Paul D

Bob, Seen plenty of mullet jumping in XChurch harbour ( as well as the odd sea trout ), so could be mullet ?

Added to calendar. I am still looking for crew - will ask family first.

Bob, Your article was great and I have two batteries now ( Not quite wired as per your article but near enough ). Newboy, make sure you get a decent 1-2-Both switch for the batteries. I saw one of dubious Taiwan build which would be more likely to fail than if a single battery were fitted !! I bought a switch in Aladdins Cave in Hamble for around

Adam, I believe you will find that ....... Since Denmark are in the EEC you have rights in the same way as if you bought the plotter here. You are covered under the EEC Distance selling regulations Distance Contracts From the above directive :- "In principle, the supplier has thirty days in which to perform the contract. Where the supplier fails to perform his side of the contract, the consumer must be informed and any sums paid refunded. In some cases it is possible to supply an equivalent good or service. In the event of fraudulent use of his payment card, the consumer may request cancellation of payment and reimbursement of the amounts paid. " EEC is not all bad eh

Helen is looking to get a replacement for the Focus she uses ( as the kids are too tall ). I have my eye on a Freelander 4WD - handy for towing the boat Does anyone have recommendations as to good 4WD for towing ( I seem to recall that Mark Adams had a Suzuki ? ) I know a Freelander is not the best for towing but surely will walk over the task of towing the little Orkney with 4WD for those slippy slipways !! Now to work out how to pay for it !?!?

Lymington good for me, would have to be 29/30th May but downside is that this is the Bank Holiday weekend. ( 23rd is Helen's Birthday ).

I just use a basic paternoster rig with a single trace of around 3 foot and smallish hook. Squid / ragworm / mackeral as bait. Squid seems to be particularily effective, although the one I caught yesterday was full of ragworm.

Tesco bag technique I was told by a friend at work. Take one Tesco bag and add your groundbait ( chopped mackeral / squid etc. etc ) tie a knot in bag and stick loads of holes in bottom. Tied to a line / weight and lower to bottom. Retrieved at end of day of course, since carrier bags floating in the sea are hardly environmentally friendly !!

It was a great day, was it not. My recollection of the day did differ slightly from yours !! You seem to have forgotten the superb skippering to find you a Pollack ( and a reasonable sized one too - that was caught on that carefully selected piece of ragworm I let you have !?! ), then I fought off all attempts to go over to Boscombe pier instead opting for a spot on Christchurch Ledge because I just knew I would be able to show off my Bream catching skills Some handful of dogfish later I was beginning to wonder, but then a nice Bream ( weighed in at 2 lb 13 Oz back at home ). My first of the season ( in fact my first reasonable fish ). Finished the day with a tour of Christchurch marinas by river ( to see how the "other half" live ). Then back to Wick Slipway. Wick was strangely quiet when we left at 09:30 AM there were only 2 cars in the car park. On returning there was around 4/5 boats around, but still quiet. PS; Slipway is still disintegrating at a rate of knots. It was a great day - good weather and good company - will have to do it again sometime.

Rich, No problem - will have to let you know all the huge bream we have caught !?! PS: I removed your numbers from your earlier note.

Mike, It was me and I must say that looks the part. Off to bid !!

Rich, Have been unable to contact you to date I will be launching from Wick at 9:30 AM, Mike ( Afishinado ) is coming along, but if you want to come along feel free to call me as I have room for 3 ( esp. with the weather so good as there are two seats at the back ). Ragworms in Pro-Tackle predicted to be run out come tomorrow afternoon.......

Alun, You want some tips from me, things must be bad !?! I have to say, you are a braver person than me going out to the shambles in your smaller Orkney. I was a little worried in mine and only relaxed because I knew other club boats were around. It gets a little choppy at the edges of the bank. I am still awaiting contact from Rich, so might not be going anywhere yet

Rich, I will point out the mullet "hot spots" on Saturday, if you can make it. ( I know where the "Hot spots" are, it's the catching I have more trouble with !?! ).

Mike, I will endeavour to contact Rich ( I also realised I do not have his contact number ! ). If I fail I will be in touch. cheers Paul PS: Rich - Give me a call.

Crew needed for Saturday - anyone interested ?? Paul J ?

Adam, I shall have to dig out the fly rod too and tag along with you two. I have a total of two weeks fly fishing practlce...... Tried to fly fish for mullet some 4 - 5 years ago and had no luck + 1 week "salmon" fishing in Scotland ( long story ). Presumably the mullet fishing is not in the purely CAC waters, but in that shallow part near Stanpit whose name I cannot remember and near the bridge ??

I agree with Adam and Martin. I would get a fixed unit, since the range on handhelds is limited, not by the power but by the height of the aerial ( I do believe I am about to disagree with martin's - wattage = distance note ). Key to VHF range is aerial height and there is no height on a handheld aerial. It is for this reason that an aerial is positioned as high as possible. I too bought an ICOM M401 Euro - doesn't have DSC though, but a superb VHF set, nice loud speaker and dual watch ( even triple watch ) which means you can listen to one channel whilst monitoring the emergency/calling channel 16. Therefore go for big aerial and fixed unit.

Looks useful Martin. I will ask if they want to exchange links.

Re: Launching. I did exactly the same when I first got my boat last year. Went down to Wick and watched numerous people launching and retrieving. I quickly learnt that there are many who have no clue ( esp. in the summer ) !! It is actually great entertainment In the 4 or 5 weeks I watched launches I saw the following :- 1) Trailer pushed down the slip and while the owner was busy talking to someone else it ( the trailer ) continued down its merry way and sunk. ( His kids then had to dive to find the strap and pull it back out ). 2) Boat put onto trailer crooked and after 30 mins of messing around the boat slid off the back of the trailer ( not before someone unaware pedestrian tripped over the rope between the car and the trailer ) 3) Beautiful "Ring" speedboat 3/4 of the way on the trailer. Methid used to get it fully on the trailer was to speed across the car park and then slam on the brakes. 4) The worst. Man reverses down slipway and takes out a blow up dingy ( which eventually had 4 people onboard when only size for 2 ) and a Seagull outboard. He then gets 8/9 year old son who has nothing on his feet to hold the Seagull. He then starts it whilst out of water and right by his son's feet........ At least one person told him "I wouldn't do that if I were you". Some people are just plain stupid. I quickly learnt that there are far worst launches than mine ( and I certainly am not that good at them ! ). PS: If my wife's back is still bad you are more than welcome to crew for Neo.

Had exactly the same problem on the Honda.As Pete says, the breather screw on the fuel tank was not allowing sufficient air into the tank and caused a degradation in performance. ( Found the engine ran beautifully when I forgot to put the fuel cap on altogether ! ).

Adam, I ran mine dunked in a dustbin ( probably done this already I guess ), but worked a treat for me !!

Crayside Marine are proving most helpful. I will probably go up there and check out their seats (

Dave, Thanks also, I was trying to remember how I found that wreck site and couldn;t find it.

And Paul J thought the rig he lent me to fish the other week was OTT !! I have to say Adam, it is good to be able to see what sort of rig you were using, I obviously havent put enough beads on my rig I think.