Paul D

Adam, You are lucky if you avoid duty. Currently many items get through without having duty charged but the post office is getting better at collecting the duty, so don't be surprised if you get charged. ( 17.5 % VAT + 6% ? import duty ). ( They dont collect duty on small value items though, hence the Tesco Jersey duty free outlet.

Adam, I will be interested in seeing how the trim tabs go, I was pondering over getting some for Neo, but still in two minds. I presume you have opted for the Nauticus smarttabs ( ie. The automatic ones ). My only concern is what if you touch bottom coming in to the run !

Picture is on its side, but there again at least the logo is the correct way around

Jack, They ( the scammers) probably want to confirm your e-mail address ( easy enough to send them one though with a different e-mail address to the one registered to e-bay though. and having read Mike's email another thing to beware of is e-mails containing fake links or links to fake sites. There is a "quiz" I had somewhere to show how these work, I will try to dig it out as it is a good learning experience.

It was a good evening, much better than the previous venue IMHO - many thanks to all who organised it. Drinks were reasonable and the halibut was superb ( even if Charlie says it was flounder ).

I spliced my three strand nylon rope onto the anchor chain ( around the shackle ). I was well chuffed as it was my first attempt at splicing and even Helen sounded surprised when she said it looked good ! However, how much will the loop through the shackle wear I wonder ( I notice that many use a metal thimble to avoid wear ) ?? Would it be better to splice partly down the chain instead ? I guess it is better than when I had it tied in a knot to the shackle ( this kept catching on the alderney ring )

If anyone on EBay asks for payment using Western Union or bank transfer then they should be avoided - QED. Exactly correct regarding if it seems to good to be true then it probably is. The other scam to watch for is people buying goods you have for sale and wanting to send more than the value of the item in exchange for money + item. Invariably, the cheque / payment they have sent will bounce ( It appearing in your account is not sufficient to mean it wont bounce either ). Up to

BFM have an article on the open version of the 520 this month - hard to beleive that mine is the same with a cuddy ( rigid dodger ) attached. Launching is a breeze single handed ( now I have sorted my trailer rollers out ).

The info is also on the front page of this site now as well.

Wise advice, it is the "norm" to barter for goods in the far east and the good thing though is that even if you are being ripped off it is still dirt cheap

if you want second hand - then exactly the same model of camera as I have. ( cost me a small fortune 3-4 years ago ) here at

Steve, It will definitely be 50 ohm that you require. The cable used is 50 ohm impedance ( 75 ohm is mainly used for TV aerials ).

You pull the weight up and stow in the anchor well. Steam back, then lower weight out again ( it is only something like 15 FT deep so not too much rope to drag ) at least that is what I do.

I use a Sony DSC S75 which is 3.3 Megapixels. I have had this camera for around 4 years now and it takes superb crisp pictures ( mainly due to having a good lens. ). Also the battery last absolutely ages and at 3.3 Megapixels the highest res pictures come in around at 1 to 2 MB. Other upside is you plug it into the PC and it is recognised without messing around with twain drivers or the like ( older/cheaper cameras you will You could probably pick one up second hand for a good price.

The other article which was interesting was the one on the Orkney 520. The angle of the boat going flat out makes me stop worrying that mine needs trimming down ! Furthermore, the article states the max horsepower is 30 HP. This is not true, the boat is rated up to 35 HP ( says so on the plate ).

The other use I guess for this would be if you needed to leave in a hurry ( MOB or whatever ). You could dump the rope or cut the rope and your anchor rope would be left buoyed off ready to retrieve when you got back. Does this sound correct ? ( or does it only apply if your buoy is red coloured )

Hi Allan, I think I ,ay have chatted to you when you had your old boat Basasasin when you launched from Wick ? ( I certainly recall seeing it around in the past. ) - maybe I gave you a club card ?? I am always launching out of Wick on Neo ( Orkney 520 ). Look forward to seeing you at the next meeting and what a nice boat you now have.

or in the modern computer world ........ There are only 10 people that understand binary. Those that do and those that don't.

I think most of the moorings ( bar those in Mudeford harbour ) are now controlled by Bournemouth and West Hants. ( That boat with the sticker on was a Bournemouth and West Hants sticker ). Aquafresh is a well nice boat, I have to say.

Just watched that and then watched the Bass Fishing video - now feeling sea sick !

I think that would be correct Bob. The spreadsheet calculates the change as just over 0.085 degrees West ( see my earlier calc ). I am tempted to lift the calculation from the sheet and write a web page to do this. Could be useful. SO do you agree with my calculation of 50 38.63 N 01 55.66 W ( WGS84 )

Terry, That would be good. I have the mothering law and sister in law staying down though, so will have to see regarding trip to Weymouth. If I can make it, then I will either get my friend from work crewing or ask Sam if he fancies crewing ( it will be half term, so I suppose he will be tempted ! ).

It is something like 30 mins now. What you are seeing is the cahced page from the previous session ( if you press refresh on your browser you will get an updated page ).

Possibly, I know the calculation from the spreadsheet for the northings comes out exactly the same as Bob's website. The calculation for the westerly co-ordinates comes out slightly different.

Or you could use wxtide which is no longer officially available for download ( as the tide data is licensed ) - however, it can still be obtained if you PM