great white

strange times we seem to be in an odd good trip and a lot of mediocre Well done for grabbing the opportunity

Sorry to hear that the trip was slow, well done on the joeys, may have to find out where they came from Tides seemed to be moving on the ebb, but very little flood. Its a real bummer when the tope and cuttles get to the baits before the target fish. Dan and I thought you would be rounding them up on the 18 mile banks

Please do Martin Not a problem with me, He is from Swanage so I have asked Sam to keep an eye out for him ashore and thank him again

Dan and I could not resist the combination of a small tide and good forecast to try anchoring a wreck on Sunday Rowing out to the boat at 0700 there was no wind and a flat calm, fully loaded and off we go. the usual call on channel 6 gave us a brief chat to Martin on Madness looking for bait fish. Passing the chains we go up to 20 knots to the chosen mark, after recent trips I decided to not even try for mackerel, we would use frozen and catch some pout at the wreck. On the ebbing tide we were soon at the wreck. Big anchor down and settle on the tide. According to No 2 son I got lucky, we were 57 meters in front of the wreck in 40 metres of water. a couple of baits down on 12 oz leads, and we wait!! 😀😀 Fish on. That was the start of a busy session on the increasing ebb tide, mainly conger and one stroppy Tope. Baited feathers kept us supplied with poor cod and pout for bait and occasionally we got up to 2 rods each. 😎 The small tide meant that we could fish through, but did go up to our largest leads for about an hour [1 rod out each and Bacon Butties on] As slack water approached so did a Swanage diving boat called "Wight Spirit" The skipper asked me to call him on 6, "here we go" says Dan [remembering some history with dive boats] He asked me what our intentions were, when I told him we were going to re anchor for the flood, he asked if he could put divers down on slack. after I told him that it would ruin our fishing he moved off to another wreck close by, what a nice skipper, Many thanks we moved a little early and it took a while for the flood to start, no problem as we were now getting lots of medium size Tope. 😀😀 Just as the Lasagne was cooked and ready to eat, we swung into place and the congers started to feed again, catching and T barring weighty fish off, while trying to eat our late lunch is just the sort of Multi tasking we like. 😍 No monsters this time, the only one weighed went to 39lb in the net, allowing 2lb for the net, its a 92% specimen. But my god did it make a mess of the boat. It reminds us why we usually leave them outside of the boat. We had at least 10 eels each averaging 25/30 and half as many Tope that were a little smaller. Nice warm day with a dropping warm wind Just my sort of day.😍😎

Nice tides , good luck all

I was fishing for Bream Steve, with a big bait over too. One of these followed the large bait in, then darted back down to the bottom. I dropped a bream rig down where it went and had it on within a minute, so I sort of fished for that one.

they sure do Martin, very strong runs

Only my second ever Trigger Catch and release, boy this one fought well 3 lb 1.5 oz

Well done Skipper 😀😀

That sounds very good Andy. Obviously the delivery man ran at a good RPM for effieciancy and means that you have that you have a nice boat that will not break the bank. I would burn a lot more than that from Jersey, We average about 1.5 ltr/Mile. We burn about 120 ltrs diesel getting to Alderney via a few wrecks

I had mine changed earlier this year, as I had been running with my change over switch [inside the engine compartment] set to "Both" most of the time and because loads of gear goes on top of the engine box during a trip the switch stayed there. On two occasions I flattened the batteries and had to get assistance. The new control switch was fitted that has an on position, which prioritises after an engine start to recharge the start battery then swings on to the domestic pair. This means that the switch does not need to be changed during the trip and more importantly the start battery cannot be flattened by the domestic load. Great £350.00 well spent. Until last week when we slept onboard and found out that the auto switching does not work if you let the domestic battery voltage go too low. It charged the start battery but nothing to domestic. The switch does have an manual all battery position that allows normal charging. Good news that we could start the engine, bad news we deep cycled the domestic set again. It sounds like you may have similar switching , so be careful of deep cycling on the domestics. I only had a voltmeter on the instrument cluster that showed start battery volts, I added a second one that now shows volts of the domestic set [£9.00 Amazon and a little bit of wire and work]. Then last week I trickle charged the batteries as slow as possible. Yesterdays trip was good, fingers crossed I have not buggered up two large batteries Charlie

