Maverick Martin

BRILLiant I am getting really excited now, you have wet my whistle nearly as much as Dixie did in Wessex Angling whilst I was stocking up on consumables. Only got three more shops to visit to pick up those just in case items Adam Do we have a full itinery with times etc, would'nt want to miss the boat. Also have we a list of must have items to take. Dean is really worried about food, do we need to take snacks etc for during the day or can these items be purchased on the island? Fingers crossed for the weather Martin

Was that on Tara James and hows the engine performing, did it start ok Martin

Newboy That would have done nicely. I actually use a fold up anchor and a load of chain, the anchor is dragged by the bottom so it wont take hold. This does me until I find something more suitable Where did you throw the lead greapefuit? I could do with that Martin

Hi Newboy In simple terms wattage equates to distance your set will transmit. A hand held unit usually has 1 or 5 watts output. You would select 1 watt for talking to boats that are close to you and 5 watts for all other uses. A fixed unit has settings of 5 watts and 25 watts so you would select 5 watts for talking to boats that are say within 1-2 miles and 25 watts for all other uses. Why bother to change your output you might say, well if your friend is in close proximity to you and you have your set on full power the signal you send out may get blasted pass him and he may not hear you, on low power he will hear you no problem. Also when you transmit others in your area cannot use there radios so using low power for close work allows others to use there sets. Obviously if you are talking to your buddy who is more than a couple of miles away you would select high power. As a rule I leave my set on high power until I need to transmit, I will then either select low power if talking to someone close or leave it on high power for all other work. When I have finished my conversation I switch the set back to high power, the reason for doing this is so that if the radio is needed in an emergency it is already on high power ready to use to call for assistance. DSC is an automated distress calling system. You simply press a red button and your set will send out an outomated digital distress call. If your set is linked to a GPS it will also transmit your position. I would reccomend that you go for a fixed unit on your boat purely because of the power which equates to distance your signal will go. In an emergency the further your signal goes the more people can hear your call. You should be able to get a reasonable VHF for under

Cheers Paul Martin

Hi all Have just stumbled across a very useful site for the servicing of reels loads of links to all the main manufacturers service centres. In short a one stop resource for reel info. Its in my favourites: http://www.reelvalue.co.uk Martin

Newboy As You're a fully paid up member of this club you are not allowed to just sit and watch ! The best way to learn is by doing, so if you come to the slip with us you can assist in launching the boats, you can then ask all the questions you like and get some hands on experience at the same time. You could then if you like come out on one of the boats (mine if you like) and fish for the day you would then be around when the boats are retreived which is a whole new ball game with lots to take in. It all seems a bit daunting to begin with but really most of the skills involved are common sense, a quality a lot of boaters seem lacking. Martin

After a bit of a calamity start for us (dont ask) things went on to get worse, it rained and then it rained and then the wind got up, oh and then it rained. The best bit of the day was the bacon butties Our final tally for the day was Dean=1 dog and four wrasse me=2 pollock 2 wrasse and 2 bass, not great but a start i suppose. Martin

Adam Another way to get the wires through is use stainless steel welding wire,(I have some if you want it) its stiff enough to push through yet pliable enough to go round corners. The only problem is the tube is narrow with some of the bends a bit tight, can be done but you'll need to be persistent unless your very lucky Martin

Capacity 22.7 litres = just under 5 galls

Well your site and forum have been up and running for 6 months now and boy has it been a success or what. We have had over 12590 visits and only 12589 of them were me . In computer speak we have had 798986 hits, that is phenomenal and a round of applause are in order for the Webmaster and his crew. It is our ambition to make the site self-funding. The club can afford to fund the site itself but that does use up valuable resources that could be spent on other projects. We currently have links to affiliate companies that generates a very small amount of income ie: Tackle bargains, Amazon and have had a small donation from Poole Sea Angling Centre. I have tried several companies that have given the signal that they are interested but nothing seems to ever materialise. What we could do with now is some sponsorship from either local or national companies that are preferably fishing or boating related to either sponsor part of the site or pay for advertising space on the site/forum. Anyone got any ideas as mine are fast running out? Answers on an email or PM please, dont want the opposition to get there first. Cheers Martin

I have spent ages trying to get cables through the tubing on my radar arch and have come to the conclusion that cable ties are the best thing since sliced bread Martin

