AHoy

Thanks for the advice. Looks like I could be sorted then with a couple of Penn reels (535GS and 320LD), although the 320LD is a bit over my budget. I need to kit out for 4 rods in use and I already have a Shimano TLD15 and ABU 7000BG. Maybe something lighter for the small rod later. Now to go in search of the best deals.

Tom, Like this: Penn 535GS For heavy shore fishing and uptiding. Fast retrieve and large line capacity make the GS535 a reel workhorse which is ideal for rough ground work and uptiding Graphite construction, alloy spool, 4 ball bearings, 6:1 retreive, centrifugal brakes and capacity of 400yds of 15lb mono I just happened to be on the Veals/Penn webpage when you posted

To celebrate entering my second year of angling (and to boost my confidence ) I have started to move on from my borrowed/well-used kit and started acquiring some better tackle. I now have a reasonable range of rods but need some reels to add to the couple I already have, so any recommendations to suit: 1) ABU Conolon 4-10oz uptider 2) Ugly Stick Gold 8-12lb class 3) Shimano Speedmaster 12-20lb class I would also look at an uptider/reel combo deal if anyone can recommend a good offer as family interest in fishing is developing so might need the additional rod. As usual looking at all the web offers doesn't help without knowledge of what is good and what is rubbish kit. Advice welcome Alan.

I hope you are joking? As you highlight you are going to create a huge blind spot doing this. Whilst you may not be able to avoid a support post a few feet away I wouldn't want a reflector anywhere on the same horizontal plane (or working plane) as the radome. Unfortunately not joking. It is "highly desirable" to keep a radar reflector completely out of the transmitting aerial near field but with the constraints of a small boat this is not always practicable. IF the scanner and reflector cannot be positioned vertically with respect to each other then the maximum practicable horizontal separation is the next best option, a couple of feet up or down isn't going to make much difference in this case. The further apart the less the shadow and the lower the amount of transmitted power squirted straight back into the receiver (if the reflector has significant nulls one of the nulls could be aligned with the scanner for a bit of benefit). For peace of mind the reflector should be permanently mounted, not deployed just when conditions seem a bit iffy, but I for one don't fancy the mechanics of mounting a 5Kg reflector at the top of a long pole and having to lower it every time I want to go under Poole Bridge My temporary solution since fitting the radar is a lightweight reflector on a removable pole within the scanner swept area - I'll practice what I preach when better reflector options come on the market Most raggies use a very substantial metal pole (aka the mast) to mount their scanners on and consequently suffer large angles of radar shadow and reflected energy from it. Their radar reflectors are usually mounted further up the mast above the scanner or swinging in the rigging. I don't think my suggestion will be any worse than this arrangement.

No problem with positioning a radar reflector near a GPS receiver provided it is not so close to the GPS unit as to prevent it seeing large angles of sky. Don't place the radar reflector close to and horizontally in line with a radar scanner if you have one, it will great a shadow area for the radar and could cause problems with the radar receiver. Above the radar scanner is ok or failing that a few feet away horizontally.

Not sure about the fishing but May is early season for tourism in Norway so not too many grockles about, but not all facilities fully open. Weather usually fairly good but still plenty of snow about and not all routes guaranteed open (no problem there if afloat though). May 18th is National Day so expect plenty of celebrations, bands functions and boozing if you are there at that time. Alan.

Had a good day out on Marsel 2 and the first fish over the side since getting the boat, unfortunately the fish wasn't mine, in fact I managed to blank The fish finder gave every impression of operating in a swimming pool as far as underwater activity was concerned! I didn't see a lot of action with landing nets on the other boats around us so I assume it wasn't a busy day for others either. A good shake-down session though as it was the first serious (?) fishing trip with the boat. I will let Clive elaborate on the fact that he caught at least one fish, I don't want to steal his glory Alan.

Booking in Marsel 2 with crew of Alan Hocking and Clive Tyler both fishing the comp. Alan.

The response does seem completely out of proportion to the incident, surely an ILB and shore team would have been sufficient to ensure the safety of the yacht crew. I can understand the RNLI taking a boat in tow under other circumstances, but in this case the yacht could have been recovered by a local commercial organisation at far less true cost. On the other hand, if the offshore lifeboat and helicopter were on exercise and locally available, rather than responding to the "emergency", then a bit of extra training resulting in a free tow would be welcome. Was the yacht owned/skippered by "someone of importance" perhaps? AHoy.

Chris, PM sent

Definitely include a water pump impeller (and any tools for changing it).

I'm looking for an outboard motor for my 2.3m inflatable dinghy, HP range 2.5 to 4, preferably with a neutral/fwd gearbox. Any local outlets doing offers at the moment? I would prefer to buy local rather than mail order. AHoy.

My seaweed says offshore it will be F4 to F5 NW, decreasing to F3 to F4. Some showers. Bit too far ahead to be very accurate though. A.

I wondered what others thoughts would be on this? This consideration came up as my chartplotter data needs updating, cost about

Thanks guys - both of the above made I snigger No mean achievement for a dry old bu**er like me, just what I needed to close off a dull day.

jack, Wightlink take Tesco vouchers, you could always do a bit of trolling between Lymington and Yarmouth.

This has got me considering diesel for cooking as well as heating though. No gas bottle and system plus "considerably" more diesel consumed for domestic use

Mark, No drum on this windlass it only has a gypsy. The chain and rope use the same feed and run through seamlessly (in theory at least) into the chain locker. Alan.

Tom/anyone, I have checked out the windlass on my boat and it is a Lofrans Airon ftted with an 8mm chain gypsy, however, the Lofrans manual states that this is a chain gypsy only not dual use chain/warp. Further, the agents confirm this and say there is no dual use gypsy available for it. Before I go ahead and buy some more anchor warp can anyone confirm that this gypsy will actually pull warp under load? The Jeanneau dealers who supplied the boat say it will work with warp and Jeanneau supply a short length of 14mm (?) warp with the anchor kit, but I have not tested this under recovery load. Weird that the control units for the windlass are badged as Quick units, and Quick gypsys are sold for dual chain/warp use. What is the relationship between Lofrans and Quick, I thought they were independent. A.

As I had some time off work on Wednesday (coinciding with that sunny calm weather ) I decided to take the boat out and also take the opportunity of calling in on Charlie for some first-hand advice on anchor rigging. I was able to take a good look at the set-up on Alfresco, a superb example of a purpose built angling boat, and discuss with Charlie the options on Marsel 2. As the MF805 is intended primarily as a family cruising boat, with some capability for fishing, the obvious differences are a (much) reduced cockpit space and deck fittings only intended for "ordinary" anchor work and mooring. However, we were able to come up with some alternative anchoring possibilities for me to work on. My thanks to Charlie for his time. I then went outside the harbour for a while to play with my anchors and took the opportunity of having a late lunch "on the hook" in Studland Bay - very relaxing I do have to work some of this weekend to make up the time, a fair trade especially as the weather forecast doesn't look so inviting, but I might still get the chance to practice my warp to chain splicing - A.

Graham, I don't think I ever tried anchoring the 640 in any large tides like the ones we have just had - only "ordinary" springs for me. Looks you checked out the holding ability properly Seems like you weren't the only one finding the limits. A.

If anyone has 100m + of 12mm or 14mm 3 strand or multiplait warp (suitable for anchor rode) they want to dispose of I could well be interested Alternatively - I may have half a reel to sell later. Alan.

Graham, The lighter (5Kg) Bruce anchor and 6mm chain I had on the QS640 always held ok for me with just short of 100m of 12mm warp, so your new setup should be fine. A.

Thanks all for the suggestions. The MF805 doesn