Mal Thomas

With small tides and very little water movement we were planning a trip way off shore, that did not happen as you will read below. A 5.00am alarm for me and on the boat prepping by 6.0am. Lots of bait thawing and dreams of something large bending the rods. All was going well till Chris had a troubled look on his face and his ears tuned in to the engine note and watching the rev counter, temp and oil gauges. He had noticed 400 revs missing at the top end, maybe something around the prop, a dirty bottom or something unexplained. Then I suggested could it be as simple as the throttle cable adjustment. Up came the engine hatch and a quick check, no not the throttle cable, but what's that noise and the temp has gone up. A quick look over the side and no water pumping around the engine, switch off quickly and let the engine cool down. Right lets deploy the Anchor, we do not want to end up in the channel. Get the rods out, no point wasting the opportunity, who knows the fishing gods may give us a gift to raise the spirits. It was very strange, we had broke down but no panicking just methodical thinking and complete confidence in Chris, with his engine knowledge, his meticulous planning carrying spare parts often needed and all the tools he needed. Well, lets get the kettle on. The fish were biting and a steady stream of bream and a Tub caught whilst we put a plan together. Time to do some investigations, undo some awkward hoses and lets check the water pump, we were fairly sure it was not spinning, with me on the Helm and Chris balancing on one leg in the engine well, right Mal hold the stop button and turn the engine over was the instruction, okay, the impeller is not turning, is it stuck, not turning. That's weird these are all new parts, plan B call home and dig out the spare from the garage ( thanks Leanne) and ask Martin at home to be on standby for a break down call out. Why is it not turning, lets get it out and inspect it. With the Impeller in hand Chris then took the centre out of the impeller, and Bingo. In the meantime as if we did not have enough on our minds, I suggested we could lift the anchor and drift over to the SRM and drop Anchor there, we can better that. If you sit in the engine well Mal with the hose running down the engine intake we can slowly make our way over there. Job done, rods over, kettle on and let the Engine cool down again. With the part in hand and the centre pulled out, what's that burning rubber smell, a quick look at the centre spline noted the grip was just not there and the splines had worn down. No problem I have 4 spares in the locker up front, change that over and put the pump back together and see what happens. Whilst all this is going on we have managed a small undulate and some more bream. Right Mal do the same in the wheel house, that's better, its spinning. Lets put it all back together, turn the water back on and see what happens. Water thundering out the exhaust is what happened, right stand Martin down and thank him. Right what's the plan where shall we go, the Banks were close so lets go there, not much tide so a bit quiet with the boat wandering on the Anchor line till the tide started. We had as many bream as we wanted, in fact they were chewing up all the baits. We also had a few Conger, Smooth Hounds running riot and some Tope, so the fish count was doing well. Not happy with that, lets deploy the Shark rod. First bite a short strip of line and a small mouthed bite off (Tope). New bait down and a fifty yard run, much more furious and some triangular tooth shapes and a much larger mouth (Shark). We have a shark in the area, all the bream went missing for a while. Very exciting and another bite off before it was time to go home. A few more small Rays and Smooth hounds added to the total for the day. Still time for a Guinness and a good clean down before our bodies and minds started to shut down, neither of us would have needed much rocking after that day out.

I will thank him for his concerns.

Go get them Charlie, good to hear your experiences, they are becoming all to frequent with all companies these days, no doubt this would have been far more expensive had you not had all your knowledge and contacts.

The Marlin has the better cockpit for fishing and a side aisle for access to the Anchor no climbing, very important in my book.

We do not need more congers for sure.

Graham, it is good practice to have your MMSI printed in large easy read text by your radio and your frenetic spelling of your boat name for help when you may be stressed and can't think straight.

If we had enough interest from one area we could have a mini bus from say cobbs as a club day out, drop a comment down below, guests and members. We could also meet up at the show for those who can't tie up at Cobbs Quay.

Don't forget a drainage hole or holes in the bottom.

We all have a few hundred weight to do!!! That pattern reminds me of the old days and wire line.

Sea angling news from the Angling Trust More news for us to discuss in AOB.

Latest news from the Angling Trust Have a read, the AT are doing more and more regards Sea Angling.

The cable ties need to be about 6mm wide and twice wrapped through the chain inline with the top hole on the anchor shank. It works, we all do it.👍👍

A great read as always Martin.

Graham I feel your pain, he had a better offer by the sound of it. There are some similar attitudes in my own family and it tests your patience to the limit. I find it hard to understand the attitude, no willingness to work and seemingly wanting to opt out but have the trappings of hard work and effort. If someone has the answer please let me know. Sorry you had this experience, chalk it down to a generation gap, but keep trying.

Something that rocked my world and I have not been able to forget it was the DIRTY BUISNESS programme about the Water companies discharging sewage into our Rivers, Lakes and Sea. The worst of the cultures / bacteria being ECOLI that can cause organ failure, long term health issues and in some circumstances death as per the tragedy on the show from bathing in Dawlish waters. I saw 5 children floating down the Avon just a few days ago, I was tired at the time and did not follow it up as I should have done and risked an F off you old fart. However, at least I would be able to rest at night, it is still rankling with me. I am not going to let that happen again. I will be the best Victor Meldrew I can be, but it will be at the risk of abuse. The reason for the post is please talk to your family and remind them of the unseen risks lurking in the water. Let them watch the programme if they will not listen, we must do our best to do the most safe bathing we can, swimming pools, the sea miles away from out flows (check the Surfers safe bathing website ) I would give rivers and streams a wide berth. Well, I feel better having got that off my chest, please educate your kids as best you can. Employ their love of all things media to get the message across, don't be the one who says I should have done better. Yes I am guilty and I will try and practice what I preach. Also take care in this heat, cover up and drink plenty, take all the shade opportunities and plenty of sun screen factor 50 and take a cold shower or bath as frequently as you need. I am done, be safe.