Adam F

Conger

Tope - good piccie Rich!

Just checked online weather and they give 5-7s all day?? Not looking good at all!

Just to add my 2 peneth worth! Was good to finally meet Coddy, what a well kitted out boat 'Sammy' is. Forecast for for WSW 3-5, so we headed out to Swanage Bay to get a few mackies, then plan was off tp the Whitehouse for Ray. Mackies came easily on BW, but Sammy struggled, so we plodded off hoping to get a dew more at the mark. Well, by now it was about 8.30am, and the wind was scarcely a F2, so I made the deciscion to head W over to the Anvil. Big tide running but slack at 12 noon. Macky a-plenty again, so 1/2 an hour and we had enough for Sammy's crew also! Anchor struggled for both boats 1st drop, but we got it right 2nd time. 4 knots of tide meant the first hour was a struggle. As the tide backed off the Tope came on the feed and Rich and I bagged 5 fish all over 20lb within 1 hour. Dead slack and I managed 2 eels to 25lb, then nowt! - strange It was now 2.30pm, and raining so we had a fun ride back in at 23knts sufring the swell all the way! Stopped at the Old Harry race as a single guy in a small blue strikeliner was playing a bass - tried to copy his fishing with live sandeels with our rubber lures - we had 10 drifts and no fish - he had 5 drifts and 4 fish - live sandeels ruled the day! Back home by 5pm. Not a red letter day, but v. enjoyable non-the-less! Cheers

Go for it Kam!, you have to put in the leg work, hard as it may be! - I looked at a few in bloody Carlise!!!! Good luck, let us know how it goes!

Nice report Alun - we must meet up and fish together in the near future?? My 165 weighs in at around 13 - 1400kgs fully loaded with 2 tanks of fuel, 2/3 crew and all the rest of the gear. I think they are 1200kg unlaiden. I pull mine with my little astra, fine on the road, baiter and good, dryish, weed free slips, but struggles at wick on a low tide - we then use James' Frontera.

As for engines, the merry fishers can run with as little as 50hp, so I would suggets possibly 60hp as a minimum, this should get it to plane, but the performance may be a little lack-lustre, I rekon something like a 90hp would give it a decent kick with anything over 100 giving serious power, and also a little in reserve, but then you start climbing up in o/b prices!

Ah! - Almost right! Glad you found it though....where the is the boat being sold? Are you considering it? It looks on par with the smaller merry fishers? At a good price also! Adam

http://www.tameside.co.uk/galeon/pg640.htm

The fun of choosing a boat!, so many needs and wants!. I went through a similar process when looking at my last boat, you really have to decide your main priorities and then look from there. I looked at Merry Fishers, and they were just within my budget, but it was too big to trail and the fishing space was smaller than the Warrior. Have a look at plenty of boats in the flesh, try and test drive a few, and write down a list of your needs from most important to least. BTW - The raider 18's can come with a cabin, they do 3/4 differant designs. The blue boat above looks like a Galia 640 to me. They are quite a new boat on the market and are available from Salterns Marina in Poole. There was a feature a few months back in Sea Angler also. Adam

Martin, Mark B wanted to come out / go out - give him a buzz?

'PBSBAC back the Poole Charter Skippers'

Cracking boat Newboy - makes sense, you could have a lovely package for little dough! Are you going to go for it?

Nice idea Paul! 'See we do back charter skippers!'

Cheers Bob and others, Ill pop down to Aladdins next week and kit myself out. I already have a set of personal flares, will probably get the coastal pack and add a floating orange smoke to it. Adam

Sun suits me fine chaps. I also wouldnt mind being in early-ish. Suggest launch at 7am, back in at 4pm latest? Weather is forecast 3-5 WSW, so it wont be lovely, but should be bearable. Coddy, meet up at the slip at 7am Sun? Adam

Boys, The weather is not looking good for Sat Force 4-6 SW. Any chance we could play Sun instead?, The forecast is for 3's dropping to 1's later in the day? I'm off to Manchester niow, will check again tonight and see what the score is. Adam

Hi ziplex, yep thats mine alright. I have had her only for 3 months, before that I had a boat similar sounding to yours - wanted a Warrior for 4 years, but had to save up for one and then find one!! I think they are very good - as with all boats it depends on what you want from it, I wanted a fast, smart roomy fishing boat that could double up for playing around with friends or family. Highly recommended! Adam

I think I will try and come guys....its about 70% at the moment. If so Ill meet Coddy at the slip and give him a hand - its always nice to have someone around when at a new venue. I will confirm Fri eve. The weather is SW Force 4, so may not be too nice, best to play it by ear. I will also need crew for the day, any takers?

Right, the last thing on my list before I can have my safety check is flares. I already have 6x handheld 'personel' flares onboard, but need the proper set. Offshore, Coastal or Inshore? I fish 99% of the time within 5/6 miles of nearest land and probably 10-15 miles from nearest port. I know you cant put a price on safety, but bearing in mind how much these bloody things cost - I just want to have the right ones. Adam

Thanks Malc, I have submitted them an enquiry, Ill let you know how I get on. Cheers Adam

Same here then really. We have fished the same productive marks as last year, and although we have had a few good fish, nothing like we were getting last year. Mind you, we were fishing a little later in the year in 2003, so maybe there is time yet for it to pick up.

Very poorly, a few dogs, a lobster, a wrasse and a pout. Didint fish for long though, weather wasnt nice! Didnt fair much better last night on the ledge, seems to be fishing slow at the moment?

I have managed to get my Aux. 4hp Mariner started. It was a severely cracked fuel hose which was the problem. I taped it temp. to get her started, but now I need to replace the part. I have looked everywhere on the net for the part no., but it is hopeless. Where should I go to get the replacement part? was rather hoping for an online ordering system, but cant find one anywhere, so off to a local marine engineer I think? Any suggestions?