I vaguely remember a couple of stories from years ago about people adding a propeller to a standard VW Beetle and using it as a boat... I think there was one that crossed the Irish Sea and another that attempted to cross Bass Strait. Does anyone know about these stories or where I could find similar information?
"Malcolm Buchanan crosses the Irish Sea from the Isle of Mann in his roadworthy Beetle."
i dont know about you, but i wouldn't drive that across the bass strait if i valued my life :P
And then there is this one??
I think the first ever was at Perth in 1961/62 at the opening of the Narrows Bridge and Freeway.
Two cardealers Peter Webster and Stuart Campbell drove off the river edge and under the new bridge. It caused a sensation. I am not sure if they ran a
propshaft through bumper to small prop or the wheels turning gave propulsion. The crossing to Rottnest had prop.
Peter's father was Webster Motors in Midland from memory.
[ Edited on 20-2-2006 by Warrenm ]
there was couple who used an orange 1302 to cross the english channel in the late 80's early 90's. Totaly standard bar a prop attatched to the
bottom pully going throug the rear apron and bar
steff.........................
One of the old VW Power magazines had an article about the Bass Strait Beetle. From memory it cost something in the vicinity of $100,000 to build, and it showed up at Valla one year and went for a swim in the lake there.
The one that tried to cross Bass Strait was called Sea-Bug.
the bass strait one is true? wow, has anyone got any pics?
While on the subject of cars at sea, read a book called Half Safe by a man named Ben Carlin. He bought an amphibious Jeep in the 1950s which he modified to make it at least 'half safe' and in which he proceeded to drive and sail around the world. He crossed the Atlantic. It is now kept in Guildford Grammar School here in Perth.
Con from VW Village had a bug that cruised around Sydney Harbour. His got a pic of it at the workshop where his under the harbour bridge and his
fishing off it.
Apparently the bug wasnt the same after it did that trip and died later no matter how much fish oil and kill rust he used
from memory, the same aquabug made at least two failed attempts at crossing the Bass Strait.
can't blame the car, though...many yachts don't make it either.
Mawsons' beetle made it all the way to antarctica but it cheated and used an icebreaker..
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http://naa12.naa.gov.au/scripts/PhotoSearchItemDetail.asp?M=0&B=11680131
[ Edited on 20-2-2006 by buzzbox ]
[ Edited on 20-2-2006 by buzzbox ]
well...................
I know the guys son who built the sea bug and i have seen it very recently in his shed and had abit of a talk with his dad about the car and
unfortunatly it didnt ever end up crossing the bass strait but he said with more time he would have tryed again. The car started off looking fairly
stock but he realized it wasnt gonna work so it slowly got fiber glassed up and a little bow added and a stern added with a outboard leg connected to
the bottom pulley. He went though afew motors because they dont like salt water so he ended up sealing the engine bay and makin air ducks and a salt
strainer for the intake tubes. He still had troubles with cooling because the motor in under constant strain all the time.
Ill talk to his son and get some pics and post them for u guys!
alexxx
[ Edited on 22-2-06 by Alex Holzl ]
Thanks to everyone! I really like the idea of a beetle-boat (boatle?), I'd love to make one some day :P
boatle 
BOATLE??
I once had a 1957 split window (splitty) 4 ton Bedford truck named BOOTLE after a boat named "The Bootle-Bumtrinket", in Gerald Durrell's story My
Family and Other Animals.
HEY!! I've just realised that I used to own a splitty. WOW!! COOL!!
Bumtrinket????? :jesus
It's a piercing that you wouldn't show your mother-in-law.
[ Edited on 22-2-06 by Alex Holzl ]
[ Edited on 22-2-06 by Alex Holzl ]
Your such a tease:o
I have seen a picture of a Beetle (Boatle) perched inside an aluminium dinghy. It looked very top heavy and I doubt if it was seaworthy..
sorry to bring up old posts but would love to c pics i remember going to see it at about 9 years old when it was in tasmania
I saw sea bug do it's thing around Valla on a few occasions.......dont think I'd go to far at sea in it though. May have some pics too.
Certainly the early Valla Show programs regularly featured the sea bug. Surely someone has copies of them.
yea if some one has pics would b good
way back in 1985 a guy called duncan was on a very popular kids tv show in the UK called Blue Peter, there was a spin off show called duncan dares.
one of his challenges was to "drive" a beelte from the UK to Ireland. i believe they made the crossing but the car sank in rough seas on the return
journey, i also understand that there were problems with cooling, salt from the sea coated the motor and restricted air flow!
dont for get the mad men from top gear, heres a pic of their Kombi hitting the high seas!
lol, that was a good episode.... also iv seen an old video, where a guy took a "stock" early beetle across darling harbour..... dont know if there were any mods, but looked pretty stock.......
I think Someone needs to bolt an outboard motor onto the back of a Baja. Perhaps seal up a few other things on the front, but I'd like to dream that it would do better than Jeremy Clarkson's ute version.
we did this for vw village, a beetle in la perouse NSW... will update with some pics if curiosity is evident.
Where are your pics esevwbits? Would love to see, always appreciate crazy creations..