Afishionado

Left Cobbs at 10am and puttered down to the quay. I must say my idea of 6 knts seems to be about 6knts sloer than the bozozs creaming out from the boat stacking yard. Any way being freshly 63 and believing that one may pass over many fish on the way to fish an empty bit of sea 10 miles away (translated this means tha I find petrol bldy expensive) we decided to try a few spots in the harbour where Alec the bait guy had sugested for early autumn flat fish. We fished very light with long flowing traces and let the bait slowly lift back from the boat into the hopefully fishy area. Flatfish there were none but bass were there aplenty. We caught and returned about 20 fish all in the 2 to 3lb range which provided brilliant sport on our ultra light freshwater spinning tackle. All were caught using harbour rag and sometimes tipped with slipper limpet after we caught a couple of clumps off the bottom. Weather was great and just the right amount of shelter from the land to provide a cool breeze. We saw several yellow and red pennants to which we genuflected in the time honoured manned, and Mike Fox in a WA Decadent gin palace. He was waiting for the bridge along with about 2000 other gin palaces all of whome (except Mike of course) gave us glaring looks as we threaded our way through the throng to slide effortlessly under the closed bridge. Sometimes Small and Beautifull is best Mqad Mike

Have a look at ' Stainlessdirect on Ebay. Item # 140027032988 for example. I have used this guy a lot and found him first class. Simple stem head ? I fabricated myself one out of S/S scrap and a few S/S arc rods for about

Automotove wiring is perfect but all connections 'should' be soldered as the spade type often get poor contact through salt air corrosion. For battery advice and connection I'll leave that to others, but IMO a good car type battery will serve as an outboards electrical power source. Mad Mike

Happy birthday dude. Mad Mike

We'll be launching at Cobbs at about 10am (none of this 'sparrows fart' for me) and going ???????????????? dunno yet, but I am open to suggestions. More than likely westward towards Whithouse Grounds I guess. Mark and I would be delighted to lend loads of redundant advice, and barely concealed mirth at others misfortune when launching and recovering. (We will have done our launch quietly to one side whilst no one else is looking!) But then again if you are that desparate we would deem it an honour to share our meager know how. The boats name is Pride of Morpork and if you still want company call me on 01202 570555.. Mad Mike

Thank you guys I feel touched Or maybe it's you lot that thinks I'm touched Mad Mike

OK ....here we go......... First off Anti foul This is Berl00dy expensive and a total waste of time for a boat used from a trailer. Once applied most anti-fouls have a limited life in the air and therefore the boat needs placing on a mooring within a few days to a week or two depending on the type. Cosmetic painting......... One can go the whole hog and use a two part epoxy system. The total cost will be quite high which beggars the question of value for money on a small boat. What I would recommend........ International paints 'Toplac' paints and undercoat. They are easy to use and have a great hard finish. International publish several painting guides and total useage (how much paint you'll need) tables. To prime or not to prime........ A priming coat of a special liquit which helps paint adhere to (shiny) GRP is often recommended. IMO having reconditioned many boats over the years a primer is not nessesary. The reason is that on an older faded gell coat (that's the shiny finish on top of the glass fiber) one is going to repair more than a few chips and cracks anyway and therefore one will be better off rubbing the whole boat down with a good quality emery paper. Doing this gives a first class mechanical key for future coats of paint.. First ....... Fill in all cracks and chips with Isopon P38 filler, then rub the whole area to be painted down using progressively finer grades of abraisive paper. (I use an electric palm sander). When you are satisfied you have a smooth blemish free surface, wash the boat down with soapy water and rinse it well to remove all dust. When dry go over the area to be painted with a lint free cloth (old bed sheets) dampened in white spirit to remove any grease left on the hull. At this point you are ready to put on the first of two coats of primer followed by at least two coats of gloss. It is VITAL to adhere to the 'overcoating times' which will be on the tin Other bits......... Red needs many coats to build up the paint film so it looks a deep red. If using a dark blue finish add 20% clear varnish to the last coat of paint. Covering a dark colour with a lighter colour needs at least 4 undercoats. Mad Mike

Craftinsure are best by far. One does it all on line and it is good cover too. Also you can pay on monthly installments. Mad Mike

Hi, and welcome. One or two questions before any answers Will you keep the boat afloat or use it from a trailer? Why do you NEED to paint it? or Do you want to give the craft a cosmetic face lift? What does the hull finish look like right now? Are you changing the colour? If so from what to what? See! And you thought owning a boat would be relaxing Mad Mike

Yes please and quite happy to exchange limited quantity of cash too Mad Mike It's Yours Mike, I will be staying at Merley Court Caravan park, or we can meet up some were, let me know your Mobile number and I will call you when I'm down there. Super, thanks. My home phone is 01202 570555. Also any advice required on the areas around Poole/Bournemouth please ask. We get a hUUUUUUUUge property section in our local paper and also in the give away rag. Would you like this weeks posted up to you? If so PM me your address. Mad Mike

Brows ebay for all the electronics. You'll get a good idea of realistic buying prices on the UK sellers. Be very carefull of the sellers posting from China, their feedback is often faked by lots of low cost transactions to give a good impression. Mad Mike

Dom' marriage is a grand institution as long as you realise that your beloved wife will insidiously take over your life. They (all women) do this on the basis that the man they have chosen has a multitude of faults AND THEY ARE GOING TO CHANGE THEM INTO A PERFECT CREATURE . Most men foolishly resist this take over and by doing so add just another fault to the list SHE ALREADY HAS ON YOU!!!! So knowing this, a smart bloke tries to go along with his beloved and allows her to mold him into the perfect husband. At this point she decides that you are no longer interesting and buggers off with the postman Still wanna get married??? Mad Mike

