Mike Fox

His "Beast of the Bay (head end)" waypoint you mean... Mike

Thanks Rob, got it sorted now

Chris - I think most Garmin to Garmin should work with a blank SD card (or blank micro-SD card with SD adaptor). I had to use a PC as an intermediary. Could help if you need a hand My older Garmin GPS128 has hundreds of waypoints, but no card transfer option. Had to give up on that! Mal - it sounds like you're well on the way. Inserting a blank SD card into either of my plotters did the formatting (made it Garmin-readable). Installing your waypoints card should allow transfer/merger - they're saved in memory I suspect, not on the chart itself. Your laptop just needs a physical method of reading the card (slot, or compatible card-reader). The chances of a Lowrance reading them is close to zero, but you might be able to buy PC software to convert one format to another. You should have a chance! Feels worse than Betamax and VHS! Mike

Having changed boats, but still having access to the old one, I wanted to transfer my old waypoints to the new plotter. Both Garmins. Simple you might think? I had a number of issues: 1. I put an old format full-sized SD card into the old plotter to move the old waypoints onto. It failed to recognise the card. 2. I deleted all old files from the card and tried again. This time it formatted the card into some specific Garmin format, and transferred across USERDATA.AMD. Great, but when I tried transferring it to the PC, I couldn't open it, and Google didn't help. Never mind, I had a copy. 3. Tried to install the SD card into my new Garmin. Wrong size. It needed a micro-SD card. 4. I had a micro-SD card in my mobile phone, so emailed the file to myself, and installed it in the new Garmin. Wrong formatting again, and it could not be read. 5. Bought a new 8GB micro-SD with full-sized SD adaptor. Inserted the full adaptor into my old card reader to transfer the file from the PC. It refused to even recognise it. I guess 8GB was too big for the card reader. 6. Inserted the micro-SD card into the new Garmin, copying across half a dozen new waypoints, but crucially formatting the card. 7. Tried to copy the new waypoints to the PC - card reader refused to co-operate again. 8. Found an SD card slot on the PC itself (never knew that was there!) and was able to "see" the micro-SD card in the adaptor. Copied old waypoints across. Finally, I installed the micro-SD card into the new Garmin last night, and finally, the plotter came alive with waypoints. If anyone ever needs to do this, remember to format the card to match the technology! Mike

Bump...

Finished the first stage of the port locker improvements while away. The rear stainless pole holds mooring lines (bow x 2,springs x 2, stern) for marinas, two longer shore lines for rafting out, plus two 100' shore lines for emergencies. Plus a few other odd bits of rope. The inward stainless pole secures boat hooks brushes etc at the deepest turn of the hull. Labelled ropes attached give quick access to tow rope, and anchor chain/warp. Also on the inner edge are two coiled electrical cables (yellow and blue) on rope tidies The top of the gas locker has a plastic tray for leads and handlines. The third stainless pole is to provide quick access to fenders - just tie them on with a clove hitch. Not shown were a selection of 8' two-piece rods, stowed made up in the centre of the locker. Last piccie is as it was before.

Think that's two more jobs out of the way. There was a diverter switch for the diesel fuel return. I was taking fuel from one, and returning excess to the other, eventually over-filling it and rupturing the incorrectly sized seal. Shame the label on the diverter switch had been totally obscured by the soundproofing material, was in French, was almost illegible with age. and wasn't mentioned by the previous owner.... Still 'tis sorted , and clearly labelled in English now, so next time I screw up, I won't spend hours lifting floorboards, chasing pipes back to tanks, and disconnecting fuel return lines with the engine running while shouting to Carol "now try the lever the other way!". Left the batteries off charge for a couple of days. 12.88v for the domestic bank, and starter battery was 12.81. My concerns at them not holding a charge are over, but I might have a slight voltage drop getting to the new plotter which was protesting. Now turned down the alarm threshold, and life has gone back to being quiet. Shocked to discover the alternator is an 80Ah beastie. At least it should recover any lost charge quickly Mike

Slept on board for the first time last night. All was well until my early morning "short walk" to use the loo. It had been used a couple of times already, so had no real worries. The bowl emptied nicely, but when I tried to flush, no more water came out I have a set of adaptors, and a foot pump for the inflatable, so first job was to disconnect the raw water inlet, and try to pump air out through the seacock. The problem was immediately clear, a compressed column of seaweed jammed in the pipe. That was removed successfully, air pumped down then blew bubbles with gusto, so I reassembled. Still no water... I next tried the pipe between the Jabsco pump and the bowl. That was clear, so realisation dawned that I had to strip down the entire pump.... 6 simple screws, lift off the top, and even more weed in various states of decomposition. I removed all I could find, then re-assembled, and tried again. Even tried priming the pump with a kettle full of water Five further strip-downs later, each producing more weed, resulted in it finally working, and when it did, more weed flooded the bowl, but it eventually cleared I hope everyone else had a better Bank Holiday morning than us

