Sinbad

Guys, all your concerns for my trailer are really heartfelt.... and are choking me up... No - not yet (bearing savers) No- not yet (stainless cables) I will put the former on before it even touches the ground again, and the latter are still quite new and servicable. By the way, Looking recently at Charlies pictures of Hubs etc I was told not to grease the double lock style brake shoes, as this can prevent them from 'rolling off' when you pull forward ?? Also I've also been told not to grease wheel studs, just keep them wire brushed and clean. Paul

Yes Jim!!! very good - it took a while to sink in... I sourced the bearings from Hendersons in Ringwood - just round the corner from me. Currently hameriting like crazy, but then re-assembling at the end of the week!! Paul

This is what happens without any flushing, after just a few dips in the briny, and a year lying in the yard. The brake action was non existant (siezed) Whole lot has gone in the bin. Paul

I'm just about to fit something similar to the Hub duck, cost 25p... from inexcess. Charlie A has already done this on his sheltie. although ours are plastic they look identical to the the hub duck ie just a nozzle without any sprayjets. The Hub duck fits into the brake shoe inspection hole, with a back nut ? But i'm going to run a tap into the backplate, using the kit Charlie A lent me last night. They also seem to claim its a selling point not giving you the tubing to join both hubs up to a common hozelock fitting, so you end up kneeling on the ground to do this. Still simple enough to fit some garden hose with cable ties. Paul

Ooh...... Gordon/ Terry sounds like you have cracked it.. I'm still on the learning curve. Today stripped down one side, and perhaps I'll post some photos as well to show what it lookes like without the flush kit. In may 2008 I had new bearings and brake shoes, the trailer has done less than 50 miles and been sitting in the dinghy park slowly "rusting in peace" perhaps you get the picture..... Paul

Martin, eventually found the number... and to quote from the email I received in response "Master Lock stands behind the locks we manufacture to be free from mechanical defects for the life of the product. If a mechanical defect occurs, we will replace it free of charge. Please contact our consumer line for Master Lock Europe at +33.1.41.43.72.00 " and when you speak to someone, they re-direct you to 01-787-222-509. Hope this helps anyone who has a similar problem Paul

Yep Paul... Adam had Craig close behind, we were further west.. well done on yor Cod - we heard you over the radio -proves you can never give up... Tomorows tea and a few meals to come...

Lovely day to be out, which turned out sunnier than expected.... Fishing all round was slow judging by the chat on Ch6. We arrived at our chosen mark shortly before Joint Venture, but as we have seen before....boats started arriving.....Craig and jackie on Gas and Colin and Bobi... joining in.. We forgot to say that this mark was only 100m across so fitting 4 boats on it wasnt going to work! Nothing doing here, only one pout and a small codling after a few hours, and whilst the flood had been going for an hour or so, we went in search of bigger tides and a feature. We found our next spot on a bank south of the Needles, and the tide was moving much stronger here- we were quickly up to 1 1/4lb leads, but the bites started coming steadily -first a Conger to me -so neatly hooked in the mouth, it came off on the surface at the back of the boat -this was arround 20lb..then a small blond ray... whiting.... then a slightly larger thornback, then crunch.... a good bite and its staying deep, and up comes a lovely Cod of 10lb 6oz - its stomach hard with crabs and full of roe. Then its Alun, reaching for his Rod.. he's into a good fish on the baited feathers rig.. and its a prime Bass - so fat and in good condition...almost 11lb, followed shortly after with another Cod of 5-6lb. Conditions were a little bouncy for weighing fish!! (until we got back to the marina). Maybe Alun will report the true weight.. So a really enjoyable day, some fish to show for the effort, and a good start to the species hunt. Paul

Rob, We'll be going deeep....

Martin, Fair point, and I respect where you are coming from, but I have already decided that

Yes, but we were fishing the adambank.... are you fishing? Paul

For those not doing the Poole Sea Angling comp, I quite understand... logistics and the poor fishing of late make it an expensive bet (

Who's fishing ? Imagine is out with AlunJ and perhaps a new member to the Club!!

er, ... hello, ..... just to get a word in edgeways... The problem with with the gas all started because of the lack of fish. If we had been busier on the rods, everything would have been gr8. I found that just taking the ol' cylinder out and shaking it.....warming it up between the hands worked OK, and before Jim jumps in with a quote.... yes I know !!!! I was really pleased from 1) still managing to get a bacon butty done 2)not having to hang over the back of the propeller 3) not losing a load of gear or braid (sorry Rich...) 4) battery and starting seemingly a thing of the past... With the fog, even having a basic trekkies handheld GPS, you can follow your track back in, but also a fixed compass doesnt lie either. None of these very costly. Well Done Andy - I may have been in the cabin when you came past with a wave? Paul

