Steve S

Hope you have a good one Stuie Steve

Posted Today, 06:53 PM 1. Court Jester Neal, Stuie plus crew 2. Sweet Pea Mal + Trevor 3. Alfresco Charlie Will + TBC 4. Frisky Fox - Mike and Carol 5. Kingfisher - Chris W, Dogfish Dave 6. Fisheagle- Allan Green, Dave Samuel and Mick Pike. 7. Madness - Martin + Dean + Room for one more anybody? 8. Just chillin - rich and Emma 9. Marlin - Greg and Brad (Let the Challenge begin!!) 10. Tigerfish - Steve, others tbc

Well done, good to know there are a few around.

You are cracking up with all the music Rob

Upgrading the alternator: maybe depends how meaty it is already, For battery type something of a cross between starter and domestic would be idea, otherwise go for a domestic type the absolute current is more in the 80amp range than the 600amp or so a starter motor can take so within range of a domestic consumption. Charging 3 different battery banks is somewhat complex but quite common, some changes could be required (more expense) to your existing setup. If you want to take this further Mike i'll be happy to have a chat with you about it, I do have some experience in this area.

You could fit a windlass Mike. Using one can take a fair bit of power from the battery so you should have the engine running to recharge. I would suggest a separate battery fitted near the windlass to avoid issues with your current setup. Also the cables need not be so heavy duty then.

For my boat (Targa 31) a high power windlass is brilliant as it has a walk round deck, there are no safety issues being on the bow. 4 mins to retrieve 100m, I free the clutch to allow the anchor to drop at a fast but controlled rate. Looking at the photo of a Parker 770 I'm not sure I would want to be walking up to the bow if it cut up rough while at anchor or indeed freeing the clutch for a manual release while dropping anchor. As Dave says using the winch to drop the anchor is very slow, too slow IMO for precision anchoring at the sort of depth's we get round here. I think you would be better off on safety grounds staying in the stern of the boat and use a high power side mounted capstan (if possible), or Alderney ring with a rode run channel to a good quality roller on the bow.

I think multiplat is better as it beds down well in the anchor locker and does not twist up. You just need to be sure the windlass supports it check on the manufacturers brochure. Mine does and it works great.

I suggest you have a stock of leads up to 1 1/2 lb. That should sort you out for round here. Some places are still unfishable at anchor with 1 1/2 lb at certain tides but IMO using any more is just no fun so I just don't fish them when the tide is really pushing.

Interesting report Chris seem like a fair few were lost, maybe they were biting a bit short.

Hope you had a good one Paul

After a good fight this one got off while trolling off the IoW...

I might have made a boob with my career choice [emoji53]

Hope you are having a good one Nigel.

Nice one Steve, great pics as usual. Love the toothy huss shot

The way I heard it is these email threats / promises of riches are intended to snare stupid people and only stupid people the bad grammer and spelling excetra is not spotted by them it is a filtering system to select the easily fooled. Not so dumb! So the good news you're all not stupid [emoji2]

I have not heard much in the way of whiting coming out, seems a couple of months too early. There were half a dozen boats or so fishing the car park last weekend don't know if any nodders were caught. Often a few lunkers are caught early in the season. Good luck.

Sam what were you thinking doing that! That's a great spec boat [emoji1] nice. I was there last week. I took a look at the Targa's and there was Sweet Chariot looking as good as new. Very nice Oli first time I've seen it. Had a right old nosy round. They have done a fantastic valeting job for you [emoji2]

I think it is dead in the water unless they can push them further out or use lower turbines. Pity.

The other one hasn't! That's a cracker...

It's undo like [emoji1]

Take a bow Rob, magnifique [emoji1] [emoji471]

That's great, that's a massive improvement, well done. I'm sure your fuel consumption will be a fair bit lower now the engine is able to push the hull along properly.

I am planning to go out Monday assuming the weather holds, probably to give it a go for bass on some banks or rough ground south of the island. If any members fancy coming along let me know. Good luck for your trip home Tony.

Thanks Guy's. I'm in the UK this time so no interesting photo's this time. Spent some of day fitting a more powerful deck wash to the boat using a par max 5 pump, it kicks out a more than decent flow A par max 3 plus filter in good working order is available if anyone is interested. I did manage a decent meal and trip to the cinema. At the restaurant I was offered catch of the day, Brill £40 for 2!! felt like asking how much would it be if I provided my own Brill.