TomBettle

Mike I have to say that I still have big L plates on my back on all things boating and so I am often the one putting my foot in it or buggering it up. You tend to learn by your mistakes and I certainly do! My two best have been: 1) Fuel guage reads 1/4 on a new on tested boat (new boats don't arrive with more than enough fuel to get the engine off the crane slings) so I take some buyers out on a sea trial. Promptly run out of diesel and drift alongside one of the thousands of boats on the river Hamble. The boat just happens to have an instructor onboard who's offices are next dor to one of our biggest competitors - I become the laughing stock of the next boat shows Jeanneau dealers! 2) My own shiny new boat arrives and I lovingly commission her and do all the fitting and mods myself - except for the VHF which is on back order with Raymarine. Can't wait any longer to use the boat so chuck my handheld in the holdall a couple of skipper mates tell me which wrecks to fish as they will keep an eye on me and I head 25 miles due South. 24 miles due South everything goes solid as we pick up a floating cargo net round the prop. Bugger!!! Go to grab the handheld only to realise I left the holdall in the car. At that moment our kipper mates come past on their way to Alderney, see we have a problem and help by calling the coastguard. A very annoyed Whiskey Bravo winchman drops a VHF to us and dissapears and we proceed to talk in and then be towed in by Weymouth lifeboat. Embarrassing enough until you realise that Meridian are filming on the chopper and the BBC were filming Seaside Rescue on the lifeboat! Needless to say the MCA got their VHF back, the RNLI got a generous donation and the BBC got denied the use of the footage (too late for Meridian as it was already on the 6 0'clock news) !!! You live and learn! Tom

You should find the whole lot is "earthed" (not sure if that is the correct term) through to the anode on the transom bracket through the boats wiring. I woud guess it will be fine.

Hi Geoff You should find that so long as your anodes are in place and connected then you should have little problem. One or two members of the forum are far more scientific about these things than me and may well be able to gve some proper technical info. If you keep your boat in the water then she will probably have an anode on the transom, one on the shaft or around the outdrive and if it is an outboard there will be one on the outboard, howevr this wold normally get hardly any wear as it can be left trimmed up. Duncan, Charlie, Pete and anyone with a better knowledge than me: Do you guys have anything to input to help Geoff? Tom

Whilst the laws of simple physics do apply here (short lever V long lever) an awful lot can be taken into account by using a "bendy" or soft rod. A simple broom stick will sap every bit of strength out of you as you are taking all the punishment the fish can deliver whereas a softer rod will sap more of the fishes strength as it's lunges are taken up by the rod and not your arms. Personally for "fun" congering I favour a rod about 7'6" with a medium taper. A short stand-up rod used for day to day congering is not a lot of fun with the rod and reel doing little more than skull dragging them to the surface. I am sure that a lot of people have hooked eels that hang on something rotten for the first minute or two and then become pretty easy to drag in. A slightly more flexible set up allows you to still gain on the fish, but that tussel will last a lot longer and be much more fun. I know I go fishing to enjoy the scrap, not to winch it to the surface unceremoniously. Tom

If you watch TV fishing programmes at all: 1) Which one is your favourite and why? 2) Which one do you like the least and why? 3) Is there a presenter who you enjoy watching and why? 4) Is there one you just can't abide and why? ....just interested Tom

Phil You have a PM about dates. Tom

The first link was a rather shakey video of fishing club boats bombing around Poole harbour. The second link was very interesting. In the UK and unless the rules are different for the coastguard and / or RNLI then the coastguard is well and truly in the wrong and should have turned to starboard to avoid the collision. Either way and whatever the rule, common sense would again apply and if the other boat isn't getting out of the way, you do. IMHO the coastguard boat was being helmed by a monkey. What is the point in doing 30 knots with your engines roaring and shouting "get out of the way"? Get out of the way yourself you numpty!

