duncan

do I get the prize? happy with a day's salmon fishing ! Glad it's sorted

texas 640

you mean that they haven't been going on for years Martin? looked like well oiled machinery! ah well - the Cobbs ready and waiting; the smikers are out in force and no doubt someone will go out and catch the fish......................

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Thanks Charlie. I am not sure what's needed really pictures here showing the upper and lower angles - the lower one shows the nylon band that holds the deck and hull together has been broken away over about a foot (the upper shows it's split), the trim is broken and there's gell and maybe fiberglass to do. ie it's not just a gel patch and refinish. When I get details I will send photos to his insurers and ask them how they wish to proceed - if they ask me to get quotes then your assistance would be appreciated. These things happen..............

Charlie - it will obviously come as a bit of a surprise but very very few on here use our boats exclusively for fishing! In my case between May and September I am unlikely to get out fishing more than twice - and if the weather looks good I may be told 're arrange'! However between October and April the situation reverses adn I may take the family out a couple of times and go fishing the rest. This keeps the world going round and enables me to have the sort of 'toy' I couldn't justify just for fishing (me). FWIW I believe that the cuddy element is overrated for what you are likely to do in the poole area in a boat that size - if the weather requires 'shelter' you just won't be out - and you really shouldn't have people 'down below' when underway either. If the boat's being stored undercover you don't need covered storage either. All the best - hope to see you at the clubs family day out afloat next year - yes we do have them!

I understand from the boatyard manager that the gentleman concerned has 'admitted' the incident but didn't think he had caused any damage. This is entirely understandable and it should now simply be a matter of leaving it to his insurers to sort out in due course. For those with a morbid curiosity (and given the views of a boat at Emsworthy there are a few ) I will post pictures later. Anyhow I am a lot happier today than I was yesterday.

Scary movie II - I am in total agreement with Mike again! Suspect that the rubber mounting piece is designed to avoid this by creating a buffer between the motor and the hull but transmission could be via steering or even control cables. Worth checking that these are fully secured to the boat etc. Best check is to isolate the engine sounds as best you can; the old screwdriver to the ear/skull bone from engine block for example, and run through the rev range to establish if it is the engine creating the vibration or not. If there is a noticably different vibration from the actual engine at these revs then it needs looking at. If it is the boat creating the 'noise' in harmonic sympathy with the engines vibrations at those revs then just avoid the revs. My money would be on the latter but worth checking.

Dave and I got out on Phaeton and our catch report is a match to Marineboy's - Dave getting the conger this time round. Nice day to be out burning diesel - if we had know Blue Warrior's plan we might have joined in (although Adam seems to prefer wrecks to himself!! ) Not as much fun with shallows as others but didn't escape unscathed - it would appear that a fellow fisher on the same pontoon suffered a small problem during the week and has caused significant damage to Phaeton. I am sure that he just hasn't got round to telling anyone yet; or didn't realise the damage (possible - he's hardly scratched!)........no doubt he will call me next week...........

or even dry flies?

ty kind sir!

well forecasts holding and I have the OK from the FPO so looks like Sunday for us..........

well I loaded a piccy of Phaeton up but what next..........?

having caught 1 flounder in 5 years (by accident inevitably) I simply don't go fishing for them. your experiences echo mine - I quit................

I now seem to be sorted thanks Paul

i'll settle for cod and eels or eels and pout or anything really............

I find t bars and full circles don't mix particularily well - however as the bend of the hook is normally clear I use a pair of long nose moles, clamp onto the bend and they twist out real easy. Barbless however they should come out a lot easier still As circles sizing and baiting is still a hot topic I will see if I can sort out some pictures to 'aid discussions' - my favorite 10/0 circle is about the same 'size' as a 3-4/0 J hook but I will admit the 16/0 are a little larger - take 12 calamari hanging on the bend in a fan or a single (2lb) cuttle..............

which day are you thinking of Adam? I may well get out (for the first time this year!!!) looking for anything that can put a bend in the rod!

Jack - now I am seriously concerned. Please please don't use a harness attached to this wonderfull reel unless you are properly strapped into your fighting chair. Your life is at risk. Ideally the harness is integrated to your chair I believe - I am sure you remeber the detail of this illustrated earlier but in case you missed it if you look closely (no not there - lower) you will see the harness clearly.........

Shows 23rd July when I look at it Rich........changed? Love this bit is this so that they can race you to the mark?

I am sure you will have a great trip Reg I am sure we will meet up when you are down - I have a van at Rockley and the boat's on the pontoons at the bottom of the hill! Equally I am sure you won't still be a minnow basher by the time you arrive! When you know how many are coming down let us know - you may even get a cheeky match challenge.

hehehe - wasn't it Vic Evans that eventually gave out his conger trace 'secret'; length of wire coathanger direct from the boom to the hook!

and given that, as we all know, 22 of these are for fishing and planning fishing trips, you are doing a brilliant job Paul. Keep it up!

sorry to be a broken record on this but the boat should be propped to within 200 rpm of the engines rated WOT normally loaded for optimum 1. fuel economy 2. engine wear 3. transmission wear 4. top speed On these larger engines, and especially 4 strokes, 400 or so off fully loaded is considered OK (especially if the engine is right at the top end of what the boat needs - Maverick's set up would be an example, Blue Warrior's not far behind in the ptw stakes) but at 1000 off you need to consider a different prop or something else is wrong somewhere. The other references to experiences here tend to suggest that that isn't the case unless it's down to the state of your hull or a 200kg weight box (don't laugh we weighed our weight bucket on Phaeton at 60kg last winter) Are you running a 'quality' prop - some of the cheaper stainless ones have such thick blades they can have the effect of seeming like more pitch without the advantages of it! You are fortunate in having pretty much lthe largest range of props made that fit your engine so something somewhere will be right. the only thing you can really gain by not doing so is acceleration where significant gains can be made by using a lower pitch at the expense of 1, 2 and 4 above, and a need to take care not to exceed max revs with the throttle hand - in practice if you need more acceleration at the expense of 4 above moving to a 4 or 5 blade prop is the only correct route. As an extreme example driving a car up a slope with your foot on the floor to just hold a higher gear do not deliver 1,2 or 3 above! An extreme to illustrate the point - the drag on a a hull means that boat engines are always driving up hill! Top speed for any given craft is a product of hp so a higher gear (greater pitch) alone won't make your boat go faster and every OB I know produces it's maximum hp at it's max revs...........QED. If you want to improve 1-4 above then don't whack the throttle open at every opportunity, cruise at 70-80% max revs if you can and change the oil frequently!

now you are getting the hang of this lark Jack! Does it have harness lugs and have you got a good one? I am still looking out for one so can you let me kow what you find? personally I wouldn't want to head out with the reel until I was absolutely sure I was going to hook up a beast, and land it. I can let you have some 16/0 hooks - do you have 250lb wire trace material and some 400lb nylon for leaders and rubbing traces?