Paul D

OK. Let me know and I will add to mine to get prices down. Rich, tackle is well cheaper in USA. Checkout the braid prices, I got some spiderwire for less than half the price over here and also last time I was out there I bought a Ugly Stick for under half price here as well. RE; Hook sizes, yes they do the large ones for cod / whiting etc. I was going to get some of them as well. Will get more and split with you when you return. I will await others orders and pool them ( eg. Paul J ).

I am looking to buy some hooks from uk hooks. ( In particular their circle hooks and larger sizes for the forthcoming cod season ). Buying in quantities of 100 there is a considerable saving. However, I only want around 50 so is anyone else interested in doubling up to keep the prices down ? If you are post here with sizes / quantities and I will put all the orders together. Web site is here UK Hooks

I was looking at the 176 when I got my plotter. I opted for the mono one and imported mine from the States ( Big regret not getting the colour one ). Still superb though - I got the 188 which is the same as the 182 but with a fishfinder built in as well. I got mine from www.boatfix.com but had it shipped to a ffriend in the states and hand carried over. Also the other thing I would do differently would be to get one with an external antenna instead of a built in antenna. The internal antenna works OK but I think the signal would be improved if I had an external one ( I still have problems picking up the WAAS/EGNOS signal usingthe internal antenna. Regarding map cartridges the cheapest I found was from Pumpkin marine ( I got Adam's his from there as well )

I am free to go. I will give Mike first shout for crew ( I need someone to check out the trim after fitting wings ).

Put a pair of wings on the outboard for yesterday's trip out. These are smaller ones than Martin lent me before and they are angled upwards. ( The larger hydrofoils caused my boat to become unstable ) Much improved handling and got up to 15 knots ( which is an improvement ). I think the increased speed is due to the stern being lifted higher. What stuck me was the smoothness of the ride into a rough sea - I could plough through at 9 knots with no problem. Havent tried it yet but I might change the trim on the engine to move the propellor shaft closer to the transom, thereby lowing the bow of the boat further.

or how about having the inlet above the water level and running a pipe to the bottom of the tank ? ( I guess you could still end up draining the water out due to siphoning when the pump is off - but less likely ). WHat size drum did you use in the end Adam ? - I got a quote for a 30 litre drum and the height of it is just right ( if lifted up a couple of inches ) for the Orkney.

My typo in the URL. I have corrected the link, try now.

Nice one. I knew we should have launched from Poole BTW: How did Martin get on ?

Quay West Online

Got out from Lymington with Les as crew and the water started off flat calm. Managed to catch 5 mackeral ( one of which was a very good size ) in 5 drifts !! Headed off for the Smoothhound mark and managed to catch a number of small bream - they were ripping though our baits. Fed up with small bream moved up to a mark near the Beaulieu river. Les managed a doggie there but the weed was horrendous. Wind was picking up all the time so moved back to the original mark ( we hoped the weed would be less there ). Less weed but fish seemed to have disappeared as well. Getting choppier so we called it a day. Had a slight "mishap" when retrieving the boat. powered the boat from the pontoon towards the trailer and cut the engine before I reached the trailer. Got on the front of the boat and lowered myself into the water to the ground, expect the water was somewhat deeper than I thought , so had to hang onto the boat until it drifted a bit further. Thankfully my feet touched the ground second attempt and the water was 1 inch from the top of my waders. Shant be doing that again in a hurry. The fishing was poor but the company was good and it was good to get out.

I am going to go for the Solent on Saturday as the forecast is superb for that day. Just need to persuade someone to crew for me - err. was superb when I looked yesterday !! Tides are such that a 9 AM start is feasible and the forecast for the afternoon ( Sat ) was force 0-1 SSE when I looked yesterday. Sea state calm. High tide is something like 12. I will look up the weather when I get in, but Sun is definitely too iffy for me ( weatherwise ). Solent forecast as of now is :- Valid for 6 hours from 0600 GMT Saturday Wind: W, Force 2 or 3 ( 6 - 10 mph) Weather Mainly cloudy Sea State Slight Visibility 10 miles Valid for 6 hours from 1200 GMT Saturday Wind: WSW, Force 2 or 3 ( 5 - 10 mph) Weather Mainly cloudy Sea State Slight Visibility 10 miles

Know the feeling Bob, I had last week off and managed a single trip out. Saturday looks to be the best day.

