blueboatdriver

We left the Dolphin Haven (or whatever they call themselves now) at 07.10 along with a couple of charter boats with perfect weather. We left the harbour and steamed for about 2 1/4 hours. It didn't take long to find the wreck but the tide was pretty slack so we started with some fresh mackeral baits on the bottom. I learnt my 1st wrecking lesson immediately; I dropped to the bottom and didn't wind up nearly quick enough. Needless to say I never saw that trace again. After a call from Private Venture who was quite close we got Steph, the skipper's girlfriend to catch us some mackerel for bait. Once the tide started we changed over to jellies and storm sandeels and I straight away hooked into my first ever wreck caught pollack. The fish (pollack) came every drift after that. Our biggest were 13lbs and the rest weren't that far behind. There were 3 club members aboard, Matt, Tony Way, myself and 3 others including Steph who was pretty niffty with the net, the mackerel feathers and the kettle. We also caught a couple of nice gurnard and some garfish which Tony along with some mackerel is going to take on his 5 day trip to Aldernety on board Tango Bravo on Monday morning. Just like to thank Matt for agreat day out on a beautiful boat (absolutely perfect tool for the job). Thanks alot Matt, Simon.

Thanks Matt, I missed your post and I've just returned from the club AGM to find I've won the E-Bay auction. I got the scales I originally mentioned for

I've seen a Rappala one but it only went up to 50lbs I think (not that I'll catch anything that big).

Does anyone know anything about digital scales. I've spotted some on E-Bay. They're quite small and they can weigh in Kg or lbs in increments of 20g. They can go to 50Kg. I think the price is going to end at about

You're right Sam, the saftey boat was about 14' long with about a 7hp out-board. Not quite big enough for ten people with the wind SSW 6

Newboy, Your computer desk looks even more untidy than ours.

Jack, The boat in your picture is only slightly less overcrowded than the canoeists' safety boat which sank with ten onboard yesterday in Poole harbour

I hope you don't have to pay too much; I think there'll be tons in the bay any time now. I've seen a few of the fishermen taking their traps out this week.

Hi Martin, We went in my boat. It's the first time we've actually managed a fishing trip in her so far due to one thing and another. Although we didn't catch anything it was really good to get out and it turned out to be a cracking day weather wise. I was really pleased how the Orkney handled, we were attempting to drift in next to no tide along side the Swash,when the pilot boat which kicks up plenty of wash went by followed by the Condor. We took thier wash beam on no problem at all.It seems to be a very dry boat for it's size. I'm looking foward to our next trip, I'm working all next week so it'll be the following week, maybe there'll be a bit more moving by then. Best of luck to you and everyone else on your trip to Burnham, I would have loved to have come but I'm a bit tied up.You know how it is with families etc. Good luck, Simon.

Set off this morning at about 11.30. The wind seemed pretty fresh from the SSE so we didn't even bother to look at the Swash. Picked up a mooring bouy just south of RMYC. and caught nothing but crabs then tried with floats and still no luck. We noticed the wind had dropped so we headed off down the Swash. Drifted for a couple of hours using nice big ragworm bait without a single bite. There wasn't much tide so the drifts were a bit slow. There were quite a few boats fishing and nobody appeared to be into anything. I spoke to Random Harvest and I think they blanked as well. I can't believe we didn't get a bite all day but it was nice to get out with my dad and the weather turned out great.

Have you tried My Controls and then Board Settings

Thanks for all that Paul, Don't rush with the photos, any time it's convenient for you. I've been out just a couple of times in Poole harbour. With my little boy (he's only six) we nearly got 22 knots but it wasn't ideal conditions. I think it will be better balanced with two adults though, as with me on the starboard side we had a bit of a list. I was well impressed with how quiet the engine was; my old boat had a two stroke 15hp Mariner and this has a 30hp four stroke Yamaha. I 'm looking foward to the next month or so when the weather improves. I haven't done much angling since I was a kid when my dad and uncle used to run a charter boat from Poole quite a few years ago. I seem to remember the bream fishing was always a good start to the season. Simon

Paul, I've recently bought an Orkney 520, I think we've been in contact on here before. My boat, "Marlyn," is not really set up for angling at the moment. I see in your photos that you have rod holders attached to rails down each side. I'm trying to put a few ideas together before I do any drastic changes. Do you have any digi photos of your deck layout and if so would you mind e-mailing them to me. Thanks, Simon

Is there room for the two of you in the garage!

http://www.boatus.com/mmsi/ Try this for MMSI registration. Sorry, Ignore this it's a US site. I'll find the correct URL later at work.

There's a "Thunder Child" in Salterns marina. It's massive!

You must be on something

Well, I've just tried cheating by Googling it and came up with zilch!

Paul, Would loved to have gone on Monday but I'm working all week. I've kind of got every other week off. So I'll definately be having a go in the near future. Thanks for asking anyway, Simon.

Collected the Orkney 520 from Beaulieu today. It was first time I'd towed a boat on a trailer before. Quite a run back to Poole on a Friday. Arrived back at BP base slipway at about 14.45 just as the snow was at it's worst. Decided to launch anyway; new toy and all that. Was very impressed with the boat; handling, speed etc. I'm going to have another go tomorrow with the kids weather permitting. Sorry for the pretty uninformative post but I'm really excited about getting the new boat and can't wait to get the rods out.

Paul, Thanks very much for all the info. Once I get up and running I will definately let you know all the details; speed, prop, etc. There are no side lockers, only the ones aft and the ones under the seats. There are catches on the seat lockers. I 'm hoping to get out on Saturday, weather permitting just for a run. The weather will have to be pretty bad to stop me having a play with the new toy. Thanks again, Simon.

I've just placed a deposit on the Orkney 520 posted in the Swap and Shop section. Hopefully I'll pick it up on Friday.It's about 2 1/2 years old and looks brand new. I 'm not over familiar with these small nippy boats so hopefully I'll be able to tag along with a couple of club members this season. I'm used to larger fishing boats and I'm pretty rubbish with an out-board. Any advice through the coming season regarding the capabilities of this boat etc would be much appreciated. I bought a 15ft cabin boat at the back end of last summer ( nice boat for the harbour but quite old ) which we used quite a bit to take the kids to Long Island, Wareham etc. I' ll be placing it on here for sale as soon as I've got some photos.

Thanks very much for including these pics Bob. Tony's not on the internet. He'll be chuffed when I show him. Simon.

Ellen MacArthur now has just a couple of hours to go the finnish line, about 41 miles. I've been checking her progress about 20 times a day online for god knows how long. I'm not sure what I'm going to be doing on the computer at work once she has finished. Nailbiting stuff. What an incredible feat. Just a thought.

We tried the Dolphin bank today (Horseshoe mark I think it's called). Just two whiting and some dogs all day. Time to lift the boat out I think. Suggestion for tomorrow. Stay in bed.