constraints Officer

Photos from a couple of the sail-past parades. Best one was the paddle-wheelers parade.

The Oscar W and 2 other giant and venerable vessels and Notopala

second shot curtesy of Paddle Boat News

Capn Chris – All at Sea (well, not quite) And, after 2 beautiful days, we sail away

next morning in the rain.

Now, about that paperwork!

Done

until we float down the river next summer