Sinbad

Hi Paul, I dont know if they would go with the 450x450's - I'll ask the chap who was going to do the job and PM if interested. Paul

Hi Paul, are these the buff ones or other colour ? Regards PaulF

Adam, looking at the forecast just after lunch, XC weather was looking like a summers day......Northerly 5mph or less for the whole day Just look at it now... these forecasters are fickle people!!!! Paul

Hi Derek, I dont know, but you could try Precision Units, Gloscester road, parkstone 01202 741664. They work with all sorts of plastic sheet for instrument panels, consoles etc for boat builders like sunseeker. Paul

Charlie, I'm sure you'll be celebrating anyhow, but make sure there are no coins in the bottom of one of your cans of stella, or we might not be seeing you for 6 months or so....hee hee Paul

And the results of the Lymington Open were?????????????????????????????? Paul

Oooohhh you teaser Alun.....

Took Alun J up on his offer of a seat on Friday.. After a long evening at the club meet, followed by a 0545 hrs start, I greeted Alun with a somewhat bleary cheeriness - pleased of the day off work, but thinking that 'office hours' at the Jones are a bit extreme. Anyway, Alun is a few minutes drive from the slipway so were soon wadered up and in the water. Wind was already a freshening westerly, forecast rain with bigger winds later, so we wasted no time getting stuck into a few drifts for bait. Water on the last of the ebb was like Bristol Channel (so Alun says) - full of silt from the river. We struggled for a pollack or anything, but as soon as we had something wriggly, we headed off for a proper drift using mackerel as a substitute on the other rods, whilst still bait gathering. AJ gets a bass on feathers, just to keep his hand in.... First proper fish to AJ, but a small Bass of a about a pound that hammered the Pollack bait, but missed swallowing it, so Alun rebaited with the same fish, and sent him out to do his work! Next fish to me, of 5lb 12 - which was remarkable due to me being tangled up in my other line, so I couldnt wind in for a few minutes. Luckily it stayed on. next Drift or two, water was fining down a bit on the flood so a good fish to AJ - expertly played out, almost identical when laid in the box. 5lb 8oz. Then our livebaits were struggling with life in general at the 'office', so no more takes, and no takes on the mackerel substitutes either.. obviously the coloured water needed somthing more lifelike and enticing than dead frozen defrosted fish. Alun got another small bass on the inshore drift, but we had been forced inshore by the rapidly rising breeze and swell, so we called it a day by lunchtime. All in all, target achieved, and a nice day afloat, but boy it did feel like winter fishing had arrived. Note to self - more layers required!! Thanks Alun for putting me onto the fish and for a great trip- pity conditions werent kinder. Paul

Graham, I'm not trying to make you jealous - because I've been there with a poorly fitting trailer also. I winched my 20ft boat onto the trailer on my own this afternoon - admittedly not in a cross tide or wind - but having to submerge the trailer - even with rollers will have the boat skew wiff on the trailer. You have to use the centering action of the Vee of the hull against the vee of the keel/ side rollers. Once you get it sorted, you'll wonder why you struggled for so long. I'd also recommend a rear swinging cradle everytime, as these allow you to recover the boat almost from dry land. But this may not be an option for your trailer. I've also heard the nylon rollers are fantastic, only the cost has put me off so far - but when my current keel rollers wear out - I'm going to get a few. Hope you get it sorted soon - it'll make a real difference to the boating and fishing experience!! Paul

Mick, You'll be OK with frozen mackerel - if you get any live ones on feathers - you'll be having a red letter day !!! Paul

Rob, These look OK for handless cups - do they work for Mugs ?? I might be interested in some of these Rob - let me know when you are next popping in Paul

Failure of Deckwashes!!!!!!! Me too!!!! I bought mine from Galeforce marine via the internet 3 years ago, and likewise a year ago it stoped dead. So in the end I took it off and connected it up to the car battery, and no joy. then stripped it down , and realised that there wasnt anything to repair inside They replaced it withina week no questions asked Just recently, it has been playing up - refusing to start immediately, but springing to life after a few minutes. Last week it just wouldnt start at all. Also it had been blowing fuses like Charlie's. so suspecting the presure switch - I bridged across this by joining the connectors together and bingo - like a new pump! However, after removing the pressure switch I found it was open circuit at all times, so ordered a new one (

Well the answer seems to me to be a "Cut and Shut" to increase the waterline length to arround 60ft.... At least you wont have to modify the transom.... This should give you 12knts or so. On a serious note, the suggestion to spend the odd charter trip, or go out with a club member is a much cheaper option, and keeps it economical. Regards Paul

Tom, I suppose with your flued woodburner, you dont have a chimney anymore, as this can remove hot air (ie your oil) and your money out of the house faster than government taxes. But its worth considering if the breeze is whistling through the room spaces - what is causing this. There's an old engineering/physics phenomenon called the 'chimney effect,' caused by hot gases rising through a tall building or house They will creat quite a suction on any gaps. sometimes you can see the effect of this with alot of whistling as you close the loft hatch. The rising of hot air because of the difference in the temperature between the cold upstairs and hot downstairs (lounge) creates a cycle of cold air dragged into the house (sometimes from cold air upstairs moving downwards) and hot air seeping through the ceiling through light fittings, upstairs windows etc. I often wondered why so much drafts used to come in arround the front door, and why our lounge was so cold (when the open fire wasnt lit). This wasnt being caused by wind blowing against the door, but by suction!!! created by all my heat going up through the poorly insulated /sealed loft. The answer, may be to close all the doors upstairs (obvious) - some farmhouse doors dont fit well at the bottom- try to seal this up. Other than this, look for how to stop the air going into the loft by sealing up penetrations in the ceiling - some behing light fittings you can put a fist through. Anyway, tend to agree with more radiators = more heat transferred out of boiler and more oil used, but you may be making it worse if you have some very cold rooms with drafts. Cold rooms are fine, without drafts though. Good luck Paul

