duncan

glad to see some are making the most of the weather window - first for 8 years to my mind, what a pleasant change!

I know it's obvious but there are a few braids with very different properties that affect how they will react in this environment - Firewire and Whiplash Pro as extremes. That said, I agree with the comments above that focus on the material for making the stop knots over the nature of the line they are being made on.

excellent Neal not sure about taking them out to catch all those fish though.......

as you have a working powerhead, one option might be to find a bottom end from somewhere - obviously such issues will depend on the age and availability of the unit, as well as the insurance aspects (the excess may be significant). a starting point would be to know the exact model of outboard, and year.....

part 33 - engine coupler http://www.marinepartseurope.com/en/volvo-penta-explodedview-7744550-21-9624.aspx

bad luck Adam, I always consider how such things could have happened with worse consequences to cheer me up (but appreciate it doesn't work like that for everyone) sounds like the drive plate on the engine that the splined outdrive shaft locates into - failure would probably make the gimbal bearing replacement a sensible option whilst things are apart. all the best

this raises a number of very interesting questions, but the crux of it will inevitably fall on the provision of any quantifiable data....which is not, historically, anything the RSA has maintained. an interesting one to watch

disagree - having been retired for some time now I have never used the boat less! the issue is simply less periods of settled decent weather - full stop. There may be a few windows of a few hours from time to time (that Alun can use!) but it's no better during the week than weekends. (obviously I'm hoping this post will result in a couple of weeks of SW 1-3/23 degrees but I reckon we won't see that again for many years)

Sounds like progress Martin, as well as a reasonable day out!

spent a lot of time in the boatyard! for me there seemed a small window to go down late Sunday and fish Monday - basically not encouraging enough to have the crew drive 120 miles on the balance of probability. on the bright side I've polished 300lt of fuel and changed filters, done the engine anodes (inc the hard to get ones) etc etc in a lesiurely manner with the sunshine All this on top of servicing reels and sorting out tackle boxes for the last few weeks! I'm probably popping round to Terry on Friday to look at (another) electronics issue while his boats here.

depends on the foam, and how it's getting in. most modern closed cell foams shouldn't 'absorb' water in the sense of getting wet, exposed etc, but then you have the issues associated with semi permeable membranes and water having to go somewhere! then there's encapsulated wood that ends up exposed over time and ends up absorbing water. most of the older 'problems' were associated with attempts to seal in open cell foams and one, or more, of the above problems. if you have a specific boat in mind then it would help to know which - then the appropriate specifics can be highlighted.

I have never seen a more ridiculous forecast than Metcheck has up currently for the whole period of this trip - OK it's light E winds but in the weather forecast I could sit in the harbour 'fishing' and drinking beer!

why is it we remember the ones that got away more than the ones we land? is the because they represent the ultimate angling story - and no one can dispute how big they were? :D sorry you lost that one, glad you got some more!

has anyone checked the Lulworth Range schedule over this period at all?

hope so

if the conditions end up perfect for both wouldn't you just offset it against all those trips that didn't happen because of the weather? I'm looking to attend if the weather suggests it will be enjoyable; dates flexible and I suppose I should carry passport and various c.flags in case I make it a round trip...(those were the days)

they are already hosted docs Martin, I just thought they might be useful to have here, in case the links get changed. http://faria-instruments.com/site_manuals/IS0100_ApxVII.pdf http://faria-instruments.com/site_manuals/IS0085E.pdf and yes, I'm hoping to go fishing again - starting with Weymouth meet. Trip timing will be weather dependant - I have nothing much else on the whole time

Yanmar Steve - no electronics! I have a sender and a switch as seperate units (according to the diagams!) doing the two jobs. Any sort of intermittent before fail would have suggested sender failure to me, as it is I'm more inclined towards wire/connection, but have to find it! I have now sourced a couple of useful references on this, and related, senders/gauges so will get to work when I'm down next week - ahead of Weymouth (I hope). I'll try and attach them for the use of others in the future....unfortunately it appears I'm not allowed to upload them?

heading back in Sunday after the first run for 'some time' the oil pressure gauge went to 0 - didn't see it go there, but one minute it was normal and the next it was 0. it was so far 0 it was effectively off. the engine also has an Oil Pressure warning light/buzzer and these remained silent - the engine bay wan't full of oil either. It ran fine (but I kept at 1000rpm in the harbour anyway) so, armed with basic logic I have either - 1. duff gauge 2. duff sender 3. duff wires/connections any suggestions as to how to check any of these ? (and no, I don't have a dual installation)

excellent - ty

it's possible I'm missing something, as I'm not used to the new format, but are there any reports on this trip posted yet?

I've stayed out of the thread for fear of jinxing it - I do hope that it all goes off well for everyone this year; forecast does look excellent! I should be out Monday so I'll watch for returning boats, and listen in, although if there's S in th ewind I will probably be in the harbour! look forward to reading the updates...

there are certain fish, and certain areas, that significantly improve at night - this is both light triggered and, it's suggested, reduced boat traffic generally contributes. I can't comment on the harbour itself, but Poole Bay marks and others in the 90ft depth range can become 'very interesting' through the night. Tope, rays and conger. Tight inshore you have the flatties of course, and codling can also appear in the same way as they do for the beach angler.

Mike I actually think it's hugely 'angling related'! Now, I may be being naive when accepting the French fisherman's statement that they had all decided to operate a voluntary no take period in order to improve the stocks but, accepting that this is what happened, it illustrates the real underlying issue for all of us relating to conservation - who is conservation actually designed to benefit, and how to ensure it works that way! Huge issue, big relevance to the sport fisherman........

I have a star shaped spanner thingy with mine which fits into the outside of the revolving drum or is that the wrong one? Paul Paul Yes, that is the spanner to operate the clutch mechanism.... Personally I don't like that method on those winches with a mixed rode (rope and chain) because there is a risk that the rope may catch on the splitter whilst running out under load (which causes a problem then and will probably require taking it all apart to repair/replace the splitter.... Use with care. As to the issue of whether to snub the anchor rode or leave on the winch - again when using a mixed rode in deeper water your only real option is to tie the rode off to a bow cleat (in the absence of an anchor post) and this brings a lot of other hazards into play IMO. If I was leaving the boat at anchor then I would transfer the rode to a cleat. Different if anchoring is shallow water to all chain, in which case I snub it with a chain link spliced to 1m 10mm nylon and an eye for the cleat.