Sea trials not yet complete after all. Found a strong smell of diesel below this morning. Unscrewing and lifting the floor showed one of the fuel tanks leaking slowly but steadily, and many litres in the bilges. Investigstions showed it was the fuel return pipe junction leaking, due to an oversize seal having beeen fitted, to what looked like a new pipe. The second fuel tank had an old hose and a spare seal the right size, so used that. I think the leak was a symptom, not a cause. I think the second tank fuel return is blocked, so all of the return fuel was going to the already full first tank, causing the overflow. I switched to using the over-full tank only, so that the level would gradually reduce. Did about 2 hours on it today, and got about 5 miles offshore, where we pumped bilges. All seemed ok in further checks. Will replace that other hose this week, with fresh seals. Hope my guess is correct. Anyone have any other ideas? Mike

I had a couple of companies give me estimates for cushions, and a firm at Ringwood seemed reasonable. They do a lot of work for Sunseeker, and the quality seems to be there. I'll give them a good airing this week, and if they prove to be as good as they appear, I'll share the company details. Mike

Have been working on final updates in evenings this week... - Shock cord fitted to fishing anchor lid to keep it in place when deployed. - Fishing anchor taken down and installed. Extra heavier chain this year. Hope the anchor is big enough! - Old lifejacket webbing used to position/secure the liferaft in the locker, onto backing pads. - Vinyl cushions for the cockpit are now supplied and fitted (see pic). Less of the numb bum syndrome on those long passages at 6-7 knots. - AIS now programmed with the MMSI number. - AIS MOB devices now programmed with the MMSI number, so the DSC Radio will go off in the event of MOB. - SSR applied for (4 weeks apparently) - Ofcom informed of transmitting vessel changes (name, owner, fixed DSC, handheld, radar, AIS, PLB) Dreadful website! - CG66 NOT done. Website having issues apparently. - Sprayhood fitted last night. - Sails back today, to fit. Finally we're winning! Sea trials, hopefully a bit of dangling, and then marina/berthing practice tomorrow Mike

There had to be a final twist....I just couldn't predict what it was going to be Saturday we did the renaming bit. Carol at the sharp end with a bottle of bubbles and making sure the nautical gods of old (Poseidon / Neptune) were suitably impressed, despite the persistent rain, and we thought we had it sussed. But technically, we were a little bit late with the traditional offering..... When it came time to go home, Carol found the previously damp bilges were wet once again, and once more we baled them out. Strange, cos none of the new seacocks were leaking by now. Today we went down to finally sort the mooring arrangements and improve our state of readiness, and again, the bilges were wet. In a flash of belated inspiration I remembered I hadn't checked the new transducer fitting Lifting more panels showed a shallow pool of water, undoubtedly Cobb's finest. A quick mop out session showed the new transducer seemed ok, but the through-hull impellor fitting for the speed through the water was dribbling merrily. It had the winter "blanking piece" fitted, and it seemed loose. I tried tightening it, but that didn't work, so I removed it, receiving the obligatory fountain, and quickly stuffed the impellor down instead, and took care not to cross-thread it this time.... Finally, the leak stopped, and while it took a bit longer to dry out the bilges, at least a quiet pontoon day proved to be a sensible decision. Hopefully, that's it now, and we can plan to go to sea! Mike

Well, we launched today. Neal offered assistance, which I gratefully accepted, and when he arrived, I was sat at the sharp end splicing an 8-plait 18mm anchorplait rope directly to the 10mm anchor chain. I'd spent the week practicing, by making up docklines with some octoplait stuff I inherited with the boat., which proved useful! The travel hoist arrived, I waved the antifoul roller over the bits that needed attention, including the new bronze skin fittings for the seacocks, and the boat was cautiously lowered in. I checked each of the new seacocks, one by one, and next to one of them was a lovely little fountain! The old hose had ruptured in putting it onto the new seacock. It was easy to close the seacock, but the pipe had filled with water, and the fountain continued for several minutes! I called the shipwright on my mobile, and he came straight over. He asked us to move to the fuel berth, in case of major issues or a catastrophic leak, when we would be fairly close to the slings and the hoist again. He then tried trimming the hose, and re-attaching it, but it wasn't to be, and he had to buy new hosing and fittings from the chandlers. It's hard to believe, but it was built with hose of one size, that had been bodged onto a smaller fitting at the galley sink. He had to pick up two sizes of hose, plus an adaptor, to ensure it was all connected securely. Well, within an hour we were on our way again By the time we got to the berth, the wind had picked up, and caught the bows again and again, blowing us off. We ended up with the stern connected, but bows straddling the double empty berth. What a mess. Fortunately, I managed to get off, and walk the warps round, and sweat the boat across to moor up safely. I'll polish out the marks on the bows later Thanks again Neal, it would have been close to impossible solo! The afternoon was spent completing splicing up the anchor, and permanent docklines, which I shackled in place by the end of the day. There was just one issue I couldn't sort - the sails weren't ready. Oh well, looks like a fairly grim weekend anyway, which gives me time to swab the decks, start the polishing, get the interior straight, and complete all those little jobs I didn't get around to! Mike PS The side scan sonar threatens to be utterly awesome! Serious new technology!