Look at that TART with all those beads were you just putting the necklace on or taking it off Nice fish Adam Martin

I will be fishig it with Dean as crew, I beleive Jigabyte will be there as will Tony Deavin with P Russell for crew, Duncan said he was fishing it any more If any member hasnt got a ride I have room for one more Martin

Tart Martin

Re: Stainless versus ally props: Ally props are fine on lower horse power engines and will work ok on larger o/b's . The benefit of a stainless prop on larger motors is they dont flex or give so are more efficeint. Stainless is heavier than ally thats why on some engines when you select a fwd/rev you hear a clunk as the engine starts to throw the prop. Stainless is also harder then ally so does not damages as easily but is more difficult to repair. The downside is the cost, 2 or 3 times dearer than the equivilent ally. I have had stainless props for 5 years and havent had to have one repired yet but Im sure if they were ally they would have been in for repair 2 or 3 times. Martin

All you fishers who enjoy beach fishing would you fancy competing in the West African Shore festival, then have a look at this. It is quite a large file so may take some time to load

Charlie If I caught I would tell you you know I would but I didnt, so I cant but when I can I will and so should the rest of you, rejoice in the fact that you "THE CLEVER ONES" can go forth out into the blue yonder and reap the rewards of your efforts, pick up the fruits of your labour, from all those winter months of planing and ahh b######s I blanked again well not quite half a dozen very small pollock, I didnt weigh them, to embarassed Thanks for doing your job Charlie Martin

Hi Same as Bob I dont know of anyone who has one of these sets. I purchased a lowrance about a year ago, after I fitted it I could not get a fix or should I say very intermitently got a fix and when it did get a fix it would soon drop out. I would then get a message very similar to what your machine is giving. The fault lied in a damaged cable from the antenna. The cable was moulded into the antenna so a new one had to be ordered. Fitted that and evreything worked ok Not very impressed by the service centre responce of wanting to charge you

Mike We started doing that towards the end of last year and had a lot of exposure in the press both nationally and local. As soon as the season takes of and we have anything worth reporting I am sure this will start again. Any one who writes a report should forward a copy to Charlie or myself as well as the webmaster. We have the contact details to all the local and national press. It would also be good to keep the one point of contact from the club so a relationship with the press can be built over a period of time. Martin

Just thought we have a section on the front page for reports already set up so this could be used. Aa reoprts are posted a note could be put under the heading news with a link to the reports Just a thought Martin

Adam sounds a good idea, as Bob says if you have the time. Please check with Charlie first as he has in the past done the reports on club comps etc perhaps you could divide the reports up so we have more than one report per month? I will leave it to you guys to sort out Martin

Should soon be smoothie time in the solent perhaps we could repeat last years foray up there with perhaps a little more success. Or the Nab Tower area which I believe can fish well on occasions. I would also like to try other areas out of Weymouth. Looks like it might be a busy year If we do fish the solent area at some point we could then perhaps show newboy how to launch and retrieve properly. Dont however ask me for advice as on our Shambles trip I forgot to put me bung in and Mav nearly sunk ! My crew wondered why she was so low in the water Martin

Adam As you will know after your last attempt at floating Tara the small socket set I keep on Maverick contains plug size sockets, as Charlie has stated with modern outboards there aint a lot else other than change a fuse us mechanically ignorant can do and even those mechanically educated cant do a lot more at sea. Try sitting on your engine in the drive and take out a plug or two, it isnt easy , then get the missus to lift and drop the hitch so you have to hold onto the boat with one hand almost impossible Martin

Adam There is not a lot you can do at sea if anything goes wrong especially with modern outboard motors so taking a full tool chest would be pointless. On Maverick I have a small zip up case with flat and cross head screwdrivers, a small electrical screw driver, adjustable spanner, small socket set, pliers, electrical tape, spare fuses, light bulbs and a length of electrical wire. The tools are not best qaulity but I do spray them with wd40 occasionally. Have had them onboard for about 4 years and they are still in usable condition. I have only used them for electrical problems, havent had any other cause to use tools yet. I have got a box where all my boat bits go ie: cooker, torch cutting board, tools and any other items that are taken of the boat. So they all go on together and all come off together, hopefully then nothing major gets forgotten Martin