Anglers enjoying the opening of the fishing season on Lake Tarawera near Rotorua today spotted this unusual craft trolling for fish! One of the flags says For Sale. Photo / Supplied
Anglers enjoying the opening of the fishing season on Lake Tarawera near Rotorua today spotted this unusual craft trolling for fish! One of the flags says For Sale. Photo / Supplied
They say Kiwis have a "number 8 wired" do-it-yourself attitude.
And that's certainly the case for three men who turned an old caravan into a fully functioning boat in stunning fashion.
On Monday the DIY caravan owner was pictured sailing his converted vehicle on Lake Tarawera near Rotorua.
A photographercaptured the moment the DIY goer turned boat owner was out on the water enjoying the opening of fishing season, casting a line out the front of his caravan.
Anglers enjoying the opening of the fishing season on Lake Tarawera near Rotorua today spotted this unusual craft trolling for fish! One of the flags says For Sale. Photo / Supplied
A fishing line and fishing net can be seen off the front of the caravan ready to hook the next catch, with the caravan's windows stripped out completely.
One of the flags flying on the caravan says "for sale", sparking locals' interest in buying the unique creation.
The Waiuku men behind the caraboat — Matthew Douglas, Darrin Burns and Willy Timmins — created the hybrid vehicle in 2016 after they found a caravan rotting in a paddock.
Burns, who is a mechanic by trade, teamed up with his friends to make sure the caravan was seaworthy, taking six weeks to convert it into a boat.
The boat can reach speeds of 15 knots, can be launched from the back of a car and is steered from a wheelset in the central table on the inside of the caravan.
Polystyrene foam was added to the caraboat to ensure positive buoyancy.
According to Douglas, who is a welder and fitter, the seagoing caravan is safer on sea than it is on the road, he told Seven Sharp in 2016.
In 2015 the same group of friends made headlines after they converted a Subaru Impreza into an amphibious vehicle that could be driven on water.
The car-turned-boat had a 17 pitch propeller and came with an engine that used between seven and 10 litres of petrol while on water. Photo / Trade Me
The car-turned-boat had a 17 pitch propeller and came with an engine that used between seven and 10 litres of petrol while on water.
Despite not being road worthy, the men put the device on Trade Me and eventually sold it for $3000.
"The craft comes complete with all the mod cons of a car and also the extreme luxuries of a high-end boat," the men wrote on their Trade Me description.
"With its offshore capabilities and its exceptional landing qualities, it would be hard for the military to go past even today."
In February this year, three men converted a picnic table into a raft and floated across Lake Taupō.
The homemade contraption made it across 41km of lake. Photo / Taupo & Turangi Weekender
Built by Turangi man Matt O'Meeghan, the picnic table's voyage, Float For A Cause, had a serious quest — to raise money for the Cameron Wilson Trust.
The Turangi-based trust helps families with children hospitalised with cancer. It is run by local man David Griffiths, a leukaemia survivor who lost his 14-year-old godson to cancer in 2008 at the age of 14. All money donated goes directly to families.
It may sound unwieldy, but the picnic table, powered by an 8-horsepower outboard engine successfully conquered Lake Taupō, steaming 41km from Stump Bay near Turangi to Two Mile Bay in a record-breaking (for a floating picnic table) time of nine and a half hours.
