Afishionado

Am I right in thinking that the ends you are talking about start at the return of the hull into the transom. Some way into the transom ? If you remember Martins post about Cherries chandlery in Moredown, well you should be able to get U section end caps in Stainless off them. Or just get a length od stainless sheet and cut two straps to length (I have some sheet here) Any way what some do is to use wood laths sandwiching the rubber and clamped in place with G cramps when starting the job off. This holds the U section in place at the transom on each side. Mad Mike PS don't worry about the boiling water, That's only needed in the depths of winter.

Hi guys ....... Salar? A sailor that can't spell or a salmon? And as for Yeti! A very hairy guy?? Or a sometimes folk singer??? I got a bran new Evinrude Ha you got a boat to use Yes It could become a hit I s'pose Mad Mike

Any waterproof wheel bearing grease will do. If you want to be real posh and can source it then silicone grease as used in the food industry for thier machinery is El cajones del Perros. Most boat shops Halfords The little shop at Cobbs Quay Mad Mike

Terry is right that's the way to do it, wooden laths as leavers are a help as are some V shaped wedges to open up the U shape of the fendering as it comes into contact with the hull/topside lip. It helps to keep the rubber dry but lubricate the lip, that way your grip on the rubber is still firm yet it will slip on to the lip easily. On a hot day like today the rubber section will be easily pliable and it might pay to do a measurement of the exact length required less a bit to keep the tension in the U section. The exact length can be assertained by measuring by using a tight string around the the run of the rubber U section. Mad Mike

So what's wrong with it Gernash? Mad Mike

At least you don't have 6hr hardening times like in the winter Charlie. Mind you unless you add a drop of retardent I bet you have to work quick, but at least you can laminate up 4 or 5 layers in a day no problem. Mad Mike

Quote....mounted on a moulded block of plasticine Really? I knever knew that, but thinking about it there is no reason that it shouldn't work and work well. A good tip Mad Mike

Too modest Tom! There are a lot of people ( not here) that wouldn't even consider using a demo craft as the could see no gain in it for them. The point of our praise is that you put the needs of others as paramount , without thought of personal or business advantage. Mad Mike

for a baseball bat Tom if you need I could lend you one, an origional one as used by The New York Yankees back in the 80's Mad Mike PS re: To be honest, I could fit a transducer with my eyes closed...oh yeah that is the same as "Pin the 'ducer on a Shetland"! Having seen the way some transducers are fitted I would guess that you've fitted a few with your eyes closed

HIT ME! said the masochist No said the sadist Mad Mike

Ahhhhh I hadn't been following this thread so I couldn't warn you. Yes as you discovered the white poly foam used for packing/insulation etc is disolvable by most paints and thinners except for Epoxy resin and epoxy paint or water based emulsion or eggshell. To make the float with a center hole make a silhouette of the float out of 1/8th thick modelers plywood and cut it in half lengthways with a wide cut of about 1/8" glue this to a half side of the polyfoam with Araldite or Cascamite (both inert with polyfoam) with the 1/8th gap in the middle. Lay a tube/drinking straw in the gap and glue the other half of the polyfoam over this and wait for it to dry. Finish the shape by sanding by hand. When finished paint with several coats of bathroom quality emulsion paint or if your lucky enough to see a boat being painted with 2 x pack epoxy go and borrow a brushfull. Mad Mike

Give the man a coconut! Mad Mike

Well done Capt, and why aren't you wearing your Pugwash T shirt hmmmn Mad Mike

I think it is to do with the rotation put into the fluid (G/B oil) by the vertical drive shaft and the pinion. It can rotate the prop but with only a weak sort of hydrolic action. If the prop had to overcome any force (6 year olds fingers for example) it would stop rotating. Find a snot nosed whining brat and try out the hypothesis Mad Mike

Adam and Terry are getting into the famous argument involving the physical properties of materials If a material expands when it is warmed what is the effect of heating a torus of that material? Does the 'hole' in the center of the torus expand (get bigger) or does the actual hole get smaller because tha material of the torus has expanded. Back to back guys, walk 10 paces each turn and fire! Mad Mike

