Steve S

I've got this nagging feeling, I've err, um I must have forgotten something....

Hi Mike Great, I'd like the other copy please as for Adam please give to Rob F or Alun J at tonight meeting and I'll collect from them when I'm in Alderney (tomorrow! ) It will be put to immediate use! Many thanks Steve

Err well the boats ready to go, it's everything else.... Still my dear Wife is buying the provisions without prompting so I must have done something right.

See you there Chris. I'm driving down from Basingstoke, I'll aim for 19:00 but actual arrival time may vary somewhat. I'm bringing charts with me, I guess we may want something to look at! Steve

Well I could but I'm not sure about the crew.

Yes looking pretty good , XCWeather seems to agree for Fri and Sat just a bit of F5 after 16:00 on Friday in Alderney.

Joint Venture - Adam, Alun J & Rob F - Aquafish 23 Leaving Poole early (6am ish) cruise 16-20knots Awol - Martin, Terry, Kev - Karnic 2460 - Leaving Poole between 7-7am Cruise about 16-20 knots Kingfisher, Chris, Chris -Arvor 25 Leaving Poole Wishin Too - Nige, - Osprey 24 - Leaving Xchurch Freebouys - Peter & Matt - Merry Fisher Marlin 6 - Leaving Portland White Magic - Dave , Craig , Paul - Arvor 25 - Leaving Poole Alfresco - Charlie, Dan, Will, Ben - Procharter P3 - Leaving Poole Tigerfish - Steve, Lloyd, Alan - Targa 31 - Leaving Lymington cruise 20-28 knot Serenity - Tony, Graham, Alfie - Merry Fisher 695 - 16 knot cruise buddy with ANYA? ANYA - Andrew, Dean - Merry Fisher 705 - 16 knot cruise buddy with Serenity?

And I thought my Wife was slow choosing...

I fitted a dual battery switch to a previous boat and it did the job for me, it was a small Bayliner and the wiring was not designed for a leisure and a starter battery. Using 2 batteries mean that I always had one fully charged so took the stress out of worrying whether the engine would start after leaving instruments on. Something that had happened before.... The downside was remembering to regularly switch between the batteries, leaving it on combined defeated the whole purpose. I used a note on the instrument panel to help me remember. They were both combo batteries (starter/leisure) basicly ok for both functions but not ideal for either and the biggest I could fit in the space. If I had the issue again I'd do the same thing. Steve

Tuesday around 7:00 or so is good for me as well I'm a first timer too. Steve

Desperate more like! looking OK is I guess better than looking bad, when we get to 5 days out I'll get my hopes up.

Bruce anchors are favoured by me and I think fishermen in general because they work quite well on all bottoms, Danforth don't work well on rocks as they can easily snag up. I rig up a trip for my bruce when on rocks (attached at the rear and just tied with thin rope at the normal attachment point), to be 100% accurate I have a smaller bruce already rigged, I used to use cable ties (6!) but I've found thin rope less prone to unwanted trips on retrieve. Personally I used 22 metres of chain as my old boat came with that and I just let out 3 times depth, a good length of chain is very helpful to stop the anchor dragging. If I was to buy new chain I'd go for 2 times the boat length. And as mentioned before ensure your chain is heavier than your anchor so an Alderney ring will work, even for boats with a windlass a split Alderney ring is a good backup. Regarding the type of warp (a name for rope with a particular use) I use multiplaid as it fold ups really well and tidy, and does not easily tangle like 3 core but it is more expensive. If you have a huge anchor locker then 3 ply should be ok. Steve

Adam - Alun J - Ravioli, Beef, Cheeses and Biscuits Rob F - Ravioli, Beef, Cheeses and Biscuits Martin Terry Kev Chris Chris Tony Graham Alfie Nige, Peter Matt Dave Ravioil ,Beef . cheeses and Biscuits Craig Paul Charlie, Sam Dan Will Ben crab , plaice , cheese and good weather !!!! Steve: bisque, plaice, pear Lloyd: crab, plaice, creme brulee Alan: crab, beef, pear Andrew Dean

Impressive, slows down real quick. Regular practice required I think!

Good to hear you got a really worthwhile improvement. What was your top speed before?

Joint Venture - Adam, Alun J & Rob F Awol - Martin, Terry, Kev Kingfisher Serenity - Tony Wishin Too - Nige, Freebouys - Peter & Matt White Magic - Dave Mrs Sea - Greg Alfresco - Charlie, Ben Tigerfish - Steve, Lloyd, Alan

I'm planning to take a tender, we are sleeping on the boat so I thought it would give us some flexibility. It's officially a 4 man.... Steve

I'm an Alderney first timer, I was going to say virgin but that would be off topic... I'd appreciate some suggestions as to what bait to take over with me and what I should be able to catch or buy there. Also can I get ice there for a freezer box? Steve

If they will repitch for just £30 then you have your insurance policy in case their recommendation doesn't work out quite right, a pretty good offer. There are lots of opinions about pitch v diameter ask 10 people and you will get a broad spread of answers, I'm not going to add to it here by pitching in (sorry) with mine. Sounds like you have a choice to do either, many boats don't have much option on the diameter due to other parts of the boats getting in the way of efficient operation. Remember to take account of your load (people and equipment) on the boat and fouling as I mentioned in an earlier post in this thread when doing your full power run. Steve