My Australian Bellboy any ideas?

[Dave C]

Heres a newspaper review of the boat from The Age Jan 1970 if anybody wants it with details and photos.

http://news.google.com/newspapers?ni...g=5286,1193749

How cool is that ! I wonder what the exchange rate was in 1970
I would guess "nippy performance" is a good thing.

[Rockdweller]

Australian Bell Boys made till the 1980's

I thought perhaps that people in the States don't realise that the company "Freighter Industries" who built boats under the Bell Boys brand in Australia didn't stop producing them when the USA ones finished in the sixties.

As a result we have models that were never made in the States. I'm no expert on Bell Boys, but there are models of Bell Boy "Yellowtail" built into at least the mid 80's, perhaps later.
- Perhaps someone knows more about Freigher Industries and can tell us more.

I seem to have got a transition model based on a Barracouta hull with the added half cab as per the sixties, but it has some of the features found on the later yellow tail models, perhaps a prototype? I believe it is early 1970'S.

The red boat is an example of a 1985 model Yellowtail - it has a different hull to the earlier barracouta. -plenty of these floating around (pardon the pun).
The brown boat is mine, 70's I guess
The orange boat is an earlier 80's, (late 70's?) note the cab similarity's to mine, but its now part of the hull, it has the same two part opening front hatch and it still has the Barracouta shape hull and length of 14' although the transom is now larger/higher.
And the white boat is one of the old 60's Barracouta's with an added cab to show that while its hull is similar there are internal differences and the cab is quite different.

Anyway if anyone knows more I'd appreciate it.

[Lowell]

Stories or pictures of downunder?

Dennis,
I don't know much about Bell Boys but I sure like the design of the cabin on your boat. I've never been to Australia, a few years ago I was in the Kiwi area.
I would really enjoy reading or see some pictures of where you all go boating.

I heard in Australia you have those large lizards that want to eat you if you happen to be in the water. Do you take any precautions or just ingore them?
In our area we have the Orca and man and beast respect each other, both beast and man like to go up and watch the other while you are out boating. They will sometimes come right up to you and jump out of the water. Once in a while the orca will stick it's head out of the water and look around.

In Washington state we are blessed with large salt water areas and large lakes and rivers to boat on. I'm sure the members would enjoy hearing stories of your beautiful country or maybe a few pictures now and them. We are in our winter and it is damp, windy and rainy so we usually hunker down until the sun returns in a few months so pictures of people having fun on the water would be nice.
Lowell

[Rockdweller]

Tales of Aus

G'day Lowell,

yea I kinda like the look of the cabin from the outside, but of course its really just an add on to the base Brracouta hull, so inside its not really a cabin because you still have the seats going abeam which means you have to climb over them instead of a true cabin arrangement with the seats running along the side.

As for "those large lizards that want to eat you if you happen to be in the water" the salties are only found in the Northern parts (tropics) of Aus so most boaters don't encounter them, but as it happens I come from the north and have encountered them so I can answer your question from experience.

My dad used to take us skiing back in the late 60's/70's in Darwin Harbor and he would run along near the mangroves where the water was calmer sheltered from the wind and when you fell off it was a bit (like a lot) uncomfortable waiting for the boat to come back and to get moving again, but salties being stalkers rather then opportunistic feeders I guess you'd have to be unfortunate to land right next to one. Still I wonder that dad did that!

Years later when I used to be out fishing in deeper open water I'd sometimes see one, but never bothered me because it meant they were in transit moving from one location to somewhere else, most likely driven out by a bigger one. I was always more worried about sharks if for some reason I had to enter the water out in the open.

However a totally different situation if your in amongst the mangroves, as I often was, fishing for saltwater "Barra".
In that case you might be there for quite awhile and suddenly notice one watching you from the edge of the bank, it having been there all along - their camouflage is excellent.
More often you would just notice the eyes of one in the water. In that situation I was not at all interested in entering the water, sleepy they may behave with an infinite amount of patience, but when they want to they can move with astonishing speed.

I recall one instance when my casting lure having got hooked on a mangrove come loose after some minutes from my tugging and dropped into the water between me the the mangrove where it hooked onto something else, I pulled the line and found that I could slowly pull it towards me, assuming it was a loose branch or log.
When I got it near the boat and moving upwards I saw that my lure had in fact snagged onto one of the back ridge fins of a smaller saltie, about 2m (6') and for reasons that I still don't understand he allowed me to pull him gently close to the boat where using an oar I quickly freed the lure before he reacted.
- The point here being, he had positioned himself near the snagged lure waiting to see if any food should fall out the mangrove into the water and if I had been foolish enough to have tried to wade to the snagged lure, I would have walked right onto him.

Mind you I don't think I'd like to be in a tinny with an Orca swimming under it, It would be easy for them to upend a small boat I'd have thought, but maybe they understand not to attack humans.