Echo all of the above PARTICULARLY the 5deg forward inclination. this ensures that there are no little air bubbles caught up in the vortex of a wrongly inclined transducer. Secondly remember that the transducer needs to be fixed horizontaly to the WATERLINE and not follow the angle of the slight V at the rear of your boat. If you follow the hull line the transducer will 'look' at that angle and in say 60ft of water what you see on the sounder screen will be about 10ft to one side of you. Help here too if you want it and I also have plenty of teak offcuts and a home workshop to cut a 5deg wedge for you in about 2 minutes or 3 min' if you want it varnished as well Oh and t'other thing use a silicone sealant to bed it down on. Mad Mike

Nice one Tom. A wonderful gesture given spontaneously. Well done Mad Mike PS The funeral thingy is nowt to do with me but I admire open hearted generousity

As with many things .........Size doesn't matter, it's what you do with it Having had quite a few boats in my time ranging from 25ft MFV to a 12ft well dented aluminium dinghy with a 7.5 hp Mercury, I am certain that the smaller boat has by far the highest pleasure per

Does anyone have access to a hyab?? Nip down to your local Travelers encampment and ask them.......... They can lift anything using a white Transit, 3 men, and a lurcher Mad Mike

Charlie, there is an ancient trick that often works but I don't know why it works when other methods do not. Two people, one hold the upper portion with their right hand and the lower portion with their left. The second person stands directly in front of the first facing him and mirrors the grip of the first person so that he ends up with his right hand on the upper section and his left hand on the lower. Now each person gently twists one way with one hand and t'other way with the other hand and at the same time pulls the spigot apart. This trick has worked for me for over 50 years, it sounds far more complicated written down than it actualy is in use. Mad Mike

Keep that up young fellah me lad and soon you'll know the colour of adrenalin Mad Mike

We went on a family picnic day today. Had a jolly cruise round the pretty bits of Poole harbour, a swim at Studland and a laze on a lovely little beach I know that one can only get to by boat (somewhere in Dorset ) Any road up....... Apparantly, from personal observation, all speed restrictions have been lifted by the Harbourmaster. There were PWC's by the hundred whizzing about at 20kts+ complete with dad and kids (only one life jacket on the dad), flying Fletchers flaunting fearless driving at 40kts, crass cruisers with 6ft cresting wash at 15kt's, all mixed in with plastic balloon dodgy dinghys with one paddle in the middle of the Haven and crazy canoeists cavorting constantly around the chain ferry. The crowning point of the day was when we came up alongside a stationary HUGE Grand Banks sorta thing, fly bridge the lot, obviously brand spanking new and lying right across Blood Ally Lake; Anyway the skipper flagged us down and asked........................................... " Which side of these posts should I go mate?" I asked what his draft was and he didn't know, so guessing it was at least 4ft I sugested he very gently turned round and used the main channel as Blood Ally was not a good place to be only 1 hr after low water. Any way I'm sure you know that there are speed limits in Poole but today it was like water born stock car racing wit teenage Hoddies at the wheel. Mad Mike

Alan, not trying to teach granny to suck eggs but surely if you have no boat to part exchange the seller will give you a substantial discount. Therfore if the discount PLUS the private sale price of your outfit is over

I only have one eye and sometimes wear an eye patch to stop the wind making the socket water. Now let me see.............. One leg, one eye patch, found in and around boats. One of us should have a bloody parrot? I would love to offer but I too need an able bodied fishing buddy to launch and retrieve (Spinal probs) and the boat is a bit small for three, however I am sure you will get offers to crew because I have rarely come across such a generous and sharing bunch of blokes as in this club. Mad Mike

Well we went out and a look to see what it was like. Sailing boats all had reefs in and were leaning hardso we decided to fish the harbour. Whilst wallowing on the edge of the Swash by Shell bay I decided to tackle up before we went back in to the first drift down Brownsea roads. Mark my co owner asked if I minded him dropping a worm down whilst I tied knots and swallowed swivles. "Go for it mate but I don't think there's a lot here we're a bit close in to the shore". Two minutes later his rod bucked over and his reel screeched as about 50 yds of line was stripped of and he was into a hard fighting fish. It turned out to be a beautiful bass about 6lb which was admired and put back. Although we tried several more drifts nothing else came from there. We beetled off to drift round Brownsea and had several more checker sized fish and wrass. When the tide slackened we anchored up over a patch I have caught on before and had a succession of huge wrass (3 to 5lb) and a bloody good bream of about 2.5lb and some smaller stripy black bream. All on