I went on board late yesterday afternoon to see how work is progressing.Electronics were completed. The shipwright was still sorting seacocks. His report made me go white with shock. One of the seacocks didn't need removing, it fell apart as he was working on it. If that had come off at sea, I'd have had an inch hole in the boat, and we'd have taken on water rapidly, potentially losing the boat. We delivered the yacht back from Lymington on 6th March, with essential safety kit, and I included a set of tapered wooden bungs, which I kept accessible. The delivery trip was without incident, but I refused to use the boat again until it was lifted ashore, as I was uncomfortable with the whole setup. It was frustrating having it at Cobb's but not fishing! The survey recommendations included "consider replacing all seacocks", and I'm so glad I heeded that advice. Can I suggest to any members replacing their boat: - get a survey done by a qualified surveyor - follow recommendations Mike

I have AIS, as of today... Mike

Just had AIS installed (class B, from Digital Yacht), together with new Garmin Echomap CHIRP 75sv plotter with integral charts, and side scan sonar. There's a full review of AIS systems in the May edition of the Yachting Monthly, if you would like to see an objective comparison. Also included two Ocean Signal AIS MOB beacons for lifejackets. In the event of a MOB, the lifejacket being triggered sets off the beacon, passing GPS position to the plotter, and rings a DSC alarm to alert off-watch crew. Really effective new technology to aid MOB recovery, designed for all places where your own boat is the main chance of rescue, and works even in thick fog or at night. Learned about this new kit as part of my RNLI activities, and was so impressed I decided to proceed. Happy to share more if interested. Mike

There was me thinking it was a dump truck....

I might be interested, depending upon date... Mike

Antifouled with Carol on Saturday morning (5 litres, one coat!), then did the next stage in the port locker overhaul in the afternoon. Used Nomorenails to bond 10 short lengths of 40mm plastic drainpipe vertically at the deepest point. Ideal for boat hook storage etc. Hope the rods will store here too. The stainless chap at Cobb's, Andy Brown, made up some stainless rails and top and bottom end fittings for me. I fixed the first two rails in place, screwing fittings onto the backing pads, and then clamping the other half of the fitting on top. One rail to go. Difficult work, as I don't really fit in the locker. Can see why the previous owner didn't bother. Also fitted a 6mm stainless swivel to the strong point in the anchor locker. If I have twisted anchor rope in future, I'll just "chase" the twists back to remove them all,without disconnecting everything. Fitted a couple of stainless eyes inside the main anchor locker lid on the backing pads I fitted last week, and fitted a length of shock cord, so I can keep the lid up when working there. Peace of mind, and another little step forwards in operational efficiency. Sunday morning I was lecturing at the RNLI College again, and in the afternoon, I removed the final traces of old lettering and glue on the transom (stanley knife blade, acetone, polish) which took about 3 hours. Then spent the next hour fighting with the vinyl name I'd collected from Elite Signs in Hamworthy. Astonishingly, it appears to be almost straight, roughly in the right place, and I think the bubbles all got eliminated Had to do all of this dangling over the back, leaning over, as the extending ladder isn't long enough to let me reach. Still planning to launch on Friday, but none of the seacocks have yet been replaced, and the Plotter/Side Scan and AIS need to be fitted. I've got that port locker to complete, 3 more winches to service, a bunch of ropes to organise, polishing to start (!), then prepare permanent docklines to keep Feisty secure on the pontoon. Think it's going to be a busy week! Saturday should see the decks swabbed, new/overhauled sails hoisted, the interior straightened, and most of the remaining key jobs finished. Sea trials Sunday, if we can keep on track! Mike

Might I offer some suggestions based on personal experience? While the NE winds are blowing, Bray Harbour will be uncomfortable, unless tucked in tight to the wall, and dinghy access to shore will be tricky. Lifejackets are not overkill in dinghy or harbour launch. Locals there use a length of chain to attach to buoys in these conditions, as rope has a habit of chafing through. Just picking up moorings will be interesting, and getting secure will leave you quite exposed at the sharp end. I'd wear a life jacket and clip on while getting settled. Mike