Croc's don't work that way, we had one called sweetheart who took a dislike to boats and would attack the outboards with the result that people were dumped into the water with a 5m saltie! - they finally killed him in 1979 after this had been going on for about 5 years, (you can read about him on the web).
Personally the biggest one I ever saw was about 6.5m (approx 22') and it was in transit in the middle of the harbor. At that size it would have been capable of levering itself using its tail out of the water high enough to smash over the side of a normal boat or chase you along the shore for a short distance much faster then you could run. - But as I said previously they tend to be stalkers, so your only real problem is making sure you don't follow a pattern, for instance; such as people gutting fish regularly at a boat ramp

[Helmar]

Wow....
Pretty wild. I think we have it pretty cush here, not too many things that will sneak up and get you..
I guess its what your used too, but those critters give me the heebee geebee's.
Very interesting for sure.

[hhaynes]

creatures

At the International G3 meet in Florida, we were cautiioned about getting in the lagoon. My Daughter and Wife watched a stick float across the water. My daughter said "That is a stick" My wife replied, "Uh! It blinked at me". Several of the boats running aroung the lake ran into logs that immeadiatly sank and dissapeared.

I like Oregon where water creatures run away including the ones we want to come in and check our lures.

The biggest things in the Willamette and Columbia rivers are Seals and Sealions that follow the migrating fish 100 mile up the river. They pretty much stay away from the boats but it is unnerving to see a 16 ft Sealion broaching when you are in a 13'9" G3. Glad it is a 40mph boat!!!!

Howard Haynes
28" '73 Carver Monterrey
13'9" Glaspar G3
10' Livingston
2 place Kayak
15' Canoe
Not enough time

[westerner]

In our area we have the Orca and man and beast respect each other, both beast and man like to go up and watch the other while you are out boating. They will sometimes come right up to you and jump out of the water. Once in a while the orca will stick it's head out of the water and look around.


Lowell

Lowell, Since you have had quite a bit of experience with San Juan Islands boating, have you ever seen or heard of anyone being attacked by Orcas?

My story. A few years ago I was winter blackmouth salmon fishing off Whidbey Is. in my boat (16 ft.) and a pod of Orcas went right by us within 20 feet or so. The pod had several new calves with them and a large male had placed himself between the calves and us. It appeared He was considerably larger than my 16 footer and we marveled at his size. They passed by and went on about a mile or so ahead of us until reaching a sandy point where they appeared to be resting and possibly feeding. When we were approximately 1/2 mile from the pod the large male broke away from the others and slowly headed straight at us, slowing nearly to a stop, hunching his back and then slapping his tail on the water. He continued doing that, becoming more violent each time, until he was just a hundred yards or so from us where I abruptly pulled up the gear and turned around. After a minute he went back to his pod. If it was a bluff on his part it sure worked. I got the distinct impression he would of done something serious if I wouldn't have turned around at that time.

After doing some reading on Orcas, I never saw anything about Orcas ever attacking humans in the wild. Maybe they just didn't live to tell about it. My son who kayaks in the San Juans often, says he heard of an instance where one flipped a kayak there. I've been in close quarters with them many times before but never saw anything like that before.

Anyone heard of anything like that?

[Lowell]

orcas, crocs, greys and wolves

I've only had good experiences with orcas, Kent you had a interiesting tail lob, I bet you called it right. I've run into them more on Vancouver Island in my Kayak. Several times we happen to be in their path and they would go just under your boat and it appeared they were within 2 feet of the hull. Other times they would breech, jump out of the water and flip on their back with a large splash within 200 feet of us. I've also been on the shore where I was on a rock wall or ledge and they were within 3 feet of us rubbing their bellys on the rocks below us.

One of the times we were camping on shore and they were in the area so we got into our empty kayaks and sat out on the water and their singing was echoing through our boat hulls.

I've never heard of a kayaker flipping due to an orca but a grey whale--- yes. Those greys don't seem to know where you are sometimes. If you are around them, be on the look out, you never know where they will surface. That is a problem off of Everett in the spring as 2 to 3 grey whales usually hang out between Jetty Island and Whidbey Island. I go out boating 2 or 3 times every spring just to watch them in Rebel.

The only animal that ever gave us trouble while on kayak trips are the wolves who would raid our camp and steal our gear and chew on wet suits and wellingtons. The gear they stole were a water proof bag with camera in it, and water bags that contained water. I know they were wolves doing it as I saw them when I got up early and one was walking down the beach with gear in its mouth.

Thank you for the stories of the crocs, I'm sure glad we don't have them here. I don't think I would ever enter the water with them around or even close by.

Anyone had any experiences with grey whales or any other animals out there boating, ie.... racoons while tied up to a dock in a state park or baby seals nursing on the swim step ladders?

[Rockdweller]

Safe place in Aus

Thats pretty amazing about the Orca's not being a problem even if your in a kayak, they could so easily take you out in that situation if they wanted to when you consider what they do to larger animals in the sea such as Great Whites.

If they even had half the aggression of our Saltie's you'd be in trouble.

I guess one gets used to the dangers around you, I never really gave it much thought growing up and living in the North of Aus, but there are so many dangerous animals here that the crocs just become another one.

