Adam F

Rich - watch the weather chap - if we get a window me you and BW have a date! Im pretty free all week, and need to take a few days holiday. Adam

Best of luck tomorrow Jumbo - We will all be rooting for you, oh and if you wanna come second, Im OK with that...I think I deserve a holiday for skippering you to the top 10!! The weather for the comp sunday is starting to look like one of them lovely high pressure winter days, F1-2 NNE! Bring on the cod!

Good to see you back Mike, hope you had a good one. Look forward to hearing the full report when youve had some sleep!

Can you ever have enough!!...onyl when you find one that gives F3's all the time Here are two sites form a link on the Weymouth Charter Boat - Lady Go Diver I think thay are pretty interesting if not for our own bay. Well worth a look at though. http://www.digital-reality.co.uk/weather/liveData.htm and http://www.ndbc.noaa.gov/station_page.php?station=62103 Adam

At the risk ouf tempting bad weather.....the forecast for the comp Sunday looks OK...might be able to get out to the banks for some proper fishing!

Suppose its a bit like drifting for conger? And as the other guys stated the winter cod will be feeding by smeel more than sight. That said I cant see why drifting using a pennel loaded with 4/5 squid would work if the drifit was slow enough. Hard work though, cod fishing is slow enough, so using 2/3 rods and putting them in the rests while you have a hot cuppa and a bacon roll seems a better idea than sitting on the gunnel holding a single rod! Anyway, dont matter at the moment unless you like sitting on the Slates in a F8!!!

Glad to hear you had a good day! I would have loved to have gone out today but instead I decided to get up at 4am drive to Bolton sit in meetings all day and get home at 7pm...the cook dinner, wash up and fianlly read new posts, only to find that Alun has been out fishing and caught a bag full of plump whiting!!!!!!

Yep - Know exactly what you mean! I have nearly completed the new patio - a huge job in itself, on top of that re-tiled the en-suite, and replaced the facia on the house! I could probably go fishing for a month and still have points to spare!! Seriously, I cannot remember a worse year for fishing weather. Wind has dominated the whole summer and I can only think of 2 trips where the sea was glassy calm! I was booked in for a corporate trip from Weymouth on Tiger Lily on Weds, but Online weather now gives storm Force 12's!.... Maybe November will be one of those winter high pressure months where the sea stays flat all day!

Online weather is giving 3's at the moment - will still be a little sloppy due to the winds the past week - but may be able to sneak the 1st Cod trip of the year in!

I must say - what a brilliant article. Fantastically written, concise and easy to understand. It certianly has made me want to do BW's!! Well done Alan, really good site is coming together. When out on Thurs the harbour was so choppy in the F8 that all I could se was green water at times. I am not too sure whether to fit a wiper? I will re-do the windows and see if this helps, but BW's are not so misty that I cant see, more the water doesnt clear the screen fast enough. I have used RainEX and it has had limited use, but really needs applying every trip - too much hastle. Anyone have any thoughts on fitting a wiper to a Warrior 165 or other small boat?

As Martin rightly says. We used the same rigs that catch launce in the islands and off weymouth.

Steve, Interesting point on the self inflators something I have never thought about. The shelflife I am not too sure of. They recommend manually inflating, checking and deflating every year but not too sure on the gas cartridges...I would guestimate maybe 3/4 years? One thing that the RNLI chap mentioned on my SeaCheck is the use of a crotch strap. Apparently the air sea rescue wont lift you even if you have a lifting ring, as the jacket can then slip up and strange the casualty. They are not expensive, but I cant seem to find them for sale seperatly, locally. Imagin what I got when I scanned Ebay for a 'crotch strap!' As I mentioned it is not optional to board BW now without either a lifejacket or a floatation suit...I think it is just a case of forcing a habit.

James and I were both off work today, so at 9am we launched BW off Baiter. The plan was to practise the species hunting for the comp next Friday. We headed first off to the main channel near the Brownsea Castle to try for Herring - after 1/2 hour nothing so over to the Castle for Wrasse and Pollock - nothing! We then bashed all the way around to the Wareham channel for flounder - guess what?....nothing!, well not strictly true, we had a few fish. James has a 2oz Bass, and I had a cracker of 3lb (can you book that one Charlie?) on my light spinning rod which fought well! Back to the herring spot at 2pm, we managed about a dozen plump herring for tea! It was probably the most windy day I have ever fished - the met office gave Gale 10's - we had probably an force 8 at times!...made getting BW back on the trailer interesting! So not the best day ever - but at least we wet a line in amongst months of crap weather. Adam

Was watching the local news last night when I hear 'Wick' and 'Slipway' mentioned....I turned the TV up. Basically Mike Rhodes was on South Today saying that the area next to the Slipway at wick needs a Pontoon extension, from where the Ferry area is. Bournemouth & West Hants Water have proposed it - Christchurch County Council have opposed it, saying that it will narrow the river, look and eyesore and cause a navigation hazard for the Annual regatta. Mike Rhodes response made me laugh...cant quite remember his EXACT words but it was: ' B & WHW feel that the facilites for the boat user at Wick are severely lacking, as we are SOLEY responsible for the upkeep and development of this area we see it as essential that the pontoon extension takes place' SO: My question is now, if they are SOLEY responsible, feel the facilities are lacking and want to improve them - WHEN ARE THEY REPAIRING THE SLIPWAY!!!?? The pontoon extension is planned to cost thousands, how much would a bit of concrete use?? I will be emailing Mike tonight asking for an answer - I suggest anyone else who has a vested interest in this slip does the same.

Billy - 29th Oct

Martin - Ill organise the Wolseley

Weather permitting Ill be their all day on BW, shadowing the charter boats from afar...if anyone wants to join me they are more than welcome. Adam

James has them at the moment - lll remind him that they need returning.

Not giving up fishing are we peter??!!

Peter, You have mail - Ill have 1 jacket if you will split them. Adam

Thanks for the advice Steve. One last question - How did you gain access to the keel along the full length whilst on the trailer? Mine touches the keel rollers in two places?

Float fishing by the post on the entrance to Wareham channel...a little inside knowldege from the last few days. Set your float a little over depth, ragworm for bait and let the flatties roll on in!

Is wish I did have...had I done (and Bob for that matter) it would have meant only skin scratches for BW - all of the damage was along the keel. I have now stripped the antifouling and am begining the tedious job of sanding and polishing the hull. On top of replacing the windows and polishing the hull, a keel band is top priority. I am thinking of using S/S and sikflexing / SS Self tapping it to the keel. I need a source of material, and also need to know whether the band is a constant width for the whole length or if it is profiled to match the Warrior's keel?

Just a topic that was rasied at a recent club meeting, thought it would be interesting to hear the views on this one!....

Now standard issue on BW. Especially as night, no option all crew and skipper must wear jackets. Bad weather - same applies...all other situations, jackets at all times unless common sense says otherwise, i.e 26c degs, hot sunny July day. A decision I made after the other week. Funnily enough, Rach got in the car to come home with hers still on...she forget she was wearing it! So a standing testimomy to wearing one on a small boat. Adam