Paul D

Clements Marine took them over not so long ago.

Could try here :- Galvanic Isolator and the help files explain really well what they do and how they work. I like their point "Don't forget : If you do not have an isolator fitted to your vessel your neighbour will be using your anodes!"

Dom, Provided I can get Neo fixed this weekend then happy to buddy up following weekend/s.

Andy, If the choke is electrically powered then it won't take much current to move it. To turn the engine over though takes much, much more current. ( and the drop in voltage is directly proportional to the current ). I would stick with checking the wiring for a start. ( especially given the symptoms ) One other thought, is when you get the problem starting, if due to a poor connection giving a drop in voltage when you turn the key, you should find that the site of the poor connection will warm up due to the high resistance. ( Paul J had exactly this problem with a poor ( ie. Loose ) battery connection. Any problems feel free to give me a call. PS: Want to swap electrical knowledge for GRP repair knowledge

All the best Paul

I concur with the bad connection theory ( Not in the thinner wiring but in the heavy duty cables running from battery to starter motor/engine ). Does the power tilt ( assuming you have one ) have similar affect on the radio/fishfinder ?

Andrew, Which member - I need sorting out with leads myself ! I have a TLD 20 matched to a 30-50lb rod but find it a little heavy to use. The TLD 15 is more suitable I think - especially as you dont need the larger spool of a TLD 20 with braid. Recently got a Penn Lever Drag and quickly becoming a convert to these - but I need tackle which copes with being abused as I am not one for carefully looking after reels ( 3 years of use and throw away more like ! )

Toss up between continuing to repair Neo and go fishing. The latter obviously, so as Gordon H was looking for crew, I offered to crew on Fugazi. Lymington 8AM launch and headed out to where we suspected the 34lb cod may have been caught . Nipper was already there and given they had followed Mustang-On out there, this was a good enough indication for me Slow fishing but Gordon showed the way with 2 Eels in quick succession. Apart from these it was Pout and dogs. We then headed closer inshore, waiting for a tanker to steam through the inshore mark ( never seen them in that close before ). before dropping anchor. Had a solitary whiting whilst at the new mark. Swell was picking up fast, so headed around the corner to be joined Nipper and Mustang-On. Fished there for 1 hr before heading back to Lymington. Slow fishing but great fun and good company on Fugazi. Next time must go to West Lepe

Petition for Closed Areas The Government remains committed to the Common Fisheries Policy (CFP) objectives of long-term sustainability of fish stocks and the marine environment. We aim to achieve this through the provision of a suitable balance between fleet capacity and available fishing opportunities and the better integration of environmental elements within the management of the CFP. Under the right conditions closed areas are valuable tools for the preservation and enhancement of certain critical habitats. Many areas around the UK are already closed for certain times of the year or to particular gear types in order to protect specific stocks, spawning aggregations or nursery grounds. However, closing an area to fishing does not automatically result in a reduction in fishing effort. It may even lead to an increase in fish mortality through increased pressures on other stocks and/or areas and increased discards. There may also be safety issues if small vessels are forced to fish further from their home port. Consequently, closed area management cannot be used in isolation from quota, effort, and technical conservation measures. Closing large areas around the UK could seriously impact on the profitability of fleets in fisheries dependent communities, especially those where fleets largely consist of non sector (under 10m) vessels. For this reason, the Government favours a number of alternative measures designed to work alongside the targeted closures already in place with the aim of reducing fishing mortality. These are currently being developed with the fishing industry to ensure their effectiveness. They include Real-time closures. The Scottish industry is currently running a voluntarily pilot scheme where areas are closed in response to abundance of undersized cod. An extension of this trial (and the involvement of other EU Member States) is being explored. Observed effort. The Government are supporting the use of on-board observers to provide an incentive to fishermen to avoid cod. Increased selectivity. The Government are working on a range of technical conservation measures to improve the selectivity of certain gear types. Effort cap. The EU Commission has proposed a change to the existing cod recovery mechanism which would allow Member States to manage the effort of their own fleets independently. Since we do not believe this is practical for widespread application in 2008, the UK has proposed as an alternative to pilot the scheme across one gear grouping to test how effective it might be. In each case, if successful, we propose extending the provisions to all Member States' fleets and to all sea areas.