Great lines and must go well with that lump on the Transom Let me guess that it was a quick crossing, but how much fuel? She looks great, have lots of fun with her

Still not told us what the boat and engine package is. That info would help

Hi Andy You may need to give a little more detail of the boat and equipment carried so that we can help you out, but Mikes advice is very solid. What size boat No Engines Nav Equipment onboard safety equipment onboard Tried well maintained and tested Have you the knowledge? Is the boat and engine fit for the journey without a buddy boat The direct line from Jersey to Poole takes you up through the passage between Alderney and France, tides are fierce in those areas, as can be the seas. We do not usually do straight passages, and the fishing adds a lot to the fuel consumption, but it is a long way from Jersey to Poole or the Solent so that has to be one major concern. Bad weather one year on return from Alderney added 50% to the expected time for the crossing and fuel burnt. So much so that one boat ran out in Swanage Bay. Using a more direct line from the North end of the Race to the East end of the Isle of Wight may mean that you could pick up more of the Flood tide to reduce fuel burnt, but it makes that leg a long one if I was going that way I would go into the outer harbour at Cherbourg and top up. Alderney and Cherbourg are currently closed to visitors so adding fuel on route may be a very hard. calling in to a sheltered bay while adding from drums just prior to crossing may need to be added to your passage planning. I have done that passage many times on a training boat, it is not something to take lightly Do not want to be doom and gloom, but my son has just bought a boat that appeared in very good nick but has some gremlins with the engine and fuel system that were not expected. Fine in Swanage Bay, not good in the Alderney race or mid channel. Plan well and stay safe Charlie

This summer our son Sam decided that it was time to bite the bullet and purchase his own boat. Last Friday saw him and Eileen drove all the way up North to view a very good candidate, they viewed it, liked what they saw and bought her This week he is like a kid waiting for Christmas, arranging a few things ready for her delivery ASAP Well done Sam, something that you have wanted to do since you were a little boy. We know that you Eileen Jayden and Jack will have some fun days on her. Cannot wait to get together in the bay and beyond.

they were emulators Jim

Good point terry When we want to get a big one onboard in nice weather we soak the deck with sea water first to cool it down. same afterwards to clean up before the blood and slime cooks on

Try this one Colin Nice to see you and Bobbi out there yesterday teaching your Nephew how to fish

Hi Ray It depends what you have onboard that has to stay live overnight Fridges heaters etc draw a lot of power, but bilge pumps and fresh water systems on auto do not Overnight I only really need the GPS for an anchor alarm and an anchor light [ I keep meaning to change that lamp to an LED]

Thanks Adam Very wise words from a lot of experience on the boat, in the field and in the kitchen.. Over the years we too have learned, especially from having Will onboard, an executive chef with 40 years experience of food handling. Which boxes to take pretty much depends on how long we go for, as we have a variety. I have a large Igloo 6 day one but it takes organising to transport it to the boat and takes an awful lot of ice, so it really only goes on multi day trips in the summer. We have a slightly different regime, 1. We knock them on the head, cut the gills with scissors and put them into sea water to bleed out, we have found that by using the live bait tank and pumped water it keeps them cool and the water clean. 2. At various times through they day they get gutted and heads cut off, all goes overboard. This is to save doing it at home , makes the fish easier to fit into smaller coolers and what is the point of keeping the heads cold. 3. put them on Ice in a cool box, keeping the lid closed as much as possible through the trip, and draining the box of excess melt water. After getting home the fish are left in the box if the ice is good or transferred to my garage fridge. Will's advice is to let them settle before filleting, so we no longer fillet onboard. Its much easier and you get a better job when its done at home.

went to the boat show with a mate who wanted to buy a new Lochin 33 [Not Cheap but in budget] They were not at the show so he was looking at an alternative, he was in his scruffs to give the boat a good looking over and the idiot salesman kept telling him off for opening lockers and asking questions. Last words from a well known ex Member were F### this as he stomped off up the jetty. In the words in a famous movie "Big Mistake"

Great report Thanks Jim I think that is a bit of a standing joke about triggers by the pier Charlie

Surprised XP Rigging could not do it, but perhaps they are overbooked. You may need to check with Pete at Quay West, he is on his own at the Chandlers at the moment.

Glad a rigger could help sort you out Steve