Paul D

I have a box full of hardbacks ( around 20-30 odd ) that I pinched from some kids crab fishing on Mudeford Quay. They are in damp newspaper and weed so should survive the night OK.

Weather wise, bring a coat !! Wet Wet Wet !!

Mike, If you can arrange to get to mine at around 6:30 AM then we will get to Lymington slip sometime between 6:45 and 7:00. Sound OK ?

and the switch costs only around

Friend at work says hardbacks work well for smoothies as well. So I am off to Mudeford Quay Friday evening for a spot of crab fishing !!

Bob, Why I calculated for 2 mm I am unsure ( seems I am having senior moments too !!). I agree with your calcs for 10 mm cable ( and 16 mm cable ). Got me thinking too now as well, since I could do with shifting some weight in my boat forward ( saves telling Mike to sit at the front So Adam I think you will be fine provided you use some heavier cable ( all that weight of copper eh ).

On a "towing" related theme you may have seen this one snowtow

Bob, Helen will be a Yes/No I am Yes/Yes but someone will have to tell me where the Mariners is !!

Adam, Mike is quite correct. 5.5 metres of cable run will cause way too much voltage drop when starting the engine ( You will get away with running instruments etc. but definitely not starting the engine, which is the main reason you want a second battery IMHO ). Of interest, even on my boat I was getting too much voltage drop when transmitting on the radio at high power ( when switched to battery 1 ), need to check the wiring me thinks!!, but there again I can start the engine on both with no trouble Say starting the engine takes around 100 Amps surge ( which is even possibly a low estimate ) and your cable is 2 mm diameter ( AWG 12 - my guess ) , this will have a resistance = .00547 * 5.5 metres Ohms = 0.03 Ohms. The voltage drop = current times resistance ( V=IR ) = 0.03 * 100 = 3 VOLTS. Therefore your 12 volts will become 9 volts when cranking the engine... If the cable were only 1 metre long then the voltage drop will be around 0.5 VOLTS which is much more manageable. Also the cable will warm up if you keep cranking as you will be using 300 Watts of battery energy to warm up the cable ( 3 Volts * 100 Amp )

Found following on the Environmental Agency Site. Interesting. Warning to Fishermen Netting in Poole Harbour Author: Mike Dunning Date published: 18-May-2004 Keywords: Fish, Dorset -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- A spate of illegal fishing in Poole Harbour, Dorset has prompted the Environment Agency to issue a warning to anyone thinking of dodging the law. Fishing is not permitted in the River Frome and in the River Piddle westwards of the Western end of Poole Harbour (other than by licensed rod and line). White posts visibly mark the Western end of Poole Harbour. To the North, the post is sited on Buck

Front page fish of the week is now Gary Austin's Bream. ( Sorry Rich, I couldnt bear looking at that Bass any longer )

My work colleague has a Braked Roller Trailer for sale. It will take a 25 ft boat ( too big for my Orkney 520 or I would have had it ) and has only been used once or twice ( his Day Angler is on a mooring ). He thinks it is a Rapide. Has all usual bits + tie downs etc. Anyone interested I can get photos if wanted. Wants

Count Neo in. Crew will probably be Helen ( bad back willing ). Mike, you are welcome to fish on Neo if Helen cannot make it. ( or maybe I will be able to fish two days of the 3 ).

The rice that Rich was using when we were fishing was cooked long grain. It had been cooked in a mixture of fish guts / innards etc. Yum Yum

Adam, I bought a twin fluorescent tube jobby from E-Bay ( 2 x 8W ) - cost around

Adam, 85 AH will be ample ( excuse the pun ) RE: Cable to join the negatives of teh two batteries together, I used a starter motor lead from Halford (

Spot on Adam, if it wasn't a personal choice then everyone would be driving the same car ! I bought a copy of What 4x4 magazine and read it from cover to cover ( wouldnt have even thought of an HR-V otherwise ( or indeed a Subaru Forester ). I will let you have it at the next meeting if I remember Paul. I also trawled the internet usergroups / web sites etc. etc. Even so, I am still not totally convinced the Honda HR-V will be up to the task, but not a problem as Helen needed a replacement for the Focus anyhow and it will give me a reason for next car upgrade !?! I also always bear in mind that what I find out/ get told ( particularily on the internet where no one is accountable - but not on this site of course ) will be either useful factual info, purely opinion or completely wrong

Mike, I presume you are still on for the trailaway on the 29th.

