Steve S

So are we having a bass comp this year?

Well not my current windlass, not the first I had, I've been using this warp for more than 6 years now it's fine, seems like it will do for many years yet.

I've used the rope on 3 different windlass, on 2 it was no problem at all, on one, an old Lewmar it often jammed (known for jamming rope). Currently I use it on a Lewmar CPX 1000w and it has never jammed.

I used http://www.ropeloft.co.uk to purchase 200m of Multiplait 12mm more than 6 years ok to use with my windlass, the ropes still in use.

Here's the end of the story. There was no blade fuse, mine was connected to a circuit breaker, the heater itself had a fan fault. The estimated cost to repair was very close to the price for a complete new Webasto heater with all the bits! A no brainer really, I bought a new one and fitted that instead. It did need a bit of adaptation as the wiring loom needed changing and there was some other more minor differences. All fitted and working now and left on during this cold weather, seems to be working well. As bonus it is noticeably quieter than the old one. So unfortunately even doing the work myself it proved to be not a cheap repair, but the old one was 11 years old and now I am using a brand new one .

Some big pollock are coming off the mid channel wrecks, I'd have been be out there but my boat is on the hard. .

I used the draw scraper as recommended by Martin, did the job in short order, thanks for all the suggestions. The idea of using one to do the whole hull, hmm, not a job I'd fancy doing, life is too short for that. Think I'd get it bead blasted.

Thanks for the suggestions guys, very helpful. The boat is on the hard now, I'll be having a go tomorrow if I can bear the cold. As for Rob's input I couldn't possibly comment.

I need to remove a small amount of antifoul to fit a couple of large transducers (they are a foot long) Any suggestions on what to use/ method? Cheers

1. Tigerfish - Steve + Terry + Graham - (planning on Thurs 10th May to Sun 13th May. Depending on weather could shorten to a 3 days if needed or bring forward a little) 2. Reel Magic - Dave + 3. Joint Venture - Adam + Ian + Alun + Rob (i have taken the liberty to add the usual A-Team) 4. Madness - Martin - Dean - Tony 5. Sweet Chariot - Oli + Nick + 6. Kingfisher - Chris (looking at 5th - 8th May due to commitments) 7. Alfresco - Charlie. I will check if the boys want to come if not will be looking for crew. looks like most of the usual boats are keen to go again.

1. Tigerfish - Steve + Terry + Graham 2. Reel Magic - Dave + 3. Joint Venture - Adam + Ian + Alun + Rob (i ahev taken the liberty to add the usua;l A-Team) 4. Madness - Martin - Dean - Tony 5. Sweet Chariot - Oli + Nick +

Neil I would advise going with at least 1 other person to Alderney on your boat, it will halve the cost to start with and you don't want to be on your own in unknown waters even if other members are nearby on boats, things can happen (eg rope round a prop) and you really need someone else on board. I love it but area round Alderney is not what I would call friendly waters, it can cut up rough, and there are rocks all around the Islands. If I were you I would fill up at Yarmouth before setting off to cut down on the distance, run your boat at the most economic speed that makes good headway and head straight for Braye to fill up. I would take extra fuel in 20l tanks but not plan to use it, fuel is cheaper there (no VAT).

BBC news - Dutch electric pulse fishing Some info about it, many obvious questions unanswered.

Oli Couple of suggested enhancements for the species comp. A list of the species and how often they have been reported (obviously once per boat) but would be interesting (to me anyway) to see the spread by different species particularly the ones that are caught less often. The other is I haven't found a way to view or report on the species comp from Tapatalk it not being part of the forum. Anyway round this? Steve

I'm sure Mainbrace can lay on petrol, would be best to order it before hand so it's ready for you. It would likely be in plastic tanks that will be lowered down to the boat for you to fill from. I've seen it done with a charter boat that was running outboats. Mainbrace are helpful guys.