Portland Bill forecast for Sunday is :- Valid for 6 hours from 0600 GMT Sunday Wind: SSE, Force 5 to 7 ( 21 - 38 mph) Weather Mainly cloudy Sea State Moderate Visibility 10 miles Valid for 6 hours from 1200 GMT Sunday Wind: SSE, Force 6 to 8 ( 25 - 39 mph) Weather Mainly cloudy Sea State Rough Visibility 10 miles Saturday is better but not much ! :- Valid for 6 hours from 0600 GMT Saturday Wind: WSW, Force 4 or 5 ( 13 - 22 mph) Weather Bright or sunny spells Sea State Moderate Visibility 10 miles Valid for 6 hours from 1200 GMT Saturday Wind: WSW, Force 3 to 5 ( 11 - 21 mph) Weather Bright or sunny spells Sea State Slight Visibility 10 miles

or if the wind is a southerly hows about the Solent ? - I fancy some Smoothhound action

Adam, Saturday is fine for me too. ( Athough I need crew ).

As reported in BFM this month. Two boats were stolen from Gosport and District Angling Club on Friday 25th July. Warrior 165 ( Hull number GBWBT000081300 ) with a black Suzuki 70 HP 4 Stroke OB - serial number 07001F370001/375000 on a Rollercoaster 3 trailer s/n 060200. The warrior was called ZIGGY ( printed on Cuddy ) and Explorer Elite Hull number GBEBLE082CH303 with a dark blue Evinrude Ficht am Injection 75 HP O/B s/n 05034301 also on a rollercoaster 3 trailer. The explorer had no name Both boast last seen ( twice ) heading West on the A27 having first been seen between Stubbington and Titchfield at approx 6 PM on the 25th July.

Adam, I will wait until a bit nearer Sunday to decide if weather will be OK for me. Of course I now need a crew member as my allocated one has wimped out Mind you if it's F4-5 you won't see me out there -

I saw a picture on the front page of the Havant Echo of a Speedboat which "exploded" in a ball of flame. First I thought it was the same incident, but now I think it was a different one. Makes me glad I have given up smoking

and for the next week ( while its free ) checkout this page to see where the lightning is !! Lightning detector

It is the remnants of Hurricane Bonnie which is now on its way. From metcheck website :- Metcheck Bonnie now UK-Bound Added [sunday August 15 2004 : 11:30:00 PM] Although Bonnie didn't quite make it to hurricane status, it hasn't stopped the system joining forces with a temperate low and now has her sights set on the UK. So what can we expect? well there are already noticeable differences between Bonnie and Alex. Alex reached us at the end of a heatwave, had to contend with a European blocking pattern and crossed the Atlantic very quickly. Bonnie will bring copious amounts of rainfall, in fact by this time next week much of the UK will have seen around another 5cm of rainfall, the main feature however will be the wind... ready for an autumnal gale? you'd better be... AND Stormy September Added [sunday August 15 2004 : 11:30:00 PM] Right, time of the month again to take a peek at what next month has in store for the UK. At the moment the latest forecast is very consistent with the Metcheck Autumn 2004 forecast. The start of the month looks set to bring in the Atlantic in style, wet and windy weather is expected to dominate much of the first half of the month with two possible 'very' stormy periods, the first right at the start and another around the middle of the month. Towards the end of the month things will start to calm down as high pressure brings us the first of those chilly mornings followed by fine day weather types. The temperature overall is expected to be average to slightly below average, the rainfall is expected to be above average in Northern areas. The reason for the increased activity is expected due to a very active period in the Atlantic Hurricane season as well as increased sea surface temperature in the North Pacific.

Alun, You have made me well jealous. I was hoping to persuade a friend to crew for me on Sunday and to nip out early but he couldn't make it. Interesting to see you also had a trigger fish - was the "half way out" anywhere near X-Ray per chance ? ( I suspect you were fishing to the East of the coastguard lookout ? ). Did your trigger fight as well as the bream ? Elaine's fought better than an equivalent sized bream. Paul

I too have the XM ones - I got mine from Pumpkin Marine ( btw: If anyone wants anything picking up from there to save postage I am more than willing to nip in over my lunch break - as I only work up the road ). Have never had one inflate yet though - but it is also worth showing the kids how to manually inflate one should the pull cord and auto inflate not work ( you can rip open and blow up manually ).

Me too - I am also apalled; The stendard of speeling and grammer on this site really needs to be much better - i will have to learn you all to improve. A guide to writing

They definitely do NOT work on an Orkney 520. Bob F ( I think ) saw the affect it had on my boat in Christchurch Harbour !!

Adam, Didn't get the co-ordinates BUT I know exactly where it is on the map XRay head west and look for a gully that goes around a little "island" sort of thing. We ( Elaine ) caught it sitting right on top of the island which the gulley runs around. ( You need a small hook ( size 2 ) as they have really small mouths but some wicked teeth !! ). The fight from a 1 lb fish is superb - even better dives than a Bream. Re: Club Record, I had teh same thought, but there is a club record of 2 1/2 lb ish. regards Paul