23-05-2025
Tradie goes viral for incredibly bold weekend project: 'Most Australian boat ever'
A tradie and his mates have gone viral online for making a boat out of a picnic table, large olive oil drums and an esky to go cruising in on the weekend.
Kurt, 34, who opted to only tell Yahoo News his first name, said the idea started as a joke until one of his friends bought heaps of olive oil barrels on Facebook Marketplace, informing the group they really ought to make their dream a reality.
"We thought, alright, we're going to have to do it then... it only took us about five hours in the end," the mechanic told Yahoo. "It's basically a picnic table fastened to the olive barrels — they're used as floats... we made sure to make the backend quite strong to hold all the weight and clamped on the small engine."
Footage of the "picnic boat" in action shows Kurt and five mates heading down the Swan River in Perth before cruising along the coast once they hit the ocean.
"We had lifejackets strapped underneath to the 'boat'... and it did have an esky built in it. Carlton Drys were pretty popular so it was an all-round decision to enjoy a few."
"There were plenty of memorable moments, as you can imagine it's not every day you see a bunch of lads floating down the river on a picnic table. Plenty of people on the water got a good laugh," he said.
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The group of mates enjoyed the "picnic boat" on several occasions but Kurt admitted it's now "pretty destroyed" and the vessel has been retired for years. The footage was captured over six years ago, with Kurt only deciding to share it online now he's started to build other whacky inventions, explaining the 'boat' sparked his imagination.
He recently made a "gas powered hot water dog wash on wheels" as well as other practical guides to help Aussies update their home and yard.
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