Adam F

At the moment, I'll call the comp as ON. Sun is a little window in the weather. Bright and Breezy would be my take on it. Met Office are giving NW 3/4, Windguru and XC both seem to agree. It's not going to be flat calm out there, but I think plenty of areas will be fishable. Take care out there, bear in mind the huge tides we have this weekend, and parts of the day will see wind against tide... some of the tide races we like to fish will be 'lively' to say the least. If it changes I'll post here, if not see you on the water.

What day does it finish? If it's on into next week, does anyone want to walk round with me?

Got the pro's onboard then trev!

Give me a ring on Weds mate - Ive got a good contact. Adam

What do Rockley charge for a stack and store? We are moving JV onto the dry stacks at Parkstone, and for a 7m boat it comes in at around

1) Adam - JV - Ben & Craig crewing 2) TW - Otter - Crew TBC 3) Tomo- Just Purfick- Full

No worries! You'll be on with Ben. Fingers crossed for the weather

This sunday is the annual bass specimen comp. We have trophies for the best specimen bass both kept and returned, plus a whole load of Sidewinder Lures and terminal tackle from Kiddy and Sakuma for the winners. Thhe bad news is the long range forecast isnt looking great, but I'll start the list anyway! 1) Adam - JV - room for crew

That good was it Ben...!

You might need to give a VHS player away with them!

Anyone want to bring one to the meeting tonight?

How big are they? Whilst I want to downsize, I still need to get 4 compartment boxes, a rig wallet and a tray of t bars, pliers etc in??

I'd imagine a ride in one of them....

I am Nige.... But I the terminal tackle I use is stunningly simple. 99% of my fishing is done with a 6 hook sizes all in Varivas Big Mouth, 2 sizes of crane swivels, 8 & 4mm black beads, zip sliders, and lead clips. That's it! It all fits inside a small plastic compartment box. The rest of my huge Shakespeare box of full of tackle I never use but take everytime I go. I think I'll just downsize to the smaller Shakespeare box.

I have to stay a bit closer to shore than you boys with bigger toys I didnt fish further than 5 miles out on Sun. All of the fish came from marks that were fishable in most of the smaller club boats. The marks are no big secret - my Undulate came from the Whitehouse Grounds, the Blondes off the 50/50 banks and the Small Eyed and Spotties off Ballard Down. Adam

What type of tackle boxes do you guys use? Currently Ive got a biggish Shakespear box, on the plus side it's durable, and reasonably waterproof, acts as a seat when needed and can be used to rest a chopping board on. On the downside, Ive just rationalised my tackle and realised it's bigger than I really need. I dont want a tackle 'bag' and my gear sits on the engine box and gets wet - the bags just arnt practicle.. I know I can get the smaller - 'Beta' box that Shakespeare do, and I might get one yet - just wondered what other people use?

Thanks again to Rob and the team for organising Sun's Open comp. The crew on JV thoroughly enjoyed it. We had a busy day. I had Ben onboard replacing Bob at last minute, and it was a joy to have him on - just one of those guys who knows what to do when - picking up the anchor line when buoying it off - tidying up rods and tackle, cutting bait etc. This was made all the more helpful as we have Dave Barham and Jim from BFM onboard so the pressure was on me as a skipper to find some fish. I'm pleased to say it was one of those days where the plans worked! First mark was well inshore of the other boats and I noted the looks on the guys faces which seemed to say 'here? really? were only just off the beach!' We should get small eyes and spotted ray here I said.... 30 seconds later ben lands a ray! we had another couple before it went quiet.... Plan B... .... as the tide dropped we went out into the wind to where I had the pair of 30lb blondes from last year... we should get blonde rays here... and guess what - we did! Dave hooked a real beast of a fish - but on 12lb gear and a hard running tide he broke off trying to move it off the bottom. After an hour or so the anchor tripped so I took the que to roll out plan C for an Undulate - and guess what? 30 mins later I landed a 12lb fish that got me 12th place. We finished the day with a few bass which also played ball. The guys got plenty of photos for the mag, where kept fed and watered wioth copious teas and bacon rols and the fish obliged for a change! Look forward to 2011!

Well done Rob and team - the comp hasnt started yet, but already youve put in a huge amount of work. Really looking forward to it. Thanks to all who helped out, and lets hope today is a roaring success.

Dont know who put somehting about 12knts for the comp day.... Windguru is now giving 26knts tomorrow afternoon.... Met office giving F6-7 Swanage Bay is going to be busy! ... mind you spare a thought for the Fox's.... I guess still stuck Frog side!

and Ben's on with me.

I suspect this is where the brakes need adjusting. Ive had this numerous time when I had my Warrior. If the linings have come away from the shoe, then the brakes will be locked solid. On here somewhere is a long thread by me detailing how to strip, clean and adjust a set of brakes and hubs. The problem you have is that the drums arnt actually 100% round. Where your brakes arent biting enough, when you brake they move but dont make contact with the drum face, but snag occasionally when the high spot of the drum makes contact. This doesnt sound plausable... but trust me it is. If you adjust the brakes up, I'll bet you when you brake you can actually feel the drums bite and the trailer 'sit-down' slightly and pull on the car - this shouldnt be excessive, but you should feel the trailer brakes working. The adjuster is a 17mm nut on the rear of the drums which adjusts the spacing of the shoes. The way to set them is to jack the wheel up. Tighten the nut right up solid and then back it away 1/2 a turn at a time, until the wheel rotates, but you should hear the shoes lightly rubbing and the wheel shouldnt spin for more than 1 or 2 turns unaided. Do this both sides and I think this will cure your problem. The linings come away from the shoes for a living. Ive tried all sorts and never managed to get more than a few seasons out of a set. Stripping the hub back and giving it a real good clean and rub down with a wire brush and a liberal covering of grease (not on the shoe and drum face!) will help. Ring me if you need any more help. Adam

Is it strapped and chocked? I spent alot of time on the fuel tank when doing JV. She sits on a base of glassed in 18mm ply, with a pair of 2x2" chocks the full length of the tank to stop ANY side by side movement. In addition she has a pair of 2" rachet straps around her... the tank isnt going anywhere. A 160L of fuel slopping around creates some pretty huge pressures!

I'd be quite confident in the repair Mike. But obviously I cant see the damage. Ive tried to clean up old sikaflex in the past and it sticks like the devil! Just keep and eye on it. I'm sure that it'll get you back. Good luck!

Well if anyone wants crew??

Alun very kindly helped out today with the sh%te task that is re-antifouling.... To be fair JV wasnt that bad, the marina staff had her out and jetwashed and all of my diving and scrubbing over the past few weeks has got her nearly back to the primer. A quick scrub with a brillo and a wash and we were ready to go. I went with Seajet in Navy Blue in the end from Pete at Quay West. The leg was re-done in Volvo grey tri-lux. So after 5 hours of sweating and feeling a bit wobbly from the fumes JV is sat drying on the hard at PBM looking like new! It is a crap job though and she may well end up on the stack and store in 2011. Thanks for all the advice.