Paul D

Another interesting question is what gauge of wire to use to run from the battery switch to the busbar at the front. I am 99% certain the wire used on Neo is far to lower gauge ( which would explain the voltage drop when transmitting on the VHF ). Opinions ?

Adam, Can link to the article. Does anyone have any ideas where they would like it to be put on the site ? Under information ? I will use Duncan's PDF version.

Have added Sweet Honey pictures, extra Dawn Raider photos, Tresillian photo and photos of Danial and Sam Chapmans congers. Also updated the front page picture

I connected the outboard leads to the switch. Granted it could potentially be damaged if the switch is switched to OFF whilst the engine is running, but I make a point to avoid doing this. The downside in your other arrangement is it will fail to charge battery 2 if switched to "2 only". Not much in it I guess, since I usually steam out with switch in "BOTH" position and switch to 1 or 2 when I get to the mark ( when I remember ! )

Adam, I will check how I wired teh battery isolation switch but I am 99% certain you can make life easier by joining the two batteries negative terminals together using thick "jumper" cable and then run a single feed to the negative busbar. ( ie. Negative part doesnt need to go anywhere near the isolation switch. )

My smaller ones work fine but the larger ones Martin had made the boat extremely unstable ( plenty of lift mind you as I could actually feel the boat bouncing on them ! ). I suspect the problem with using the larger hydrofoils is the fact the Orkney is a semi displacement hull so lifting the back up too far affects the handling ?. One other use for the hydrofoils I found out last autumn..... If you plough into a pot rope they push the rope away from the propellor which is quite handy !! ( but I wouldnt rely on them for this purpose ).

I'm impressed Bob - I was thinking I had gone mad as I couldn't remember putting the photos on but noticed they had appeared from somewhere ! Kam, Adam has reminded me that Sweet Honey pics were not in the members boats section. My mistake, I had forgotten I had the piccies. They are added now as are some new ones of Dawn Raider going out for conger

Photo now added and also added to front page ( as I was getting fed up with looking at you holding the cup you had won ! ). I will start rotating the front page picture again, so keep the pictures coming.

Kam, Your description of the terminal bars is exactly the way Neo is wired. The +ve feed goes to a small terminal block which then feed the switch panel via three fuses ( fuse per two switches - obviously skinflinting on fuses ). The negative feed is sent to a larger series of blocks which are jumpered together using heavier gauge cable. Since one fuse is feeding two switches I would like to say I have carefully selected what items from GPS/FF, Steaming Light, Nav Lights, VHF, Bilge Pump and cabin light are fed by a common fuse( but I cant ! ). The switch panel fuses I have are higher current rating and the GPS and VHF have their own inline fuse ( ie. Delicate electronic equipment needs protecting ). The main feed to the two blocks is connected to the battery 1-Both-2-Off switch which I always forget to switch to OFF once home ( no problem with corrosion etc. through as the GPS connector is switched at the switch panel. ) The battery 1-Both-2-Off switch is connected to each battery positive terminal using car starter motor leads ( cheaper than "marine" alternative ). Hope this is of some help. PS: Wiring on Neo could also do with a good tidy up though !

No need to reduce the size of the photos Charlie ( so long as they are not huge size ). There is plenty of disk space at the moment. Raider looks good in the photo James.

Nice one - I sat all day at work looking at the flags hardly moving and the mirror state of the sea as I drove back home in all the traffic I was up for a Wednesday trip but weather today looked better. Out of interest, on a day like today would my Orkney 520 been capable of getting out to the wreck marks in a reasonable time ? ( I can recon on cruisng at around 14 knots ). Next calm spell I shall have to try harder to get crew ! yours not a tall envious - Paul. PS: I never had a phone call either

MARITIME AND COASTGUARD AGENCY RELEASE SEARCH AND RESCUE STATISTICS FOR 2004 The MCA today released its search and rescue figures for 2004. Regrettably, the total number of recorded deaths is up on last year. However, the bulk of the increase is accounted for by suicide cases (up by 50%) and by the Morecambe Bay cockle pickers tragedy (which accounted for 21 deaths from a single incident). Without those 21 deaths, other fatalities from direct marine accidents would have fallen significantly. A breakdown of the figures is shown below. The numbers of people getting into difficulty and being assisted or actually rescued also fell by 13%. However hoax calls to the Coastguard were up from a recorded 232 in 2003 to 301 in 2004. The figures are as follows: 2003 2004 Total reports to the Coastguard: 13,849 14,240 Total occasions of assistance rendered: 8,070 8,056 Total numbers of persons assisted 25,118 21,600 (but not life threatening situations) Total number of persons rescued (where life at risk): 5,689 5,276 Total recorded deaths (excluding suicides): 198 188 Of the fatalities recorded by the Coastguard:

Looks good Paul. If you want a hand with the elactrics etc. then give us a shout. PS; Fancy a trip out Wednesday ?

James, Could be tempted - I need to check with work first and need to get crew. Anyone interested in crewing ? ( Gordon ?. Dan ?, Rich ? ).

Heres a little card you can send

Re: Uploading / downloading photos. If we have photos of fish / boats etc. then please feel free to put them on the forum as we have plenty of space available and paid for and currently we have no problem with bandwidth usage ( although this could change in future if the site gets more popular ). ie. As it stands at the moment, I would prefer to have piccies saved on our site ( as can't be "Lost" ) as opposed to scattered around the internet.

What is she doing in Finland ?

I can jack my trailer up using the car jack - no problem. ( It is a scissor jack )

Nice conger Sam. Adam, Work and weather permitting I could be up for a mid-week trip ( I know Gordon could be interested ).

Kam, Although I agree that the boat is lighter on retrieve, I find it more difficult pulling the boat out than launching the boat, since you have to get traction to pull the boat out. That said, the Orkney is probably a similar weight to the Warrior ( maybe slightly lighter ) and I have no problems ( bar a bit of wheelspin to start ) pulling the boat out on Wick and Lymington slipways using a Mondeo TDCI

These are fixed but can be adjusted when fitted. I feel a photo coming on......

Went to Gosport Boat Jumble today. Only two boats for sale there and one was vastly overpriced at

Rich, I have bird feeder at the ready No trip today though ( going out )

Coddy, You can fly fish for Sea Trout in the Claypool area ( Christchurch ) ( permit and membership to Christchurch Angling CLub = not cheap ) required. CAC have some good trout fishing waters I recall as well. ( I think Paul J may be a member ? ) Also fly fishing for mullet can be done in the Stanpit area ( permit to fish the harbour needed at approx

Boat Name can now be added. Let's have a consensus as to what other fields people would like to see. Easy to add - hard/impossible to remove the pre-existing ones. R u going to add anchoring theory under your interests Duncan