domino

Adam, I can wait till the 28th as well... unless you have already posted it?? Cheers, Alan

I'll have the other 25kg, please Adam. I'll put a cheque in the post to cover the

I fancy having a go for the Bass, out of Weymouth, on Sunday. Space for one on Domino if any one fancies it. Cheers, Alan

Attached is a copy of the Mayday instructions I carry on Domino. Pretty much the same as Coddy's... it is copied directly from the info sent to me by the Coastguard, following my registering Domino with them (CG66 scheme?). Any one is wlcome to make use of it if they wish... probably best to change the references to Domino to your own boat's name though. Cheers, Alan

Mike, Thanks for the info and the offer of a guided tour. I already know the area reasonably well, having been a frequent visitor to Poole and Bournemouth for some years. What I was really after was an appx height (above chart datum) above which the slip is usable, as the LW height varies quite considerably, for example - 05/11 LW 10:17 1.6m 13/11 LW 16:24 0.5m This is a difference of over a metre, my guess is that you could have launched / retrieved at any state of the tide on the 5th, but probably not at LW on the 13th. I accept that atmospheric conditions may affect the actual height of water compared to that predicted, but I was just looking for a guide so I know when to avoid. Thanks again, Alan

How low does the water have to be (above chart datum), before the slip becomes unusable? Cheers, Alan PS. I've just re-read this and it's not worded very well... but I'm sure you understand what I mean!!

OK Paul, no problem. So... do we have any other takers, for a trip out of Poole on Saturday?

Adam, No... unfortunately Saturday is the only day I can make it. A week off work... and numerous things have conspired against me getting out until the weekend! Martin, Where are you launching from / fishing on Saturday. Cheers, Alan

Hi Paul, I wouldn't mind bringing Domino down Saturday, if you would like a ride out on her. I'll PM you my phone no... give me a ring if you fancy it. Cheers, Alan

Yes please Adam, I'll try some. Thanks, Alan

Adam, Sounds good to me... I'll give you a ring tomorrow (Mon). Cheers, Alan

This is excellent... Weird Al Yankovic's e-bay song. Click on the little PLAY button in the pic at the top. Alan

OK, I can make Tues... where are you fishing from? Does anyone else fancy a ride out on Domino on Tuesday? Cheers, Alan

I've fished from Minehead a fair bit in the past... We generally stuck to squid and lug (preferably black lug) for the winter cod, frozen peeler crab also good but expensive if you have to buy them... 2 or 3 worms fished on a 4/0 pennell rig, with a squid head on the bottom hook and strip of suid on the top hook... 4' - 6' hook length 40lb Amnesia. Uptiding you shouldn't need more than 6oz lead with fixed nose wires, for the peak tide flow and you'll get away with a 5oz breakaway as the tide eases. Downtide, with say 30lb braid, you will probably need 1lb max... a lot depends on just where the skipper takes you. If there are whiting about then mackerel feathers, baited with small strips of mackerel, work well. For the conger / rays... a 6/0 forged hook... baited with mackerel strip and squid. What boat are you on? It wouldn't be a bad idea to have a word with the skipper and seek his advice... from the horses mouth, as they say. If it's Ark Supreme... you'll also need to take your sense of humour with you!!! Hope this helps, Alan

I'm off work all next week as well. I've got a charter trip on Monday... but after that I would like to get Domino wet a couple of times - weather permitting!! If there's anybody else available perhaps we could even make it a 'double date'. Cheers, Alan

Charlie, Thanks for the info. Re. 'OTHER' species - I felt sure that the subject would have probably been raised before. I was just interested in how / why a decision was made not to include them. Without giviing it an awful lot of thought, or listening to others views - it seems to me that it is a 'Species' competition not a 'Specimen' comp... so size should not be important... and if it is a Fish and it is recognised as a Sea Fish, then it should count. I don't have strong views either way... just my 'two-penneth' as they say. Cheers, Alan

A couple of questions... 1. If you catch more than 8 different species (not for one minute suggesting that I would!!! )... do you still get a max of 60 bonus points. I realise that he next question is probably something for discussion at the clubs AGM... and apologise if it has previously been discussed, but... 2. Should there be an additional category of 'OTHER', to encompass any species not specifically listed. Cheers, Alan

Charlie, Could you send me a copy of the comp form as well. Thanks, Alan PS. Perhaps this could be made available from the website? EDIT: Ignore the above... I've just found the scoresheet... on the website!!!

After 5 years with Porthcawl, I decided to shop around a bit this year. I found that www.craftinsure.com were a fair bit cheaper than Porthcawl, for virtually the same cover and had a monthly payment option - at no extra cost. I just hope that, in event of a claim, they don't pay out in monthly installments! Cheers, Alan

Adam, If you fit a wiper I suspect you will need a steady supply of plastic to replace that window at least annually... I reckon it would very quickly scratch the surface... aside from the salt, there will be fine grains of sand and other potentially abrasive materials suspended in the water.

For anybody that's interested there is now a full description of how I fitted the new windows, on my WEBSITE. Cherers, Alan Edit: Link removed... website no longer exists.

Dave, There's a picture of a Red Band Fish.... HERE. Indeed this one was caught in the afore mentioned Weymouth species comp. Cheers, Alan

I'm with Coddy on this one... never mind the lifejacket - I think the bikini should be compulsory!!! Cheers, Alan PS. Nice fish though.

Ref. using a band saw... you still might want to cut the sheet into more manageable pieces, depending on what you buy / obtain. My sheet was 8' x 4'... a bit of a handful at a bandsaw, I would think... I don't have a bandsaw (unfortunately), so it didn't enter into my thinking. A bandsaw is definitely a good tool to use on polycarb / acrylic as the blade doesn't heat up like a jig saw blade. I think that may have been the problem with my jig saw... it is a cheap B&D one with a finger operated spring clamp holding the blade in... I suspect the blade was getting too hot (No, I know it was too hot... it burnt my fingers ebery time I picked it up off of the floor!! ), causing the plastic to start to melt and sticking to the blade, pulling it out of it's clamp. The sheet material comes with a protective film on both sides, so scratching shouldn't be a problem... unless you're really rough with it.

Hi Ed, I did use clear polycarbonate sheet, as opposed to tinted... so yes, at the moment they are crystal clear. I did it all over the weekend plus a couple of hours Friday afternoon. But that wasn't working non-stop... 'she who must be obeyed' still wanted to go shopping!! I cut and fitted the the first one Friday afternoon and then cleaned it up (after the silicone had cured) Sat morning... learned a few lessons. I cut the remaining windows and fitted the second window by Sat evening and cleaned it up Sun morning... huge lesson learned - don't use Plastic Parcel Tape for masking on Gelcoat... it sticks like sh*t to a blanket and is a real bitch to get off! Now I'm getting good at it... three remaining windows fitted Sun and cleaned up today. If I was doing it again... and if I keep the boat another 4 or 5 years, I probably will... I think I could easily remove and re-fit all the windows in one day. The 'perspex' isn't really that difficult to work with, given some decent tools. The final cut to size was done with a router and flush cutting bit... with the new window material clamped to a template... either the old window or , as I did, an MDF template cut from the old window. I don't know if you're familiar with using a router... but a flush cutting bit is really only used for trimming - a few mm's - not really for cutting out. You therefore need to cut the window blank from the sheet, a little oversize... a decent jig saw would be ideal for this, unfortunately my jig saw has taken to spitting the bades out the minute it thinks it's going to have to do some work... I ended up using a small cordless circular saw, which did the job OK, but would have been better with a finer toothed blade. Hope this helps, Alan