Jack You must take your ownreship docs including the original receipt that shows VAT was paid when it was new. Don't know about fishing licenses, but I imagin, knowing the froggies you will be "supposed" to have something. You are also "supposed" to have your ICC to use a boat in French waters and also there is a separate inland waterways ticket that I can't remember the name of that you should have for using the boat in French fresh water (not sure if there is such a thing as French "fresh" water). Tom

Jack I think it may belong to my daughter... ... a couple of years ago she had a little accident with her "swin nappy" Tom

Hi Andy Welcome to PBSBAC forum. Top place for advice on anything to do with boats or angling. Also a great place to start a bit of friendly debate or mickey taking. Looking forward to seeing you at March's meeting. Tom

Hi All I am rather bored and having to work today, so have been browsing through one or two bits and bobs and tidying up my PC. At SMB, we always explain about electrolysis and it's effects during handover of a new boat, however our owners have to cram so much info in they sometimes forget so a while ago I wrote a simple document to help advise our customers about electrolysis and anodes etc. I have attached the details below, admittedly it is much more pertinent to those of you who keep your boats in the water, particularly in a marina, but useful none the less. Apologise for the references to Southern Motorboats etc as it was originally for our owners and not the general public. Also it was written by me and I am very non scientific and not a writer at all so please take it as written for laymen by a layman. Hope it is useful Tom ******************************************************************** Electrolysis on the South Coast Advice from the team at Southern Motorboats All metal, including stainless steel, can and will suffer from corrosion if care is not taken to prevent it. Your new boat is fitted with "Anodes" which are made of a soft metal (usually zinc) and electrolytic current will corrode these instead of your expensive propellers and other metal objects on the boat. Anodes are the boat owner

Until I saw that stuff in the miamiboat link your typical choices were: 1) Traditional Antifoul: Use a known brand and don't go for stuff from a boat jumble as it does have a shelf life and this stuff is often out of date. Most new boats require a slight degrease of the hull, etch / key up the area, prime with appropriate primer and then two good coats of antifoul. This will last a full season, but you will still get some scum and small amounts of growth. At the end of the season, a good jet wash off, lightly etch the hull again and paint some more over the top. A single coat should do the job with a little touch up here and there. 2) Copper Bottom: Fantastic stuff, looks a bit odd, but lasts 5 or 6 seasons before needing reapplying. Follow the instructions to the letter and all the boat will need it a jet wash on the hull each season. The downside is it is expensive, but overall less hassel and cheaper by about year three. 3) On a trailer, boat stack or be mates with a local marina worker who can give you a sneaky lift and scrub every couple of weeks The maimiboat stuff looks good, and sounds suspiciously like copper bottom under a different name. Ask the company about the product and their claims. Is it guaranteed, how is it applied etc. Could be really good, would be interested to know more. Tom

I know Adam is going in his motor, but think it is full (?). Does anyone want to jump in mine or can I jump in yours (ooo errr misses)? Tom

Navman 5500 or 5600 (bigger). Turn it on and it does what you have described. There are more detailed functions, but it really is a case of turn it on and off it goes. Dead Easy. The above are last years models, they are still available, but have been upgraded and I can't remember the new models are (I think 6500...?) Can't get easier I promise. Tom

Yeah, you get the nice stuff from the swash. Over Christmas they did the beach outside my place at Banksome... ...That one had all the crap from the harbour

Bob Cut around the actual deck rather than the seat pod itself. You can always glass a new bit of deck in, but if you cut into the pod you will always be left with a lip. With regards to the seats, come and take a look what is fitted to our Merry Fisher 530 and 580. We actualy fit reversible seats rather than swivel seats to these boats. This allows the pod itself to be turned into a store by fitting a hatch in the top. Come and take a look and all will make sense. I may be able to order the lot for you if you like what you see. Tom

I am quite a fan of Fladen Maxximus rods. Cheap as chips (the fittings tell you this). Great fun to use, and VERY all through to the point of having that slightly sloppy feeling, but good blanks. They are so all through that if you get a decent fish on you must be very careful of the top of your thumb as it tends to get cut by the braid when the fish runs! OUCH!

Erhem, yes Duncan I did mean MORE forgiving PS: Has anyone bothered to look at my very high tech diagrams of fishing rods. They took me an awful long time to draw and I am very proud of them... I am also a bottle of Cotes du Rhone down and it isn't even 7 o'clock, sorry...

Blueboatdriver is about right with that one. Even tide up on the pontoon the GPS may record very slight movement. This is caused by the boat rocking slightly or pulling on the ropes in the wind. The same will apply at anchor, your boat will rarely be completely stationary. Wind, wave action, movement in general will all cause some movement and sometimes register movement on the plotter. If I am concerened my cnhor may be slipping, I zoom right in on the plotter and mark a waypoint where I am at that moment. With the plotter zoomed in, any movement in the boat is easily shown up. Side to side movement on the plotter is down to the wind and not a lot you can do about it apart from take it into account when anchoring. If you appear to be getting further and further away from the waypoint in a downtide direction then your anchor is slipping. Any sense in the above? I doubt it, but I know what I mean!

