Darvster

Done

Need to make room for some more sea fishing gear (yay!) and so eventually spent best part of two days sorting and clearing out the fishing shed and ended up with lots of freshwater fishing gear to go. To much to list on here and certainly enough to make any missus/wife's eyes water so have listed and photo'd it all out in 10 pages in the following attachment. Fishing Gear For Sale.pdf Preferably want offload all in one job lot and very reluctant to split it down. If anyone is interested then please make me an offer.

Planning on attending the next club meeting if you are there? Don't want anything for them, perhaps maybe a pint or a donation to HOW?

Cleared out the garage and a few items to go. Let me know if anyone is interested. 2 Keel Rollers Trailer Winch - All working, hook is a little rusty. Raymarine C70 Navigation. Removed from boat when I upgraded. Was all working fine with the exception that it took 15 mins to acquire satellites which I suspect is due to the battery in the aerial needs replacing. Also the unit was flush mounted so I have no stand for it. I am also contemplating clearing out my fishing shed where I have a ALOT of freshwater fishing gear including rods, reels, bags, chairs, bait, end tackle etc etc. Let me know if anyone is actually interested in making me an offer for the lot and if so, I will start the momentous task of sorting, photoing and listing all the items out.

Merry Christmas to all. Christmas Movie.mov

Set of trailer bunks. The front brackets require new bolts. Free or donation to HOW.

Looked for something a little more family friendly, a lot simpler and easier on maintenance so decided on an Avon 620. Boat is in superb condition and can't wait to take it out for the first time tomorrow.

All sold last week. I think this was the quickest sell ever and managed to get what I wanted in the first 48 hours. New boat bought and now to go through the process of adding all the trimmings and getting it how I want it. Happy days.

Jay Jay has been a great first boat but now looking for something a bit different so tentatively putting Jay Jay up for sale. Texas 530 - 17ft (I cannot find the manufacturer however believe it was made by Raider UK before they went out of business) The boat was completely rewired last year. The engine has also been raised which gave quite an increase in performance. The previous owner installed a new A frame which needs a little attention on the connection. 75HP Honda four stroke long shaft outboard. 5HP Honda four stroke auxilliary Unbraked trailer (new winch and converted to rollers last year but bunks still available) Full head height covers which have never been used by myself but have a few small tears from previous owner. Garmin GPSmap 451 Garmin Fishfinder 400C Horizon Quest-X GX1500E VHF radio (linked to satnav) Aquatic AV Bluecube bluetooth media player with 2 x Fusion 40W speakers 2 x 25ltr Quicksilver fuel tanks 110ah main batery and 90Ah second battery Navigation lights Bilge pump Boarding ladder 8 Rod holders Cigarette and USB power outlets Anchor and chain Fire extinguisher Fenders £5,750.00 or sensible offers Seats not shown in this picture

I did arrange for an RNLI boat check twice earlier this year with an email response each time to confirm that someone would be in touch to arrange a date. Alas, I never received a response to either attempts. Is there a more direct route to arrange a boat check?

After having Jay Jay sat on a trailer next to the house for the last two weeks and having been itching to get her out but unable to do so due to work commitments, I eventually managed to get her back on the mooring Friday evening with a view to testing the new engine position. Saturday morning the weather looked good so with wifey in tow I took her out. The first big noticeable difference was the control and responsiveness from the new prop whilst getting of the mooring although I must admit the last prop was pretty battered due to some rookie mistakes coming back through Christchurch run and harbour on some fairly low tides. Once out of the run, I let it rip to see what would happened and what a difference. Firstly the boat seemed to literally jump up on plane rather than the gradual increase in speed previously experienced. With full throttle down, the revs were now achieving around 5500 of the 6000 WOT rating rather than the 4000-4500 revs I was managing to achieve. Giving it all, much to the dismay of wifey, the boat got up to around 27 knots and it was not long before wifey got uncomfortable/nervous and I was sternly told to slow down. I think that with a little longer run and some tweaking of the trim it could achieve 28-29 knots which is far more than the max 22 knots I was achieving. In addition, the boat seemed to handle a lot better especially cutting through the waves and swells. SHe now cruises between 19-20 knots rather than the previous 12-15 knots. Overall well worth the effort of fitting the jacker plate. Next step is to remove the hydrofoils fixed to the cavitation plate and see what difference that makes.