What was considered the best photo from each of the other entries ( well the ones I considered to be the best of the rest ! ) are posted below :- My attempt Neil Sturt Charlie Chapman Gary Ayles Dave Samuel Martin Burt Spike Spears Tom Smith

Congratulations to Duncan for his Open Competition winning picture "Your Plaice or Mine"

Trevor ( Wedger ) has been in correspondance with the CEFAS guy with regard to this and there is a reward poster and apparently this is the the time of year they get the most returns. They will also pay the market value for the fish itself.

Gordon, If you need crew then I would be more than happy to crew for you ( NEO is out of action for now )

What a fantastic fish Steve. We saw you going out ( I was the one who came over having launched onto the slipway ) and I was thinking of following your 3 boats out. Wish I had now ! Not at all envious

Simon, There was no gel left - the slipway removed all of that

Found out where the water was getting in. It was the rear of the transom ( ie. The but which got "ground down" ). It was only seeping through slowly but fast enough to put around 120 litres or so of water into the bilge. To quickly drain I stuck a screwdriver through the damaged fiberglass and out came the rest of the water. Cleaned the fiberglass and cleaned with acetone. Applied some matting and gel over the hole ( 5 layers ). Intend to add another 5 layers once this has set and then reapply gelcoat. The trnasducer screws are still in the hull and sealed - so no leakage there.

Wondered why the boat was coming off the plane continually on the way back. Found out why this morning as there must have been around 1 foot of water in the bilge and also learnt that the compartments on the 520 at the rear must have some sort of drainage in the bottom of them as my fuel tank and batteries were sitting in 6 inches of water. Now need to fix the transducer and apply some gel coat to the ground down bit ( it is obviously leaking ! )

Early start from Lymington this morning and almost disaster before we had even set off. Mentioned to Dan that the boat rolls off the trailer easily now but it came off rather two easily ( as in half way up the slipway. ). Depth sounder transducer was removed from the hull and the bottom of the transom was ground down a bit plus a few chunks from the gelcoat - still could have been a lot worst .... Made sure we had no leaks and then set off of the Needles. Flat calm, so tanked it all the way there. Fishing was slow with suprisingly few dogfish ( we only had around 4 all day ). A few pout to hokkais and then Dan hooked into a better fish on his squid bait. Fought well on the way up and up comes a 4lb 4oz Whiting ( 2oz short of the club record ). At this stage I have caught a solitary pout which was smaller than my hand. Tide turns and then it is my turn. I was fishing with my new Penn reel and hooked into something big, feels like a ray and after battling against the tide up comes a nice 13lb 8oz Undulate Ray. 10 minutes later and same rod gets another bite and into another ray. This one fights harder and the tide is stronger. Second Undulate weighs in at 16lb. Fishing is then dead quite until Dan has a strap conger which we could have sworn was a cod. All quiet again until I hook into something which is not huge but is fighting differently to a whiting - Up comes a COD - Only a small one 4lb 8oz and exactly the same size as Dan's Whiting but at least I managed to catch one this year. Now need to do some repairs on the boat - but well worth the trip today.

and picture 2

A few more pictures here.

Awaiting some pictures of the fish. If you have some Rob could you e-mail them to my webmaster@pbsbac.co.uk account please. ( Full size preferably ). Fish was recorded as 18lb 8oz.

Happy Birthday Paul. Nice piece of cod for your birthday lunch as well.

Nice one Paul. I opted for the "watch football" option. Was also worth it as they won 3-1 ( which is probably less likely than catching a cod )

Happy Christmas and Merry New Year Tight lines to all.