charlieannear

The only real boat fishing I have ever done was off Tokamaru Bay, New Zealand where the hook was barely in the water before the fish were fighting to get on the end of it. Not sure if my hoying over the side (bit of a heavy night that ended about 3 hours before we went out) was attracting them, or if it's just heaving with fish down there. Or both! First bite about 5 mins after getting to the mark was a shark, which took me over half an hour to bring in (the skipper was convinced I had a huge lump of coral on the end and was just being a Whinging Pom) and for the rest of the day I was bringing in Grouper, Snapper, Barracuda and all sorts of other lovelies. The cost of the trip was that the skipper let me keep one of each species (which we barbied up that night. Yum!) and he had the rest of the catch to sell (to the local pub) which made up for the fuel and time spent out. Got a photo somehwere... Apologies if that little tale was a bit irrevevant but I've been waiting since January to tell my one and only fishing story!

Yep, that's my normal strategy with most things, i.e. find out what I need and then go one bigger!

Thanks Duncan!

Any plumbers thinking of going? Beer on tap

Exactly Mike, which why I'm trying to find out what's the smallest I can get away with, as on the Shetland I haven't got hatch/windscreen access to the foredeck. Does anyone know of an online source for a chart similar to those which say what size anchor you need for the length of boat? i.e Specifying bouyancy of buoys by size. Then you can say for 5kg anchor and 9m of chain, you need an X" buoy to float the weight.

How do you calculate the size of buoy you need?

Was using Mr Muscle gel sink unblocker at the weekend to unblock the sink on Star Turn (turned out the wasps had colonised the waste pipe!) and whilst waiting for it to do it's magic I had a look at what the ingredients were that would dissolve organic matter so efficiently... Sodium hypochlorite. Might be worth a try for scrubbing the undersides?

I've surfed with Dolphins, it's a fantastic experience, if a little unnerving! The BBC do get some great wildlife pictures, like this one from the 'Planet Earth' programme which has started recently:

Is there somewhere local that I can get these? C.

BBC News C.

Thanks Adam, Andy is collecting for me. C.

Is anyone going to Salisbury in the near future? This gauge is just the ticket but the p&p is half as much again on the price... C.

Brill, I now know what I need, how much I need and where I can get it from. Great work everyone!

Thanks everyone, as usual just the sort of advice that I was hoping for!

Thanks Tom Porthcawl gave me a good quote, it's just this Boat Yard report that is stopping me paying up straight away. The others have asked for a Survey, which sounds more finickity (technical insurance term ) Porthcawl have come back and said a Boat Yard Report of Seaworthiness is required as the boat is over 25 years old (according to hull number and Shetland's website) so I have asked them to confirm exactly what they require. I have all the information that you specify, so hopefully I'll be able to give you a call when they let me know! C.

Yep, have asked Porthcawl to confirm that it is really required, rather than something automatic that got added to the quote because I said something daft on the online form. If they do insist I'll ask exactly what they require. They were the ones that asked for a "Boat Yard report", so if they do insist, then hopefully it is something less 'official' than a full marine survey. If that is the case then I'm sure that something could be arranged as you suggest. Have got the RNLI sea check on my to-do list, but really I want to get several things done to Star Turn before any sort of official inspection!

I've tried Boatinsure, Craftinsure and Porthcawl and all have said they require a survey. I have done these all as online quotes though, so perhaps I have told them the wrong thing. Will have to try the old fashioned telephonical method...

Shetland Family Four C.

So far all of the insurers that I have got quotes from have said insurance acceptance is subject to a survey less than 3 years old... which I don't have. One called it a Boat Yard report, which I don't have either. D'oh! This is probably because Star Turn is quite old (1980). Can anyone reccomend a surveyor? And how much is this likely to cost? Is a Boat Yard Report something different? C. (Yes, I know I should have checked this out... )

I've got nowhere near enough anchor chain aboard Star Turn, so, following the success of the rope question, where do people get their chain from? I'm guessing this is something that people get locally, due to weight/postage issues? C.

Have now binned all the greening, brittle, dusty and generally knackered rope from Star Turn. It is now ropeless! The reccomendation is to buy a whole reel to sort the boat out, but where can I buy it by the reel from? Martin has suggested a place in Bridport beginning with a G, but I can't remember the name now as that bit of imformation was forced out by the wind on the way back to Cobbs Quay yesterday... C.

Tom is right in that I was looking for some inexpensive kit for my boat, but wrong in as far as I bought kit that was not inexpensive!

That looks really good Alan. Not cheap stuff though? C.

As always, heaps of good advice here. Well done everyone! It's a 1980 Shetland Family Four, 2 previous (elderly) owners. The top half (technical term ) just needs cleaning up, but the bottom half shows the scars of the nautical equivalent of 'touch parking' C.

Hi Paul thanks, but the Johnson is a 2 stroke, and it has a tacho fitted already. C.