Chelsea and James have spent the past few years doing what most of us daydream about - travelling Australia full-time in their self-converted Troopy, chasing good weather, wild places and the best stretches of coastline in the country. Sand To Snow has grown from life on the road into a community built around getting outdoors, having a crack and sharing the whole lot as it happens. Safe to say, they’re our kind of people.
The Tinny:
4.52 seascape Titan 2008 Hull and 2022 outboard with modified off road Mackay trailer. Best used for island overnighters, dive and fishing missions, skurfing.
How many years have you been on the road now?
We left at the start of February 2022, so it’s been about 4 and a bit years now. We’ve been home in-between to build new setups and work on our current setup, but for the most part we’ve been living on the road full time.
How many tinnies have you had and what were the previous ones?
On our first lap of Australia in 2022, we travelled with a rooftop tinny while towing a trailer with a quad bike on the back. The boat was only 3.7m with a 20hp 2 stroke Yamaha on the back, so it was pretty small. We somehow still managed to get out to the Muiron Islands off Exmouth in it! It definitely taught us a lot though. We were pretty young and naive back then and definitely learnt a few things the hard way.
When did you get this tinny, where from and why this one?
We picked this tinny up in Benalla Victoria at the start of 2023. It was already pretty well set up for fishing up north, with a cast deck, Minn Kota, third wheel and a swing out drawbar, so basically everything we wanted was already there.
It also had a year-old Yamaha outboard with very low hours which was a massive win. There was also heaps of storage, which was something we really needed because we seem to have 100 different hobbies between us. It’s a solid hull and the perfect size for us. Not too small, but not too big for full time travel either.
What have been the upgrades that you have found essential for life on the road?
Definitely our swing out drawbar and third wheel for beach launching. Its saved us from getting our car in the saltwater countless times especially with the big tides up Northern WA. Our sound system setup is another one. It makes those big sends and long hours trawling on the water a bit more fun (an essential non essential haha).
And a raised cast deck for extra storage. We’ve been able to fit so much of our dive gear, wetsuits and fishing gear up the front and keep it all out of the way. It’s freed up so much space in the Troopy and makes a huge difference when you’re living out of it full time.
What are the things that would be nice to have but you’re doing without?
A bigger boat and a bigger outboard. We would love a 5-6m but they all have their pros and cons.
Best part about travelling with a boat?
The best part has to be the places it can take you and the marine life you get to see. Some of our favourite days and best memories on the road have been spent out on the water. It opens up a whole other world and gives you so many more things to do when you’re living on the road. Having the boat gives us a reason to get out and explore and keeps us motivated rather than sitting around camp all day.
Worst part about travelling with a boat?
Probably towing it everywhere and driving down dead-end tracks, only to realise you have to reverse the whole way back out. It definitely makes some places a little harder to get into especially when you’re trying to squeeze down a tight beach track or find a campsite.
There’s also the maintenance that comes with having a boat and trailer. Living on the road means everything gets used pretty hard and boat trailers love to crack and fall apart at the worst times (hence why we carry a little mig welder in the troopy which we have actually used soooo much).
Most memorable experience you’ve had with the tinny?
We’ve found that the adventures you don’t plan usually end up being the best. Our top three that come to mind are:
-
A glass out day heading towards Sudbury Cay off Cairns. It was some of the most insane glass out conditions we’ve ever seen. We only planned to head out to Fitzroy Island but ended up having an epic day diving and fishing the reef.
-
Jumping in the water to swim with 4 sailfish on the outer reef along the Ningaloo
-
An overnight trip around the Whitsunday Islands with our mates, covering around 170km. We camped on an island in tiny pretty crappy tent, made it out to Whitehaven Beach, fished, swam and just spent the whole time out on the water.
Sketchiest moment?
We went out to Truant Island off Nhulunbuy in East Arnhem Land a few years back, which is around 60km offshore. We headed out on a not so good weather day (stupid yes) It was rough as guts with big swell and sideways wind chop and we got absolutely saturated, but the boat actually didn’t feel too unsafe. It’s surprising how well it handles rough weather. That was also the overnight island mission that somehow managed to rip our entire boat wrap off.
What’s your most asked question at campsites?
"What size boat would you recommend for full time touring?"
We always say somewhere around 4.2m to 4.8m is the perfect size for full time touring. Anything bigger than 4.8m starts getting to that borderline annoying stage to tow around everywhere and can limit the camp spots and beaches you can access. Anything smaller than 4.2m can start to limit you when you want to head out wide. For us, somewhere in that 4.2m to 4.8m range is the sweet spot.
What’s one thing you’ll absolutely never put on your boat?
Probably anything white. Between fish blood and red dirt there’s no chance we’d keep it clean. Also carpet (even though half of our boat is currently carpet haha). We find it so impractical as it's hard to clean and can rip pretty easily especially after being in the sun for a while. We replaced half of our carpet with sea deck (which is foam flooring) and it's 100 times better.