Between dodging the Crocs & White pointers we also have poisonous snakes / various poisonous spiders / poisonous box jelly fish / poisonous blue ring octopus / poisonous rays and stone fish. - oh did I mention the word poisonous? even the darn cute mixed up looking Platypus has a poisonous spur.

There's a little song that goes along the lines of " Come to Australia' you might accidentally get killed" go here to hear it and have a laugh:
http://www.lowyinterpreter.org/post/...Australia.aspx

a few more pic's (not taken by me) that might be of interest: - the second to last is a kangaroo and a King Brown, which worry me a lot more then crocs! -and the last is a wild boar, not a buffalo as you might assume by the size.

I like the sound of these friendly Orca's by comparison.

[Come to Australia it's fun - but you might get killed!]

[Lowell]

I'm 54 and want to live a little longer.

Great pictures and stories, Thank you I won't be rushing over to Australia to die just yet. Do you have any stories or pictures of where boaters go in small Bell Boy style boats in that deadly country of yours?

[westerner]

Another whale of a story!

Lowell,
Here is another one, this time with Greys.
Again, we were winter salmon fishing off Whidbey, this time near Greenbank (Fox spit). We were in an 18ft. aluminum Washington State Research boat, weighing, measuring and releasing salmon to determine general health of the species. My friend spotted some "blows" a few miles away and asked if we wanted to get in a little closer to check them out. They were evidently feeding on Krill right in the shallows near the beach, thumping their jaws in the sand to bring up the shrimp, then feeding on them. Shutting off the motor, the light wind and opposite tide held us almost stationary out a quarter of a mile or so from them. After watching them in awe for a few minutes, they stopped and being curious creatures, started slowly moving towards us in single file. They proceeded to come up to us, going under and around the boat so close you could have touched them with a fishing pole, all the while blowing this warm water all over us that smelled like cooking sea kelp. We could see the barnacles on their backs as the passed under, and it seemed like we could just reach in and pick one off. They then headed back to their feeding beach with the last one going under the boat, and bringing up it's massive tail just inches from the bow. The most unbelievable thing was I forgot my camera, and so did my friends!

You better believe that has never happened again.

[Rockdweller]

Kent / Diane
Gee I'd love to see the whales like that. Such huge munificent creatures.

I've seen Dugongs a few times and even had a full size Manta Ray jump right next to our dingy - that sure made me jump, glad he didn't hit the boat, he would of sunk us, but nothing the size of a whale.

Lowell, haven't got any stories etc in regards the Bell Boy since I just got it recently.
Decided it must be a 69/70 year based on the fact the aux 6hp that came with it is a 69 model, (the main was changed a few years ago the previous owner told me) and it fits neatly between the older style of the 60's and the early Yelllowfins of the 70's. - (pic of a 1975 Yellowfin shown for comparison if your interested)

Dennis

[westerner]

G'day Dennis-
Yes, it sounds like it's a bit safer here out on the water than in Australia! Unbelievable creatures you have down there! What is a Dugong? Not familiar with that.

Where do you go boating where you're at? With that kind of wildlife around, I'd look for a boat with lots of freeboard to be sure.

Really like your boat. Somewhat similar to my boat which basically has the same hull as a Bell Boy manufactured in the Pacific Northwest area. Evidently designed by the same guy. Mine is a 1958 Westerner made in San Diego Calif. What appealed to me was the raised cabin as compared to some of the period. Easily accessed.

Kent

[Rockdweller]

G'day Kent,

A Dugong is a similar animal (but not the same) to a Manatee, it has a fluted tail like a dolphin and lives entirely in the sea, so its behavior is also different and consequently is harder to see since it can be many miles out from the coast.

I've moved fairly recently down towards the bottom of Australia (Victoria) after quite a few years of living in the dry interior, so boating has been a non event for about 10years, although after running boats commercially with a Masters ticket it was quite a change.

This area (I'm in Geelong near Melbourne) gives access to either the very large Port Philip Bay with lots of shipping, or the open Southern ocean. As the Southern Ocean is one of the most dangerous waters in the world, I don't think I'll be using the Bell Boy out there very far. I brought it for use in the Bay, deliberately keeping small.

Wildlife wise - nothing dangerous in this area, nothing of any great size, in fact quite boring after the North.
I'm still struggling with the idea that a good catch size for fish in the south is what I would have thrown back up North as too small..go figure.

Your boat looks to have a blunter nose then our type which is in keeping with the 50's still following wood hull lines, but the rest seems quite similar, whats the actual length and beam?
Mine is a smidgen under 4m/13" (straight not gunwale) with a beam of 1.73m/5'8"

Dennis

PS, I seem to have double posted, can anyone tell me how do I fix that?

[westerner]

Dennis,
My boat measures right about the same as yours, if I'm figuring the metric conversion correctly. We're still in the process of converting over to metric, if we ever do.

It measures 4.7 meters (16 feet) straight (not gunwhale), with a beam of 1.60 meters (5'10") best I can figure. Someone please correct me if I'm wrong.


Not sure about the double posting problem, maybe our webmaster can help with that.

Bet you have great fishing there.
Best, Kent