Steve Cameron

How does the idea of a multi-day row-boat journey down the Derwent River in southern Tasmania sound as a relaxing escape? To be carried along by the current, stop to play in small rapids, speed along under your own power, visit sites of historical and scenic interest along the way, and all done staying in comfortable accommodation.

I've had the idea to create such an opportunity, but need some start-up funds to prove its viability. Specifically to create a suitable row-boat and travel the length of the river. I am an keen amateur boat builder, if the trip is as successful as I think it will be, I'll then build more such boats so I can guide others down the river too.

So this first trip is going to be for research purposes, to try out the boat design that I have in mind and see how long it will take to do the trip, and so on.

So far I've not heard of anyone doing this particular trip down the Derwent River by rowing, though its done frequently by kayakers. In my opinion, rowing is going to be better than paddling a kayak as the river has many flat water sections, including some long lakes behind hydro dams, and rowing is easier than paddling on flat water.

I have been keen on recreational rowing for a few years, people have been building some very nice rowing skiffs for this purpose and doing some interesting trips, including myself. For this trip though I want to design and build a different kind of boat, a very simple design for low-cost construction, and very robust to handle the bumps and scrapes that are inevitable in a river.

I want to start the journey as far upstream as I can. This is at Lake St Clair (see the image below). I'll then follow the river all the way down to Hobart. I cannot do the whole river length as its been diverted (for hydro electricity production) in an upper section.



This will make it an interesting adventure that I can document and publish an account of,  I'll probably also keep going once I reach Hobart and go as far south as I can get, to Recherche Bay. This longer journey could take up to 8 days in total. If I go ahead and organise to take others down later on, I'll most probably not start the trip at Lake St Clair, due to the diversion mentioned, but lower down and finish the journey either in New Norfolk or in Hobart.

At the moment I have no regular work, so this idea is an attempt to try something new. As my cash reserves are non-existent I'm hoping that I can get sufficient funding via Pozible to get this business idea 'off-the-ground', or should that be 'on-the-water'. Now I am looking for seed funding to show it's a viable proposition, I am seeking your kind support to do this. I intend that my early Pozible supporters will have priority for booking trips if and when I can bring the guided trip idea to fruition.




I really love the Tassie outdoors and creating an environmentally sensitive tourism venture that gives people a different but very safe and relatively undemanding outdoor experience is what I am seeking to do here. Not everyone can or wants to carry a heavy pack into the wilderness. Travelling by water, and in this case down a scenic river, provides this opportunity - as the famous quote goes: "Believe me, my young friend, there is nothing—absolute nothing—half so much worth doing as simply messing about in boats."


Although me doing this first trip is for a specific reason, to test the guided trips idea out, the rewards that I am offering relate to the boat that I will design and build. If I make the decision to go ahead with the guided trips then I'll probably make that a separate Pozible project. So at this point what I am seeking in money is a relatively modest $1500, I do want to see this happen and your assitance will make it happen much sooner.

The row-boat will be suitable for recreational rowing on flat and open-water, be stable and light enough for one person to lift on and off a roof-rack (a bit heavier than a 5m plastic sea-kayak I envisage) and capable of taking a passenger.  I'll make the plans of the boat available to my Pozible sponsors for free along with good building instructions. Construction will be done by  the easy stitch-and-glue method and incorporate built-in foam bouyancy for safety.

The funds sought are mostly for materials to build the boat ($500), rowing fittings ($500) and some good camera equipment ($200-300), needed for documenting the journey and a few other items ($200) . Construction will take about 2-3 weeks total time.

To buy the boat and rowing equipment new would likely to be over $4500 and then not be ideally suitable for this kind of trip. I can probably halve that cost based on my past experience.

Main obstacle is safety. I'm very conscious of this and see the kind of boat that I will build as being the safest way other than using an inflatable dingy to make this trip, but rowing is faster on the flat stretches and there are lots of those on the Derwent River! Row boats are used on the Colorado River rapids in the Grand Canyon surprisingly enough, my design will imitate them by having a flat bottom.