The only time I tend to use shorter "stand-up" rods are when I am fishing for very large fish (Tuna, Marlin, Shark etc) and I am strapped into appropriate harness etc. and using mono. This technique uses quite a different fighting strategy to most of our UK fishing - you use your knees not you arms to inch the fish in. Nearly all my UK fishing uses Rods in excess of 7 feet long with a medium soft taper (more later) and braided main line. A longer rod tends to absorb much more of the lunges and dives a fish makes and as a result is a little less forgiving when using braided line with nearly no stretch. In the UK my choice of rod depends more on how much lead I need to reach the bottom than how big the fish is likely to be and we regularly and easily catch big Pollock, Ling and Cod on 6lb class, Tope etc on 12lb class and very large Conger on 20lb class with not too much difficulty. The difficulty comes with species such as Ray in a tide run when they "Kite" off downtide. A rod which is too light here will simply fold up and loose its ability to pump a fish in. Likewise, when you need a lot of lead, you need to step up the class of rod to make winding in easier. Taper: A fast taper rod is one that would typically start at the tip as its thinest point, but very quickly reach it's maximum thickness (The taper of the rod blank reaches it's thinest bit fast). The action of a rod like this is usually quite stiff with the tip of the rod doing all the bending and less bending through the bottom section. Uptide rods are usually fast taper as they need to have a soft sensitive tip, but plenty of power through the rest of the rod. All through action. This is a rod that bends pretty much right through its length. Here the taper of the rod is much more gentle. Cheap versions of all through rods can feel a little "sloppy" to use, but a more refined version or just a slightly faster taper rod lends itself nicely to the use of braid and also for hauling big fish. In the case of braid, the bendyness of the rod allows some give when the line is not stretching and in the case of big fish it helps tire a fish more quickly without tiring you as fast. I am not sure if that makes any sense at all as I wrote it as the words came into my head. Other people may be able to say it more clearly. I have attached a little picture to try and show different tapers. Try and imagin how the rod would bend when under load. My computer skills are distinctly lacking so you will need a little imagination! The top is Fast Taper which gives a rod that bends lots at thetop, but not much else. The second is a medium action rod (Medium Taper) The third is an all through action or slow taper. All the best Tom

Thanks to those who have taken the time to have a look and comment either by posting or PMing. This is exactly the feedback I was hoping for. We always know we can do better, but you kinda get in a rut and get blinkered so I am genuinely appreciative of the input. Any more? please keep them coming if you have the time. Thanks v Much Tom

....Guess I need to start subscribing to BFM, can't find it anywhere! Don't get freebies with them either Tom

Hello All One of the main reasons I joined this club is to try and learn more about angling and boating. In addition to meet a bunch of like minded individuals who enjoy being on the water and sharing their collective knowledge (Jack, you are excused from this bit). The club has done all this and more for which I am very appreciative. It also has possibly the best privately run and designed, non profit making websites that is available on the Internet. For a bunch of hairy, salty old sea dogs who smell of old squid and cod poo this is an incredible feat. Based on knowing the type of guys you are I was hoping for some proper input and advice from you. Most of you know (I tart myself around enough) that I sell Jeanneau boats for Southern Motorboats. We are trying to improve the way we do things and one of the key areas that help us market the company and product is our website. As with anything, when I look at the site I am a bit blinkered and being indoctrinated into believing (sorry, knowing) that we are the very best thing to ever happen in the marine industry it is hard for us to be impartial when looking to improve. With that in mind I was hoping that you may spend a few minutes of your time browsing our site (you should be able to reach it by clicking the scrolling banner at the top of the page or by visiting http://www.southernmotorboats.co.uk ) and then providing input about how it is now and what could be done to make it more informative, user friendly and helpful. By all means click on requests for information etc, but to help us not detroy too many rainforests and boost the Post Offices profits too much, please make it clear you are running a test. For once this isn't a pitch from me so regardless if you are remotely interested in Jeanneau boats or not it would be great if you could take a look. Try and think more as a boater than a fisherman and imagine that you were in the market for a new boat or just researching etc. Any input would be really helpful as constructive criticism will help us improve. A huge thanks to all who take the effort to have a look and report back. Tom

Not very tight!