Where were we when you saw us Sam? In the quay area? Mad mike

Strange that you should say that. Both the boys were only averagely interested in fishing, she was the one that was really keen. Mad Mike

October this year is predicted to have the highest (and lowest) tides for centuries. If one of the high's comes with a low air pressure storm surge devistating flooding is expected along the south and east coasts. Well that's nice isn't it? Mad Mike

First time for a few weeks Mark and I had time and a nice weather slot for a trip out on Sunday. The only problems being he had his two kids staying and I had one grandchild staying. So we stoically accepted our fate as tour guides for the day, loaded up with ragworm and took the kid out on the boat. We met Nick Nack on the way out and he told us that Brownsea Roads was full of little bream and not much else, so we thought we would try drifting the patches. Having got there we were fortunate to find plenty of 8oz to 1lb bream so the kids had a great time. Mark also tried his luck but was constantly bombarded with "Daaaaddy, is this a bite" from his 12 year old daughter and after a couple of hours he was feeling a bit ragged. I decided enough was enough and told them 'up lines' and whizzed over to Shell bay, dropped the mini hook and prodded the kids into 3 ft of water to have a play. Mark and I figured that after freezing their whatevers off for 30 min they would be tired enough to take home. But oh no! Thouroughly recharged they wanted to try fishing again; I found a nice bouy just round from the Castle switched off and relaxed. 30 seconds after her weight touched bottom Laura shouted that she had a bite. Rubbish her dad and I said, you've hooked bottom......Straining all of her 12 year old body back against the bend in the rod she was insistant that she had a fish. No no that's the bottom we adults patronised, but slowly 'bottom' moved off uptide stripping line off the reel. A joint BL00DY HELL as we both shouted 'Hang on Laura!' and dived for the landing net. Like a vetran the little bu..Angel brought up the biggest wrass I have seen for a long time. When weighed it went 6lb 8oz + (bouncy boat). All the kids then said 'Thank you for the fishing, can we go home?' so Mark and I hardly wet a line all day Any way is a 6lb 8oz+ Wrass big enough for your book Charlie? Mad Mike

Yes please and quite happy to exchange limited quantity of cash too Mad Mike

There are those amongst us who will remember the days that those were the state of the art; And close examination of the way the LED light flickered one could even tell what the bottom was like (or so they claimed). Mad Mike

Adam, do you intend to leave the boat on a mooring? If so check your insurance small print, you may not be allowed to leave the boat unattended if you have insured it as a trailered boat. This aside why not just anchor up if you want a sleep between sessions. And finaly some time ago whilst night fishing it started to cut up a bit rough and sods law the anchor would not trip and we had to cut the line. So we could wait untill daylight I went into Swanage to shelter and sleep. I just picked up a bouy near the pier and the slip and no one said a word to me in the morning. Mad Mike

Quote..Actually anything with drag Hmm, Paul prancing round his boat wearing drag whilst towing a buquet..... Mad Mike PS I think the plastic gear wheel that acts as the pinion drive in the steering box is the most likely culprit. The gear wheels do fatigue with age and stress on the teeth. I bet several teeth sheared.

Quote........Still pretty impressive that a 4HP made 4 knots all the way with a 5.25m RIB 4 divers and all their kit on board No it's not ! It is the boat that suports the weight not the engine. As a displacement craft in calmish winds and no current a man powered paddle will move the boat, and several paddles in unison would give maybe 4 knts. A few years ago because of a silly marine tax law the French were taxed heavily if they had an engine in a yacht. At that time most French yachts used a long sweep as a scull to propel the boat. A 30 yacht could be moved easily by a bloke and an oar. (in calm waters with slight wind). Surely the point of all this is not how big or small an auxilliary is it is whether the use of one is practical in all but reasonable conditions. I used to carry one (7.5 Mercury) and the only time I have ever had to use an auxilliary was about 25 years ago when the pull cord broke on the main 50 Merc' one night off Ballard. The 7.5 took two and a half hours to push us back to the slip in Holes bay. At the risk of creating a Jonah like jinx; In 50 years of using small boats with single engines I have only used an auxilliary once. Did I NEED to use it? No, I could have stayed put and begged a tow in the morning. Was it convenient to have it? Yes, I fixed the pull cord overnight and was using the boat the next day. Mad Mike

Logic prevails Good decision mate Mad Mike

Once again Duncan and I are in agreement This question of A/ Auxillary or not? or B/ If so how big? has more to it than is obvious at first thought. Can a small auxilliary get you out of big trouble/ bad sea/high wind/strong tide race? NO! it can not to do those jobs the power would certainly need to be 15hp +. Then you would still have the problem of pulling a manual starter, using the throttle (vital in a big sea to prevent a broach) and steering etc. So as Duncan said one would be far far better off with a twin engine set up of 2 X 40hp or whatever. What can a small auxilliary do for you? Basicaly nothing except move you very slowly on a calm sea with little current and hardly any wind. Can you see whare this is going? .......... IMO a small auxilliary is a waste of time on a boat powered by a modern O/B. Modern O/B's are relatively bullet proof but if they fail then one should use a radio or a phone to get help and stick the anchor down and stay put. If the weather is that atrocious then getting a small engine hanging well out over the stern started let alone keeping it going is a bit of a none starter. Mad Mike

Exclusive resort's

Quote.........Or how the diagonal join on the road surface will affect motorcyclists OMG too funny for words.. Wouldn't it be wonderful to see!! Mad Mike