Dan I'll be out Friday (Poole) but watching the weather as offshore looks pants! Paul

Well Done, Alan.... it ws looking lovely on Monday, out of the office window!!! You must be the first to try a wrasse, but also dont despise the humble pout, as they make good eating as well. If you are arround that area, ragworm will certainly catch you a few wrasse as well as the chance for alot of other species. Paul

Mike, I've used the Berkley ones for many years on a strikeliner, and now my Orkney - but I prefer to put the butt on the floor and use the rail mounted V rests (breakaway type) - its a personal choice. You can mount the berkley ones on the rail if needed with the u clamp. Ive got my holders mounted vertically on the inwhales - but these are coming off in the winter (i.e shortly) so will be available FOC. If interested PM me. Paul

Hi John, the polish is applied to a dry hull - and I prefer to stand on the land or use a step ladder ? but you probably didnt mean this As for the rust remover gel its used in tiny quantities, generally for any boat cleaning liquids its not really practical or acceptable in my book to wash off in the confines of a marina. just like you wouldnt pour paint solvent or white spirit down the drain? However the tins of paint dont have the specific labelling to say what their aquatic toxicity is, as they probably havent been tested, although the bulk chemical almost certainly would have had all the environmental/ toxicity testing as part of the COSSH regulations. So its really down to the byelaws of the harbour and a bit of common sense approach. Regards Paul

Not being funny or anything... the previous owner of my strikeliner passed away on it - luckily he was on the mooring at the time, but since then, I've been a bit hesitant re-naming boats. Mind you, he did have a heart condition, and was over 80.... still - make up your own mind Paul

Mike, Thanks for the warnings.... I was careful to put the cap back on before adding a spoonful of sugar to the tea. Certainly smarts a bit if you get it splashed onto skin or cuts, so I knew it was strong stuff.... Charlie - I was hoping to get back in asap to avoid the rash of cruisers, so possibly this weekend Paul

Take a sharp intake of breath, as its expensive stuff - and I only used a couple of teaspoon fulls for a litre of solution. I suppose it depends how badly you want to tart up your pride and joy. Gordon - I suppose it'll do a good job of this Your welcome to borrow some to try a patch if you want. Paul

Oh, and nearly forgot... early in the season, I cut a shackle off the anchor whilst on the mooring - success for the shackle, but the legacy in terms of the iron filings have been living with me for the last 6 months -all down both sides of the non slip decking. scrubbing with brushes - soap powder, liquid rubbing, polish etc - all managed to remove some rust, but it just came back. Visit to Owens in Christchurch boat shop - he told me he did the exact same thing. The answer was to use a product called "grime remover" - crystals of oxalic acid. Mixed up in hot water into a solution. It was as easy as making a cup of tea. I just rubbed it on with a small brush and left it to stew. Also put a bit arround the stainless fittings where some rust marks had formed. Then washed it away... and clean and sparky decks again. Paul

Getting slightly ahead of myself, due to an overdue haul out and pressure wash of the hull... I gave the hull a much needed clean and polish. Last two seasons I have used International products (teflon wax, PTFE UV protector, Liquid rubbing compound) - and generally been less than satisfied. The products and maybe the application methods (me) didnt remove scratches, or discolouration or dirt well. I also borrowed a rotary buffer from a boatbuilder friend, which halved the time taken to do the job, but was very messy on cutting. This time, I visited www.boatsheen.com, and bought Brazilian Carnuba boat wax Pre-wax colour restorer CleanCut Compound Plus some applicator pads plus a box of microfibre cloths The Cleancut compound really does blend in the scratches - if like me with a blue hull, one little scratch shows the white of the underlying un-oxidised gel coat. Then the pre-wax lifts out the grime The wax is very easy to apply / buff off, even on a hot surface. The pre-wax does dry on quite hard, so needed a cool day not in the sun otherwise it was difficult to remove. I think where I had been going wrong mainly was the applicator and then the polish - the standard woven cloths or rags from the car shop are far too agressive and open structure and leave fine scratches as well as missing patches. The applicator pads - I used mainly for the polish stage which really speed up the process. Anyway, I think the products are similar price to international. I used less than half of the pre-wax colour restorer, and a quarter of the wax (250ml) so it goes a long long way. If I get a chance I'll post a couple of photos... But with a pair of sore arms, I'm happy Paul

We are blessed it seems with friendly helpful people, not just salesmen wanting you to part with your cash.... so make good use of them. I cant praise Chris at Greenham Regis (Poole) enough, for his knowledge and good honest service. (loaned me a GPS aerial for 4 months, FOC until mine was fixed) Also not said before on this thread, Garmin- based in Eastleigh have provided excellent aftercare on their products. Whatever product you buy, I'm sure that it wont be treated like most superstore products, past 28 days when you try and claim on the warrantee, or just need it fixed - marine factors seem to invest in the long haul and if you use some of the persons mentioned in this thread for advice and service - they wont let you down. So go ahead an buy with confidence !! Good Luck Paul