Steve S

I enjoyed reading your report Oli. Well done on having a great trip. The banks round Alderney do seem to be fishing consistently well this year.

Good stuff Rob. There is going to be a lot to be learned by using this kit.

Rydlyme is for the raw water side. You redirect the inlet into a bucket of the stuff run the engine until it appears to be coming out the outlet. Stop the engine, make a cup of tea, break out the rods etc. 4 hours later reconnect to the sea water inlet. Run engine, watch some yucky looking stuff exit the outlet, job done.

Think of it as a learning opportunity Mike! Something to reinvigorate the old gray matter. I had an overheating problem on my Volvo' s on WOT rather than strip them down I tried Rydlyme first. You fill up the cooling system with it and wait 4 hours or so. That was nearly 2 years ago now and they have been fine since. It is an easy fix, it does sound however yours had got beyond that. Rydlyme is worth considering on systems that are prone to overheating under stress situations.

We (Tigerfish - Alun, Ian, Clive, Steve) are planning on Sun 10th to Wed 13th. Has been looking good/acceptable for the past 3 days now, I'm almost starting to believe it will happen in spite of the gales as I look outside the window. The tides are reasonably favorable. It would be good for some other members boats to be going as well. Steve

Somewhat a belated Happy Birthday guys.

That's great, thanks Charlie

Micron extra should be fine. I think I saw it as an approved paint over lowrance transducers

I am sure these will do the job but the problem is they are all a bit complicated at the business end which by its very nature is going to get bashed around a bit. I did think about getting one a year or so back for mooring to a ring on a swinging mooring decided in the end I would just manage with a hook and a bit stretching.

If size is important I have told it generally is I have some orange rope about 2 in thick over 3 ft long. Return not required.

Really good river pike well done.

RESET! One of the issues of buying a thirdhand (or more) boat is that the person you buy off often doesn't know what he has got, such is the case with Tigerfish. I keep discovering things even now. The new discovery is a pleasant one. The MFD E120 was configured for a through hull Airmar transducer, which I ASSUMED must live in the yellow box in the engine bay and the wedge shaped thing which seems to be underneath was the outside of the transducer. Wrong wrong wrong! The wedge shaped thing is an earth 1ft to starboard from the yellow box. I have in fact got an inhull transducer, there was no fouling underneath it so no problem there. On opening the box I discovered it is liquid filled and the transducer appears to take up nearly the whole of the box!! , The liquid level was clearly low and appears to hardly touch the transducer, clearly that is the problem . I’d better check if there is a leak. A check of part numbers revealed that it is an Airmar R199, a 2kw!! transducer that should be capable of clear pictures at 30 knots or more, a top of the range device that never made it onto the boat sale particulars and I didn't realise what it was as I’d never seen one that big. So reconfigure the MFD to R199 and fill with propylene glycol and it should work great. Thanks for all your suggestions, sorry to give you a bum steer on the problem.

Yes that is leaving on Sunday the 26th and coming back on the Wednesday. The Club Do is on the 25th and many of us are going to that. Basically the tides look much better on that weekend rather than the weekend around the 8th May so we are shooting for that even though it is only using Sunday of the weekend, weather permitting!

Haha, well I think it does work of any least it is a help as I didn't loose much speed over the season, hardly a knot and more importantly my fuel consumption per N/M which I religiously record hardly went up. But here's the thing, there is plate over the sonar, ultrasonics work very poorly through joints so I fear it won't be effective on the plate.

Sounds like affect of antifouling paint in degrading the sonar performance may be overstated. Simrad do say this: http://www.simrad.com/www/01/nokbg0240.nsf/AllWeb/E41103520A769E0AC12575540048CB60?OpenDocument The location of the transducer is pretty good in my opinion, certainly in the full flow. I'll take a good look at the fouling round that area when it comes out and see if I can smooth the area round it the transducer so are a less nooks and crannies (i love those words) for fouling to take a hold.

Thanks for the suggestions guys, barnacle/s is I think the most likely cause. I will know soon as she comes out Wednesday, let the work begin... Apparently shooting through a copper coat or a copper based antifouling paint degrades performance but to what extent I don't know and rather hard to test.

Jim was feeling rough and went to see his doctor. The doctor, after an examination, sighed and said, 'I've got some bad news Jim. You have cancer, and you'd best put your affairs in order.' Jim was shocked, but managed to compose himself and walk into the waiting room where his son was waiting. 'Well, son, we men celebrate when things are good, and we celebrate when things don't go so well. In this case, things aren't so good. I have cancer. So, let's head down to the local and have a few pints to drown our sorrows.' Well after 3 or 4 pints, the two were feeling a little less down. There were some laughs and few more pints. They were eventually approached by some of the Jim's old friends, who were wondering just what was being celebrated. Jim told his friends they were drinking to his impending end. 'I've been diagnosed with AIDS.' The friends were aghast, gave Jim their condolences and beat a hasty retreat. After the friends left, the Jim's son leaned over and whispered, 'Dad, I thought you said you were dying of cancer, and you just told your friends you were dying of AIDS! Why did you do that?' 'Because I don't want any of those bastards sleeping with your mother after I'm gone.' And THAT, my friends, is what is called, 'Putting Your Affairs In Order.'

I've got a Airmar transducer fitted to my aging Raymarine kit (DSM 300, E120). When the boat in freshly launched the sonar will work up to just about 25knots if flat, but now, after a season in the water (10 months) it will barely work at all. The last couple of trips it has been no use at all as even on the drift the bottom comes and goes. This happened last year as well, the first year I got the boat. Clearly the transducer cover is being fouled up over time and I've no doubt that when it goes back in after relaunch it will be fine for while, I'd just like to extend that while to 10 months. Is this the problem you get? Any suggestions on keeping it free of fouling for longer? I have heard that you can buy special anti fouling paint to go over transducers, any view of whether this is worth getting? Steve

My pair arrived and got put to use on the boat on Sunday. Rather cold and windy. I didn't give my feet a thought all day so they must be great. One minor negative. I have ankles that are on the slim side and they were a bit loose at the back, helped by thick socks. Only noticed, when walking.

Sounds good, not a lot of detail re us anglers. Forgive me not giving a thumbs up until it actually happens. So many false dawns.

Have a good one Dave Might as well have a bevy or two, not much chance of getting the boat out.

here goes... Tigerfish Fri Apr 24th or Fri May 8th - would prefer the 24th with 8th as a reserve date....

Good info Chris, just what I'm after, ordered. [emoji2]

Well good on George for wanting to be involved in competitions at a national level and improve his standard. Like many others in the club a bit of friendly competition either on the boat or in the club comps is all I'm up for. Running a business is all the competition I can handle. However like others, I'm quite happy to take George, you and Carol out on Tigerfish for practice and if George wants some on boat competition thats fine, the only time she runs at Yacht speed is in the channels and over marks.... Steve

Happy New Year to one and all at the club. Let's raise a glass to calm seas and tight lines and the hope that 2015 is a bumper year [emoji2]. See you at the Jan club meeting.