Mike Fox

Roll on the cod! Mike

I saw it the other weekend Rob. It's a little bit awesome

Hello hello hello....another birthday? Hope you have a great day Stuie Mike

Looks like the coolant is leaking from the calorifier. With this removed from the circuit, and a simple connector pipe fitted, the pressure test showed no leaks in 7 hours this week. I did gentle sea-trials today, in the marina...then down to the bridge...and finally a short trip to Old Harry, and all seems ok. No fishing alas! Maybe next trip! I now need to have the calorifier pressure tested for absolute proof. then work out how to extract/replace it. This feels expensive and slow Mike

I'm hoping for a simple fix on the heat exchanger or something simple too, but I'm not that lucky with this boat. Oil remains black, and no steam, Jim.

Have a Yanmar 4JH3E 56bhp engine in Feisty, with fresh water cooling. Last weekend, the reservoir was empty (first time ever!) when taking guests out, so I filled it, and thought nothing more of it. Had engine alarms going off before getting to the bridge, cleared a small and new ball of weed from the raw water strainer and limped back into Cobb's with a couple of forced stops, and the alarms went off again as I arrived. I couldn't find what was wrong, as the reservoir level stayed the same and raw water was being pumped around the engine. Interestingly there was no hot water. Purbeck Marine make a quick visit one evening, and they couldn't find a coolant leak on the engine, proved there was no engine seizure, and even when the now empty heat exchanger was refilled, there was no obvious leaking. Running the engine in tickover and under some load made no difference. All pipes and joints seemed intact, and no visible leaking around the engine. Some corrosion at the calorifier (hot water tank) was seen, and some slight dampness there might have contained antifreeze...so a possible leak.However, this is bonded to the hull away from the engine compartment, and the interior of the boat has been built up around it, and it will be a nightmare to even reach, never mind remove and replace. The lack of hot water implied no hot coolant reached the calorifier, but in itself wasn't evidence this is where the leak is. Purbeck fitted pressure gauges yesterday, and in a quick 10 minute "cold" test, no drop of pressure was recorded, so it was left in situ, and pressure dropped away after several hours, confirming that if a leak is there, it's slow with a cold engine. They'll do more tests next week, and isolate the calorifier, and test the engine without, and then the calorifier without the engine, to narrow it down. If it is the calorifier, then it can be isolated from the cooling circuit, and the engine still used, but if it's the engine, it might have a serious problem. Either way it feels like an impending "ouch" So, no boat this weekend, and currently no absolute evidence what the problem actually is. Anyone think of something simple it might still be, or any easy checks that could still be made?

Well done chaps - great to see there's still some to be had! Love the technique of catching them, stuffing them full of livelies, then weighing them :D Mike

George and I used up some leftover worms on the pier last week, on that right hand corner on the lower platform, and we had a mixed bag of fish, including smoothhound, scad, pouting, bream, bass and a solitary sole. All returned. We'd heard there were some squid showing, but none were evidenced while we were there.

Nooooo - I've been banned from even using Snowy's moulted feathers for mackereling!

The things some club members do to get a few more mini-species off Poole Patch... I'm seriously interested, Charlie, in something large and low-tech that could be trolled at 6-7 knots in warmer waters to seek small tuna or Mahi-mahi....Look forward to chatting sometime! Mike

Interesting Dave. I'm having some weird things happen with batteries and charging at the moment, and am suspecting my mains charger is being silly. If I ever want to be out for longer periods I know I'm going to have to be better at battery management....or running the engine quite a lot! Mike

We punched from Dielette to Cherbourg today in under 4 hours. Very lively south of Alderney with. NW4/5 occ 6. The race was boisterous, and we took a fair bit over the top. Much flatter over the top of Cherbourg. Good luck with the fishing, but the Schole would have been unfishable today. Mike

Hi chaps, we sighted Alderney today, and currently are in Dielette. Having NW 4/5-6 for next day or so. I know Alderney week is about now, and if so, you might have to anchor. Good luck if you make it! Mike

Hi Allan, Could I have the anchor and chain please? Thanks, Mike

We left the anchorage after lots of coffee and an early breakfast. Carol delighted in using the electric windlass to lift the anchor, and was a bit too enthusiastic with the last bit. We've all done it. We motored gently out of the anchorage, to avoid disturbing the late risers and thought we'd try to catch the slack water somewhere deep for a red gurnard and maybe a cookoo wrasse. Well the red gurnard appeared, along with ballan wrasse and the odd mackerel but not a lot else on 3 or 4 marks. Gradually the ebb increased, and we moved inshore again to anchor off Swanage Bay at one of our brill marks, this time using the fishing anchor in under 20m. None today, but we had spotted ray and dogfish. A lazy line twinkling away 50 yards out produced one string of 4 plump mackerel for bait, but that was it. The wind against tide picked up, and risked us going over the anchor rope, so we moved further inshore where we fished a bank with no tide. We were showing 0.00 knots boat speed for about 15 minutes, and caught small eyed ray on the alleged drift using fresh mackerel chunks. Eventually we slid offshore, back into tide, and rather than mess around for little reward, we popped the new genoa out, and sailed back in gently, making an easy 5-6 knots against the ebb. We passed the chains, approached Aunt Betty, and realised there was a chance of making the 3.30 bridge, so we fired the engine into life, and was the last boat through. We went up to our berth in Cobb's just after low water neaps, without touching, and tied up first time...it's starting to come together, just in time for a longer trip.... Watch this space!