Ok up to 4 boats already, all old hands, in some cases very old... Any of the newer/newish members fancy taking their boats over there??, it's quite an experience,. Personally I love going, we normally do a 3 or 4 day trip, either wrecking on the way there and back or just for half a day on the way back, rest on the time fishing the huge banks, but also other choices of targets as well depending on what we think is being caught. If you're not sure if your boat is up to it, or big enough then just ask the members opinions, some will give sensible answers... Going with some buddy boats takes a lot of stress out of it and reduces the learning curve.

Yes it that time of year again! First the bad news from my look at the tides, the prefered smallest ones don't fall very well over a weekend and some of the neap tides are not very neap. Tide wise the best dates appear to be: Mon 7th to Sat 12th May with the Sunday a somewhat bigger tide but fine for wrecking. The smaller tides 2 weeks either side of these dates are not that small. As a reserve date I would plump for Thu 24th May to Sun 27th May but the tides are significantly bigger so very much a reserve date. Well Tigerfish is planning to make the trip in spite of the mishaps last year (Double Whammy), anyone else?

Thanks Mick, not checked the supply fuse, I'll try and locate the fuse tomorrow, mine may be on a breaker, there are rows of them but none labeled Heater but some are labelled 'extra'. About running the heater regularly, I've been doing that since I've had the boat but for some reason I haven't this year since April...

I have a Webasto Air Top 2000 S diesel heater. The rheostat was faulty and I've replaced it (old one kept buzzing and the light flickered on it). So feeling pleased with having sorted it, the heater then started throwing up error code 8 . This is a fan problem apparently, I say apparently as I can hear the fan running until it abruptly stops at the same time as the error code appears. The heater is located in the engine bay and a couple of times it has worked ok and heated the boat, both times it was when the engines had got the engine bay good and warm, but on another similar occasion it still wouldn't start. On the second occasion it worked I tried just leaving it on set on a low temperature thinking it just needed some regular use but when I came back next day it had the same fault code. The fault code appears between 2 and 8 seconds after turning the heater on. I have checked the electrical connectors to the resostat and to the heater itself and they appear to be clean but I gave them a dose of electrical lubricant anyway to no effect Any idea what the problem might be? Could you recommend anyone to fix it, preferably based in the Lymington area? Thanks and Happy New Year!

Well done Oli and thank you, I really do understand how much work that is. I know dealing with the server management organisations can be painful, slow and very frustrating depending on the company.   I do have some questions regarding the deployment of your server, I am really not trying to annoy here just I don't know your server system and some are just a PC in the corner of a bedroom.   How are the backups done and how often? What is the plan when the server fails in terms of getting the site up and running again? What is the plan for when a server problem occurs when you are on holiday or similar, can someone else restart it?

Seems to work great in my tests so far. Photo taken at night, works well in the day as well. Will track objects AIS detected objects on request, tested this worked well it followed the IoT ferry back and forth. Will auto alert on objects detected marking them up on the screen and beeping. Not tried this yet, if it works well will be a great safety aid.

Ok Graham when you next step on the boat we are using:   All Raymarine gear:   Axiom 12 Pro RVX (on the helm) Axiom 9 on the instrumentation panel under the ceiling Quantum Radar Q24C AIS 650 (class B ) Evolution EV1 (fluxgate compass) M232 Camera (Infrared)   Above all fitted and working now; need to get Greenham Regis (who have been great) to check and approve my fit out to get the 3 year warranty.   A pair of bronze 3D Transducers - tested over the side but will be fitted during the annual haul out in February, using the current transducer currently (so happy to be rid of the DSM300)   I have kept the old auto pilot, supposed to be compatible, yet to be proved.   This setup will allow us the use tablets as screen reflectors on the bow and stern to show for example where the wreck is, this will save me shouting out 'wreck coming up etc' and allow everyone to make up their own mind..

All sold  :)

I have the following Raymarine kit for sale after updating the equipment on my boat, all in good working order and with the latest software updates MFD E180 - with screen cover and power supply cable, no pivot mount (surface mounting required) - £450 MFD E80 - with screen cover and power supply cable, no pivot mount (surface mounting required) - £350 2kw 18" analogue radar - pathfinder - 2D2KW - £280 Also available: DSM300 Sounder SeaTalkhs Ethernet Switch Various cables