Bob / Adam, I was getting worried so done some looking up of weights. Manufacturer quotes max unbraked = 500 KG. ( 1200 KG braked ) Max Legal unbraked trailer weight = 750 KG ( not 500 KG ) Boat : 340 KG Engine : 69 KG Trailer : 200 KG ( est ) 609 KG ====== Fuel 25 litres : 25 KG Batteries : 25 KG 659 KG ====== Anchor + warp : 10 KG 669 KG ====== Above is around 50% of the kerbweight of the car. Perhaps I will buy the braked trailer my friend has for sale !?! or get Helen to pop down to Wick to retrieve when needed However, I suspect the same problems exist with the Mondeo ( where I cannot find an unbraked trailer quoted ). The kerbside weight of the mondeo is similar. From above I think I will be legal but over manufacturers recommended by 100 KG ish.

Adam, I had same problem and manually changed mine to BST. The tide times are then spot on. ( I was going to ask you the other day , why you were looking up the tide time in the book when it is on your GPS ).

James, Christchurch Boat Shop were selling wheels, but they were not "standard" size. If you find Tara's trailer is not the "standard size" then maybe, just maybe, they are the same. or you might find these reasonable :- trailer parts

Oh well, we have now bought an HR-V and having tow bar fitted. I will probably now have to purchase a braked trailer ( or convert mine to braked ). However, I think, as Bob says, it is "touch and go" re: overall weight, so I will see how it tows, since the HR-V is not too much differnet in dimensions/weight to the Mondeo ( and it is not too far to Wick from mine ). Won't have the car in time for the trailaway to Lymington. Short term plan is for Helen to use HR-V and I will keep Mondeo ( which tows anything thrown at it - just steep slippy slipways that are the problem ). Long term I now have my eyes on a diesel X-Trail to replace the Mondeo but a bit pricey. Hilux Surf or any of those big beefy cab jobs will pull the boat fine, only problem is I travel 100 miles per day commuting and they are hardly economical + how quick would they depreciate clocking up 30K + miles per year ?? Also work noting is the pulling ability ( boat pulling that is ) of the CR-V is only slightly better than the HR-V ( 1200 KG and 1300 KG ) and my Mondeo TDCI can pull 1800 KG no problem ( as long as not slippery ! ). If there were a 4WD Mondeo TDCI that would be perfect. RE: Freelander. I know where you are coming from Adam, I was so tempted to get one, but it would have to be the TD4, since I found the 1.8 not powerful enough. ( Similarily if you do opt for a "girlie" HR-V then make sure it is the VTEC version - the standard 1.6 feels underpowered and the VTEC one I hardly fast. - When we get ours we can hook up BW and see how she tows if you like ). The Honda CR-V ( and HR-V ) is superbly built, but 4WD system is same as HR-V and the CR-V is certainly not an offroader. Price was the reason we didnt go for a CR-V. For the similar price of a CR-V I would have bought an X-Trail and they are superb towing machines with economy good enough for me ( at least that is what I told Helen !?! ) Decisions, Decisions eh

Whilst checking to see if there was a label on the boat stating its weight I noticed a strong fish smell coming from the back of the boat. Remember how those Mackeral were flapping around in the box at the back last week Rich ........ It would appear that one was left behind It's incredible the speed that maggots can hatch in this weather eh

As you are probably aware I am currently looking for a 4WD. The Honda HR-V caught my eye as a good compromise, but I note that it has a max unbraked trailer weight - 500 KG. ( 1200 KG for a braked trailer ) My Orkney trailer states that it will handle a max weight of boat = 750 KG. I suspect the Orkney weighs 300 KG ish + trailer weight ? Anyone have a rough idea what an Orkney 520 on a Snipe Trailer will weigh ? Should be around 500 KG I would have thought ? The Mondeo tows it with no problem, but this can tow up to 1800 KG for a braked trailer ( unbraked is not quoted ).

Tempting, it is Helen's birthday tomorrow, but I could be taking her to get a new 4WD ( Honda H-RV looks ideal to me, room for the kids, room for the dogs, not too big / thirsty + 4WD for Wick slipway ). Bob, if you are launching from Wick, isn't it a bit of a treck to Wareham ?