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Having sold Joint Venture quickly, Adam and I settled on a 7.9m Cheetah Cat with twin 150hp outboards to continue our boat fishing partnership. We checked out four on the market at the time, and settled on one in Belgium that was being used by a commercial fisherman there. (Apparently a 7 tonne bass quota is not enough to be worth the effort!) Three years old, very basic spec but engines and electronics were in good order. Within a few weeks the boat was brought over to Ramsgate, transported to my drive, VAT paid and settled in for the winter to be prepared for the 2024 season. It soon became apparent that there was a gulf between a Belgian fisherman’s “that’ll” do self installation and Adam’s near OCD desire for everything to be spot on. So I did my bit by keeping out of the way in New Zealand while Adam and Rob got stuck in, mainly rewiring everything, adding an oven and galley, fitting side rails and a custom cool box/bait board/rod holder as well as a good clean, cut and polish + anti-foul and with a few tweaks she was good to go. BEFORE - Belgian wiring AFTER - Rob’s wiring New Galley - oven, stove and sink in Adam’s hand made unit finished in Cheetah Grey to match interior. Custom frame for IceyTek cool box and bait board Adam and I both joined North Haven Yacht Club, taking one of their swinging moorings. While we were sad to lose the convenience of a fork lift launch and recovery and a pontoon walk to the boat - we resented the 45% price increase in two years and the take it or leave it attitude that prevailed. NHYC is proving to be a vibrant friendly club of c 600 members who all muck in to keep costs down and make it a success. Unfortunately we lost a few weeks as Poole Boat Transport no longer seemed to be trading, but Malcolm Elvy came to the rescue, lifted Kodiak last Saturday and after squeezing down a lane between two Sunseeker factories, quietly dropped us in opposite Poole Quay. Engines started first time, we dropped our new tender off on our mooring and we set off for our first proper sea trial and a quick fish. Our focus was on checking all systems, and establishing speed v fuel consumption. First impressions were the flat ride, low noise and ease of manoeuvring. Flat out she gave 30knots but 20 knots was the sweet spot in terms of fuel per nautical mile. The only items requiring attention was to calibrate the auto pilot and adjust the throttle controls. VIDEO-2024-05-21-10-26-24.mp4 In the short fishing time available we managed a few bream, some mackerel, some small bass, a smoothound and an LSD for good measure. And we managed to test the oven for the signature spicy pasta bake. No it’s not a bathtub! It looks bigger in my garage………. We then got back to our mooring as we were quickly running out of water to get back to NHYC, and three men in an 8’ tender plus gear showed us that more than one run ashore may be required in future! The yacht club run a water taxi to the moorings from 8.00am until 5.00pm which is great, but too often we need 5.00am until 8.00pm so the dinghy will get regular use. KODIAK on her new berth Adam and Rob managed a couple of hours on Tuesday with a Bass each for their trouble - and we look forward to many safe and successful trips in years to come.

Happy Birthday to you Happy Birthday to you Happy Birthday to Jerry Happy Birthday to you. Enjoy your day.

Thanks guys, great day and i survived!!!

Hope you had a good day jerry, and missed the Worst of the crap weather 😄🎂

Happy Birthday Jerry Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Happy Birthday Jerry, as Martin says be careful!! 🎂🤪🤪

Happy birthday Jerry have a great day mate

Happy birthday Jerry, have a great day 🍻

Happy Birthday Jerry! R

Wishing you the best birthday Jerry and remember, go easy on the Madris and drink less red wine and keep on the diet ........unless your in Poole of course

Happy birthday Jerry 🎂 Enjoy the day 🍾 🍷 🍺

Happy birthday Jerry hope you have a good day

Have a goodun Jerry 🍺🍷

Happy Birthday Jerry , have a good one

After spending many an hour on Kodiak on shore, and having missed the launch on Saturday. Adam invited me to reignite out Tuesday evening fishing club! I meet him by the fish and chip shop , grabbed our dinner and took it to eat on the veranda at North Haven. Load up the dinghy and out to Kodiak. She looks cracking on the water! Out to the patch for bream, bass, mackerel, scad, undulate, dogfish, pout & conger. Busy evening in the light drizzle. Constant rod rattles. And Adam adding more upgrades/improvements!! A few bream, macs and bass in the box (best bass 5lb on the nose). Off home in the dark. Cracking venue, boat, fishing and company. Fresh mackerel for dinner tonight and plenty more for the rest of the week. Rob