The wind progressively dropped and it had all the hallmarks of a nice evening, so we decided to stay - one of the advantages of having accommodation on the boat. Carol raided the tin locker, and chicken jalfrezi and a vegetable dhal made for an easy meal, with a glass of something appropriate. A mayday in the Swash was reported on Ch16, and we watched helplessly from a mile or so away. Crew were rescued, and two lifeboats attending made short work of the flames. Boats steadily left...usually on the hour, to dash back for the bridge lift on the half-hour, and the wind dropped to a steady F2-3 off the beach. The previous owner of the boat came over in his dinghy to say hi. His new 48-footer was moored closer to Old Harry, and he recognised his old boat and came over for a quick chat. He was in shock at the changes. His black labrador recognised the boat, and fell asleep leaving black hairs everywhere. Snowy remembered him from last year...weirdly! The evening slowly passed, we wound it down in the cockpit, for an early night, popped the anchor light on, and slept like a log! At first light, I awoke with a start, probably due to the wash of someone leaving to cross channel, and popped on deck to verify we hadn't dragged, and to watch the sun rise over the island. It was peaceful, idyllic and I seemed to be the only person awake. Sometimes you don't have to catch stacks of fish to make a trip worth while.

Finally, Feisty is just about sorted. We'd filled up in the week, verifying 4 to 4.5 litres per hour. We celebrated by taking some worms, squid, and mackerel down to the boat, packed up the ship's parrot (well budgie) Snowy, and had a leisurely departure on the 9.30 bridge on Saturday. It was like a millpond in the harbour, and all the way out down the Swash, then suddenly we were into a SW4-5. We hoisted full sail, then took a bit in, to make it more manageable, and punched out beyond the Spoils to a little rocky reef we know on the 100' contour, hoping it would drop as quickly as it arrived, but it was not to be. I criss-crossed the area watching the down-vu and side scanning sonar, in awe at the craggy rocks there, that explained the tackle graveyyard. It was blowing too much to anchor, so set up a few drifts using half mackerel fillets, hoping for a pollack. Alas, nothing showed other than fat pouting, one of which was swallowed whole by a huge black-backed gull. Conditions didn't improve so we worked our way back inshore under engine, trying some old favourite gravel banks closer to Swanage for little reward. We eventually decided to pop into Studland, and lob the hook down. Carol hadn't used the windlass before, so it was a new experience. It bit straight away, and we spent a few hours just sitting in the sun, and it was such a welcome change from what had gone before over the last few weeks.

It looks good to fish a comp somewhere else, Well done on catching in unfamiliar waters! Locks are a pain. Biggest I've used was the commercial shipping locks at St. Malo, where the tide can be around 13m at springs. Still, once inside you stay afloat which is much better than going up and down with that tide on a wall, or lying in the mud at low water. Mike

Love it Greg!

We'd caught a handful of small-eyed rays on Saturday on mackerel chunks, and I was looking for an undulate ray for the species comp. Lat autumn I caught 3 squid of around 3' long, and I'd saved the heads for such an occasion. I split one down the middle to make a bait larger than my fist, and dropped it down the back in weakening tides. The bait was picked up and dropped several times as I lifted into the nodding rod. I suspected they were small-eyed ray, which were too small and couldn't quite get it in their mouths. After about 10 minutes with no movement, the rod doubled over as something more substantial took it. Leaning into it, indicated something 2-3 times the size of the earlier rays. I great tussle later saw the undulate ray appearing at the back of the boat, and George leant over the back and netted it, The boat was moving a fair bit, and weighing the fish indicated it might have been over 15lb, but in a lull in the motion, the scales settled on 14lb 4oz, so that's my best for the year. Mike

You're doing better than me then Alan. I only claim to give the appearance of an alleged gentleman... Mike

Trev, Can I suggest your friend looks at transducers carefully as well? The cost of purchase, and effort involved in routing cables back to the unit and associated power supply can tip you over budget if you're not aware. Mike

For those of us who (wisely) avoided the S/SW 5/6 occ 7 forecast yesterday, conditions for the Round the Island race were considered "interesting". The first boat across the line completed in 2 hours 23 minutes. Not bad for over 60 miles. Rumour has it they weren't trolling for mackerel at the time. Mike

Boats entering; Kingfisher Court Jester Feisty Fox

Chris - happy to help with Garmin to Garmin. I've also inherited Raymarine, and everything seems unique to them. I can't see how that transfer can work. Mike