Paul D

1200 / 2 = 750 schools not what they used to be etc. etc.

Sam, That is my favourite weather site. Really good animations and was dead accurate for the open competition last year and this year. TheYR

Indeed an extraordinary event and others are doing there part as well as can be witnessed by this e-bay auction. Roast Dinner

Ah ha - worked it out. This post initially had no spot on it and now it does have a spot on it...... Can you see what this means ? ( It would be too easy to just tell you ). BTW: I have never noticed this before and could be useful to decide where to post ( hint hint )

Not sure Alan, perhaps you are a marked man However, this post does not have a spot on it. I will have to take a deeper look to work out why/what the spot signifies

Dan, We were stuck in a long queue of cars at the Dartford Crossing, which was closed ( and probably still is ) due to a huge fire at some warehouse next to it.

Excellent news. I didn't realise the amount was

When Christchurch Boat Shop made up my anchor to warp they used a small tie wrap through the shackle ( same, but smaller as used when tripping the anchor ) to prevent it coming undone. Has worked fine.

Jack, My example is confusing I think. Where I say 2W = 10 miles, therefore 4W= 14 miles was not intended to imply that 2W would achieve 10 miles. What I was trying ( and failing ) to show was that double the power does not necessarily mean twice the range. I think with regard to contacting the coastguard the height of the antenna will not be an issue, since they have high antennae on land exactly for this reason. I suspect also that they will have far more sensitive listening equipment than your average boat receiver, so probably will be able to receive the weak signal. What could/would be a problem would be the closer/stronger signals on CH16 being picked up over the weaker HH signal - although even then someone should hear the call and "normal" traffic would stop. That said and done though, personally, if I were buying a HH I would cough up the extra

No problems whatsoever Mark. Indeed I was going to suggest the same yesterday ( you have saved me doing that ! ).

Rich, Import tax is/was 3.7 % when I imported my GPS. VAT of 17.5% added on top as Duncan says. If you assume 25% tax then you won't go far wrong. I purchased from a store in New Jersey and had shipped to New York state, so no purchase tax was applied but as Duncan says, this varies from state to state. I think the purchase tax in New York was around 8% With the exchange rate so favourable, I am sure there are still bargains to be had. See the following Importing from USA post :- Importing post

I have added a link on the main page of the site to the DEC donation page in order to allow PBSBAC members ( and any other forum users for that matter ), to donate towards the Asian Tsunami Relief fund. The link is repeated below :- Distasters Emergency Relief Commitee - Asian Tsunami The Disasters Emergency Committee - www.dec.org.uk - is an umbrella group of UK aid organisations - including Action Aid, British Red Cross and Oxfam - working to provide clean water, food and shelter to thousands. To call from the UK, dial 0870 60 60 900.

Ray, Interestingly, further out in the case of Mudeford is further from the sea in a way ( This is because the boats are moored sort of around the corner from the entrance to the harbour. ). Dan will be much more knowledgeable on mooring locations at Mudeford than myself though.

Also found the same people do the XM radio for

Adam, Just got me thinking back some years ago when I did RF stuff with Marconis. It is not a simple case of twice the power = twice the range. If you assume that the radio transmits equally in all directions ( which is not true as the aerial concentrates power in certain directions, but good enough for this calc, ) then if the radio of 2W transmits to a distance of X then the radio of 4 watts will be capable of transmitting the same power at a distance of approx 1.4X ( ie. If the 2W HH can transit a signal receivable at 10 miles then the 4W HH will be receivable at 14 miles - assuming same aerial / receiving equipment ). So not as bad as first appears. Hope this helps Paul

One other thing to bear in mind re: mooring at Mudeford, is it can be a little exposed in winter storms ( as I think Dan has found out to his cost ). At LW many of the moorings are completely dried out, and a tender is needed to reach them ( as you are probably aware ). I have been tempted to moor up river though around the Wick / Quomps area, but as I have sufficient space at home, I prefer to trail. Having launched from Mudeford slipway as well as Wick now I am beginning to like Mudeford as a launch location but in the summer it gets packed and expensive so back to Wick then I think. Alun, I fully concur with power tilt note. I have no pwer tilt and it gets hairy running to the back of the boat to lift the engine before it hits the bottom !

I have a TLD 20 and a Shimao Charter Special. Well pleased with both reels and only trouble I have had was the clutch sticking once ( my fault as I had forgotten to clean off the reel. Cleaned the reel and all was well. ).

My friend's boat sank in Christchurch because it filled up with rainwater ( no cover on the boat ).

What was strange was it wasn't sunk when we left. Also it had no outboard attached either and the water was washing through a half open window on the starboard side. Now I remember why I don't moor my boat at Mudeford

Bob is correct re: SWR. This is only applicable when transmitting, but as far as I am aware there is nothing to adjust on marine aerials ( on other aerials you used to be able to adjust the length to get the correct impedence ), but this is irrelevent, since does not affect reception to the same extent. The ferrite rings are a very good idea and I would put them in the power lead to the radio ( you just wrap the power lead through the ring say 6 or so times. ). The ideas is that these absorb any radiation which could be being picked up via the power leads.

Annoyed me - I thought it was a cod until it got to the surface. Nice Cod Duncan thats twice the size of the biggest one I have ever caught Out of interest, I presume it was caught before HW, since it doesn't look too choppy in the photo ?

FIshed out of Christchurch today. Was unable to make the early start needed for the cod competition, so we ended up setting out at 9 AM. Made for the gulley near XChurch ledge where 3 or 4 charter boats were fishing. This turned out ot be Pout city. Weather was turning worst as the wind was blowing against the tide. I then had what felt like a hookup with the bottom, but the bottom was moving differently to the rise and fall of the boat ( which by now was considerable ). I thought I was into a nice fat cod but as the fish eventually reached the surface it was a sizeable ( for me ) Eel. Dan netted the eel as it had rolled around my other trace. Lifted it into the boat and then all hell let loose. The eel bit through my net and made of towards my foot where it bit into my boots, it then heded for teh front of the boat where it bit through my freshwater container. I managed to grab hold of it and lift it back into the net for weighing ( 22lb less 2lb for the net = 20 lb ). and Dan took a piccie with the phone. Then releases the eel to fight another day. So a good trip out in the end. The sea was then getting much worst so headed back to Mudeford.

Planning on going out in the morning, but shan't be able to get out early enough to fish the competition. Bound to catch a huge cod now !

Congratulations to the both of you and all the best for 2005.

Happy Birthday Ryan. Paul