Just an update on my engine issue and with some great help from Hooky, I think it has now been solved. A few weeks back, Hooky managed to find a jacker plate on ebay which seemed to be the most cost effective solution. So with today planned, the boat out of the water (amazed at how much algae had accumulated over the two months in the water), parked up at Hooky's we set about it. Looking at it, it all seemed so simple, take the engine off, bolt the plate on and re-attached the engine. Simple. If only it ever worked out that way. The jacker plate did actually fit fairly easily, it was removal and hoisting of the engine that took the time and in the end with some brute force we managed to get everything fixed back. So the engine has now been raised some 4-5" and also, Jay Jay was treated to a new battery and a shiny new prop. Unfortunately by the time we finished, the tides were not suitable to get it back on the mooring or even a test drive but many thanks to Hooky for all the help. Now got to wait until next week to see how much of a difference it has made.

Great day Hooky and we certainly added a few first species to the new boat. Thanks for pointing out a few new marks and the advice which will (hopefully) help no end in trying to keep the catch rate up. Look forward to next time.

Whilst it is in the water, I cannot tell exactly but it looks (feels) around 4" to 5".

Just had a look today and it seems that the engine has been fitted as high as it possibly could. So, back to my original question regarding the shaft conversion or alternatively, is it easier to raise the rear transom somehow to allow the engine to be bolted in a higher position? Any other suggestions?

Thanks Charlie, that sounds simpler. When I am next on the boat I will have a look to see exactly how far I need to raise it and also how much movement there is on the engine bracket. I will let you know how it looks.

Jay Jay is now all running, re-wired completely, toys installed, locks everywhere and now on the mooring with a couple of trips out this week (without any disasters). However, being my first boat and my very limited boat knowledge when I bought it in January, it seems that the long shaft outboard is incorrect for the type of boat. In a previous post, I mentioned that on my first trip out of Lymington back in March, I did not seem to be getting the required speed when coming back in against the tide. I presumed that the problem was the prop size. Following Brian's advice to contact Prop Solutions with all the information, when out in the bay this week, I measured the speed, rpms against WOT etc etc. My engine is a Honda 75hp Longshaft with a WOT rating of 6000 of which I was only achieving 4500 revs. After speaking to Prop Solutions and before I had even completely given over all the information, they confirmed that the issue was with the shaft length and not the prop size. Apparently for every inch the cavitation plate is below the bottom of the hull, drag is created and reduces the revs by approx 200-300 per inch below. Although this does not really create any real issues, apart I am not getting the performace I should be and when at speed, the bow rides very high. This therefore gets to my question which is has anyone converted a long shaft outboard to a short shaft and if so, how difficult and costly is it?

Just finishing getting the boat up together before I put it on the mooring next week and trying to get the last few minor bits done. One thing I am really struggling to find are the two missing plastic rod holder inserts as below. Any one know where I can get them from?

Thanks for the wishes gents. Having a few (many) in the Caribbean at the moment. Got a few fishing trips booked (missus didn't seem to mind?!) for next week and will let you know how I get on. Hopefully I will be attending one of the meetings shortly to meet all you guys.

That would be great if you can send me the number as the Honda dealer quoted me £400 for a new one. Have you had any experience with refurbed starter motors? My one does start (on occasion) but more often it does not turn at all, sounds really rough and is rather temperamental at best and the concern is whether it is worth refurbing at all.

Can any one suggest the best place to get a new or reconditioned starter motor from for a Honda 75hp 4 stroke engine?

Hi All. Just joined the club so looking forward to speaking with you all. I have never had a boat before and not a huge amount of sea fishing experience (plenty of freshwater), however, I have put myself in the deep end by buying a boat and looking forward to getting her out in a few weeks time. Any advice or help for a first timer would be great. See you all soon. Lee