Monday's forecast looked just too good for the midweek orkney fishers club (AlunJ and Rich) to miss.... but recent "no catch reports" had us doubting whether we would see any action whatsoever. Wind forecasted as westerley 9mph, just didnt happen along with the wall to wall sunshine... just thickish fog, more so as we got towards the Needles. We tried at the end of the ledge for a few hours with only a few whiting, a strap conger, and doggies to show, so before high tide we set off to the Needles and spent the slack and ebb until the fog surrounded us at arround 3:30pm, hastening our departure. Just the one Cod of arround 7lbs on the boat, a few good sized whiting for the coolbox, and a pleasant but very slow days fishing. The Fog was initially so thick, it had Rich standing outside on lookout until we had passed the Needles channel and were inshore. When it cleared shortly after that we were able to blast back into the harbour on flat calm water. Thanks to Alun and Rich for the excellent crewing and good company. Hope we can do another trip but with more fish action next time. Everything worked well on the boat except the little gas stove, which needed some warming up of the cylinder. Just an observation, but the whiting were coughing up sprats and the Cod was stuffed full of Roe, so next few weeks, bye bye Mr Cod.... Leaves us with the big question... where to go on Sunday for the comp???. Paul

cant do Sunday, but we are out Monday Hope to read all your bountiful cath reports chaps... Paul

Nice fish!! Ragworm on small running ledger or float rig using a sliding float (1oz) works well. Fish the edges of channels on the up slopes..... Good Luck

Adam - tough luck on the fishing... could be an omen...a handful of the best anglers (yes Charlie included!!) I've just had the shaft seals replaced on my outboard - emulsified gearbox oil et al. Braid was the culprit, but It definately wasnt mine..... Its that dark green stuff - never catch me using that! Hope you got at it completely - might be worth putting the drysuit and flippers on and having the prop off?? Regards Paul

As someone who gets their outboard serviced rather than doing it themselves, Ive often got charged for anodes when they had looked OK, i.e still something there to corode. Another conversation in the boat shop seemed to indicate that the reason these were changed was that once covered in the creamy whitish deposits, they wouldnt work. The surface becomes like the moons surface i.e full of craters.... then the pits fill up with corrosion products ? The ones I've got on the trim tabs for salty water are Zinc Alloy - so perhaps the insoluble ZnCl (Zinc Chloride) has covered over the metal rendering it inert. For the last two seasons, I've power brushed the anode and made sure theres an electrical circuit between the anode and the trim tab, but only by making a bright spot on the anode. This is really hard work for the craters, and so I need something to remove Zinc Chloride but leave the metal behind ??? The other alternative, Alluminium, will definitely work, but would fizz away in no time I suspect. Has anyone any ideas ? Paul

Funnily enough, I was in the Christchurch boat shop at the weekend buying some anchor chain.... but thats another story... They have Blakes Tiger on offer?

I've got a large shackle attached to the top of the Anchor permanently, which the chain can actually run through when needed, so when I want to go back to 'normal' anchoring without ties, the chain is just passed through the shackle on the head, with the attachment point still on the crown (if thats the right name for the bit we attach to so that the anchor trips)... Oh, but remember not to overtighten the pin otherwise when you need it, it'll have siezed. Paul I also was considering going up a guage on chain size, or just lengthening the chain to slightly longer than the boat. I would prefer to have lots more chain in case of emergency anchoring, so was going to get a longer piece for use in the winter, and then when the ground swells werent so bad, swap back to the 'boat length' one, which is OK 99/100 times. Paul

I can see major enforcement problems for RDAA and B&WH water, as for the river sections, its pretty easy to cover the bankside and speak to anglers, and to certain extent control their access points, and place signs advising of "No fishing" or "Private waters" etc we have all seen these signs. However the potential access points to the Harbour are many and varied, and once afloat how is this going to be policed. Would you now be stopped by a B&WH Baliff as you recover at Mudeford and have to justify where you caught your fish ?? You also wonder about the numbers of holidaymakers who launch here with a fishing rod stuck in the boat, presumably, they would now have to produce a licence or day ticket if asked ? I think possibly the current owners have been very cany in selling these rights to RDAA, good luck if they think they can recover their costs!!! Unbelieveable!!!! Paul

Dave Might not be much of a new innovation, but has been to me -I used the quick link clips to join the trace to the leader swivel. You can bait up a spare trace and have this waiting. Also when dealing with tangles (esp on a charter) - its easier to unclip the trace. Some rigs feature booms, but you dont have to use these - a zip slider does a good job. I wouldnt make the trace too long - stay with 3ft, to make sure the bait stays on the bottom. Hope this helps.... Paul

Martin, I need to do some digging to find the number, sorry.... will post when I find it. It was a pretty smooth lock all told, and worked faultlessly right up until it seized, so I guess I was unlucky. I Use it to padlock the dinghy/ engine to the swinging mooring - so at least anyone trying to remove the dinghy has to come prepared. The size of the bolt croppers Charlie used would not come cheap to most thieves, but I suppose nothing will stop the determined ones.... Paul

Sheared the key off in a rather expensive master padlock, down at the rack where I keep the dinghy... it was 2 years old, but had been looked after, with a regular spray of salty air and operated a few times a month...It had a boron carbide shackle no less, requiring Charlie to make two trips to the shed to get successively larger bolt croppers before it gave up It was from B+Q, but having read the packet on purchase, master locks claim they have a lifetime warrantee. I didnt even bother with B+Q, but emailed their website, after a bit of a runarround to find the sales contact page. A chap responded the next day, to say I needed to call their office in Belgium...( oh yeah??) I called this and was given a number to call in the UK by a very nice sounding french woman... Spoke to a Gentleman and explained it had siezed, described the product over the phone, and he said he'd get a new one sent out in the post. Sure enough a brand new lock arrived a few days ago... result!! and thanks to Master lock.... I dont know how many times they'll do this, but I've got my moneys worth over buying a cheaper product, and have some security /peace of mind... Paul