Shaped and undercoated backing pads of marine ply are now starting to be bonded in. George and I stripped down one of the 46 to one, 2-speed winches at the weekend. If you can generate 100lb say of pull using one arm, then this gears it up to 4600lb, or around 2 tonne. The huge genoa generates loads higher than this, which is my excuse for not getting the sail in flat at times. Hard to work out the horse power it could generate, but if 56hp will push 11 tons at 7 knots, and the sail could double that speed theoretically even going through "hull speed" and starting to rise on the plane, then it could generate 100 bhp or more. The grease had gone hard and nasty, and after cleaning all parts in a paraffin bath, I had an embarrassing amount of metal filings in the bottom. Think it's been caught just in time. Three more to do Mike

Agree about Friday Adam, didnt realise you were planning to go then. For those who think the crossing then will be ok, there's another factor. Bray Harbour is open to the NE, the only angle without shelter. Mike

Not sure what windguru is seeing for the weekend, but the Met. Office, BBC and Wetterzentrale (the sites I've learned to trust), all indicate spaced isobars, and only lightish winds. Not flat calm, but I'd be concerned at visibility, and the stronger races ouside of slack water, but there's other sites out there as well as windguru. If you compare the isobar spacing now, with the channel islands inshore forecast, they line up and agree. If the isobar spacing is broadly similar at the weekend, the local forecasts should be similar.... Good luck whatever you decide. Mike

Neal took Stuie, George and I out on Court Jester to make up a team of four in the Beneteau Barracuda Tour species comp. Points were awarded for different named species, with the bigger beasts getting most, falling to one for the unlisted mini-species. With a chance of SE 4s and 5s later, we knew it risked being hard work. We left after registration, and quickly proved the harbour to be full of red weed, which draped rigs very quickly. Early, the sea was calm, and we targeted rays at first, hoping to get our points up. Neal got us started with a nice bream which was photographed alongside the registration card, shortly followed by a doggy for our second species. Alas, the angler in question (not mentioning names here, it's a family show ) threw it back as normal...and forgot to evidence it. This then became the topic for a running series of comments throughout the day. Strangely, no rays appeared, and after a short while, we had no choice but to move. Our second ray mark produced a few small-eyed and blonde ray, with all of getting at least one, plus a bonus bass for "Double-Shot" Stuie, and a whiting for George. Other deeper water species failed to show, and we moved on again, next targeting conger on a rocky reef. A 3lb 2oz bream to me was my best fish of the year, Stuie caught a few pout, and we all caught doggies, to the great relief of a certain person. Not mentioning any names By now the tide was on the ebb, the wind was picking up, and the next series of banks we tried to drift, but it was too fast with wind and ebb tide together. Poole Patch was clearly one of the favourite marks for the comp. Neal squeezed us into a nice gap, and we all added to the species tally, with Pollack, and a cluster of 5 different wrasses. Neal's Baillon's Wrasse was gorgeous! It didn't take long to stop catching new species, and as the Goldsinny count increased, it was clear we had to move. An inshore session quickly produced Plaice, Tub Gurnard, and a bonus Grey Gurnard for me, and a second drift failed to find anything new, so we went back on the ray hunt, hoping for an Undulate and Spotted, or even a Smoothound, but as before we blanked. Conditions were now deteriorating rapidly. The ebb tide was strong, the increasing SE wind was causing short steep breaking waves across tide, we were taking many beam on, and keeping balance was increasingly difficult. We later found a trawler has been working the inshore banks this week, and probably didn't leave too many behind. As the time left shrank rapidly, we tried a couple of spots in the harbour, but the combination of wind, ebb tide, chocolate coloured water and weed beat us. Our last scoring fish was at 2.45, so the last few hours were hard work. It's difficult to know what we could have done that would have been more effective, and we were all pleased we had got out further while it was calm in the morning. The clubhouse at Cobb's was packed when we arrived, with weather-beaten faces and big grins. The entry fee covered a free drink, and a bowl of Cobb's finest curry/chilli.which was all piping hot. Dave Wilson kicked off the prize giving, and we were all surprised when Neal was asked to go forward as skipper of Court Jester. We had come 6th out of 19 boats with 16 species, and we each had prizes of a free Navionics App for smart phone or tablet. A succession of steadily improving prizes were awarded with Crazy Fred and crew getting top spot. I think 5 out of the top 6 boats were from PBSBAC, but I'll let others give these details. A great day out again on Court Jester, with smiles all around. Thanks Neal plus thanks to sponsors and organisers! Mike

Spots are characteristic of juvenile bass. I seem to remember them having spots below about 4". I used to catch them on the River Dart when mullet fishing as a lad. using size 12 hooks. Mike