Paul D

Quite reassured now actually. I always used to get paranoid anchoring the ledge. I shall now anchor without so many worries. BTW: What is your address Adam, so I can send you the bill for my next trapped anchor ( only kidding )

Paul, I have to switch mine out of dual watch as it tends to "decide" to transmit on 16 when I call and then stay on 16 much to the coastguard's annoyance last time this occurred ! Group MMSI will be well wicked.

Gald you had a good first trip out. You might have seen us on Christchurch Ledge - we were right at the end of it though. As you found out, I wouldnt recommend anchoring on the ledge ( apart from in a couple of holes as marked on the plotter ) - it is well snaggy and I lost my anchor there first trip out in Neo ( learnt how to trip the anchor after that )

Out from Wick with Paul J and he brother in law Des. Neo fitted with the Smart Tabs ( thought I would join the growing band !). Stopped off to try for some mullet but they are a little shy at the moment, so a couple of knocks and follows but nothing showing. Forecast was for F4-5 W, sea state slight, so we headed out as it didnt seem too bad at the run. Started to head for a distant wreck but thought better of it, given the forecast, so stopped and anchored on the ledge. Fished flood on the ledge and I had the one bite and a nice conditioned 3lb 12oz ballan wrasse. Upped anchor after two attempts as was well stuck, but tripped out and onward to another "mark" off the ledge near to where Random Harvest was fishing. Nothing showing and conditions starting to worsten, so headed back to the harbour. Tried again for some mullet. PJ caughta schoolie first ( or second chuck ) and that was it for the rest of the day. Well impressed with the trim tabs. I can run with the engine trimmed out into the "neutral" position and no porpoising at all now. Albeit I was running with 3 up and all sitting at the back for some of the time - which makes it all the more impressive as we hit 23 knots in a snotty sea and the boat wasn't slamming at all. The boat feels much more stable as well ( it is as if the boat is "heavier" - although as it was carrying 3 up then it was heavier ! - will be interesting to see it 2 up ). Finally the boat rolls much, much less now. I haven't even attempted to adjust the tabs yet, so well pleased with the results from the first run. Now who was it saying they are a waste of time on a semi-displacement boat - I can tell you they most certainly are worthwhile.

Two ties for me as well. Have no problem breaking them when needs be ( with a little bit of force - as I indeed needed to do today whilst anchoring on the ledge ).

I don't know about Poole but I know of two at least at Tuckton which are on the moorings and are somewhat "worst for wear". Must take some pictures sometime.

Some pictures I stumbled on ... show the state some boats can end up in. Slight Corrosion! My Linda Sad state Worst.[

Trust me - when I say around 1 oz I was actually exaggurating

Magic Seaweed also shows the swell not being so bad on Monday - but I am sure this will probably be proven incorrect I am betting on the sea state not being as rough as it was on Friday, which I think was due to the 50 mph+ winds the day before. However, I shan't be venturing far offshore if it is rough. Will make the decision on the day.

Gordon, Just seen the forecast. Strange, Met Office has 4 or 5 ocassionally 6 sea state slight to moderate. xcweather , windguru and metcheck all have F3 to F4 in the afternoon. I will decide on plan of action when we see what the wind is really doing on Monday. Alun, 10/10 for guessing what we are going to "have a go" for. Maybe see you in the harbour then ??

Gordon, Best way to report fish catches is to use the link at the top of this web site labelled "E-Mail Catch Report". I am hoping that you didn't use this ( if you did it would appear to be not working ! ) Personally, I only record good fish ( which isn't that big for me usually ). I dont have any scales onboard capable of accurately weighing a 1oz fish.

Gordon, That was also my plan ( to try drifting a wreck closer in ) - weather willing. I also want to test out the smart tabs I have just fitted and to make sure that I have sealed all the holes properly We are launching at 7:00 to have a go in the harbour first, so will probably see you "en-route".

I thought posting a Pout of around 1 oz would be pushing it a bit as well Charlie, you should have received Alun J's Wrasse catch report. ( I get them sent to me as well ). Only other catch report to date is one from Coddy ( Wrasse ). If you want a copy of them, I have them here.

Nice report Adam and good to see it turned into a more than reasonable day after all. I must get the hang of this wreck fishing as yet to catch a pollock from a wreck ! BTW: How big was the other plaice ? - are the rumours that you could see through it true

Planning on taking a trip out of Christchurch on Monday. Will probably be taking Paul J and his brother in Law out and hopefully be able to push a bit further off shore this time. ( Surely will be less swell than last time out ). From the tides I am thinking of an 8:30 launch time. ( LW is at 06:41 ). Anyone fancy buddying ? Dependant upon the weather will try fishing further offshore ( and testing out the trim tabs ).

Not sure myself.

PBSBAC translated

Had a not very productive trip out ( one small pout - and when I say small I mean small ! ) to me and one doggie to Daniel. Conditions were somewhat lumpy and looking at the weather today, I can't see it being any smoother today. Still, was good to give the engine a blast and watch the look on Daniel's face as we done some tight cornering in the bay Daniel was good crew and is more than welcome to crew again. Coming back in over the ledge was fun, some pretty big rollers to surf in on - great fun. Even more pleasing was the fuel consumption. Wick to the end of Christchurch Ledge and then over to X-Ray ( at which point Paul J was on his second tank ) and back to Wick. Used around 8 to 9 litres which I think was due to not being able to "floor the throttle" due to the conditions. Back at Wick we saw a boat I thought I recognised, after they went I remebered it was Manatee - Les L's boat. Gave him a quick call, as for all I knew it could have been stolen. - It was his brother borrowing it. Still, he has learnt a lot about the bar at Christchurch now and needs to find a propellor repair/replacement centre. !!

Like I am going to help you get even further ahead this year - some of us need to fish this one to stand any chance of catching you ! I am still unsure what to fish for to be honest - anything with fins and a species name I guess

James, Is that not the date of the first species comp ?

Could be up for a Friday trip but will need some crew.

Dont know if they are big enough but Smart Tabs do ones called "SMart Tabs II" which have twin actuators fitted - presumably for the larger boat.

Mike, Many of the e-mails won't be stopped by a Spam stopper program. It is quite easy to write a fake e-mail that will not appear as SPAM. However, it is easy to spot them as well. In the case of ebay of the URL does not end in ebay.co.uk or ebay.com then it is most probably fake. ( eg. Spoofers will use something like ebay-eur.com or whatever ). The source address ( ie. The senders address ) is easily spoofed and you can send e-mail which appears to come from anyone. If you receive an e-mail asking you to update account details then it is 99.99999% sure to be fake. I have yet to see a company request this genuinely.

Presume this means all is working OK now ?