Adam F

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

Small Eyed Ray, new PB...6lb

Ballan - 3lb

It has now been 3 weeks since the little incident at Kimmeridge. Blue Warrior has sat on the drive since and I havent been out. Seeing as Im on holiday all this week and Egypt has been cancelled due to a new 60hp Mariner, Rach and I decided to make the most of the sunshine and get a few hours in. Rather strange launching BW again after last time, kept remembering how bad it all was, but pleased to report all went fine and we had a good day to boot. I just wanted to run the engines up, and check the boat was OK after her repairs. She is fine and good as new. Rach however seems to have been bitten by the fishing bug!! 5 hours of fishing and the tide is dropping by the second and she still insists on 'just one more cast!'......I was packed up and waiting to go home! We had a good day fishing the shallow water ledge marks. Final tally: 30 odd Wrasse (corkwing, ballan, rock cook and cuckoo) to 3lb, doggies and a lovely 6lb Small eyed...mosted to rach's rods! Came in at 5pm, overall a great day, nice and relaxing and good to get out again! Thurs is back to 'proper' fishing....James and I are having a trip from Weymouth.

I have a TLD15 and TLD20. The 15 is use for general rough ground fishing, bass, conger, ray, pirking etc. It sits on 30lb Abu and is perfectly matched. I love the smooth lever drag and it is very light. I am currently looking for another. The 20 is on a 50lb Abu and gets used for heavy duty only. Tope in deep fast water, big eels and codding in big solent tides, good as the 15, but a little more cumbersome. I havent got a TLD10, but have the newer replacement which is the Charter Special 1000LD. This is on a 12lb Abu and is my favourite set up of the lot. I have had eels to 40 on this as well as 12oz red mullet and each still gave a great fight - a truely versatile set up.

Ed - it isnt against any forum rules, but their is a Wanted and a For Sale section on the forum, just so you know. Sounds a bargin! - Im sure youll have no problem selling it. BTW, Ebay may be worth a bash, Marine Electronics usually fetch a good price on there. Adam

Nice new reef mark to fish then!

I presume you are talking about this one? If so, then yes you are correct. PBSBAC.co.uk is now nearly a year old (next month) and in that time well over 5000 posts must have been posted. The site gets huge numbers of hits each day and in the past year I rekon that almost everything to do with boats has been discussed in some way or another. Joining the club for

Did you re-use all the bolts and nuts and caps? What silicone did you use?