Afishionado

No Mrs Brown, it was leaver back for reverse and only a LITTLE throttle. OR You mean the end of the anchor string should have been tied to the boat then? Mad Mike

I thought we all knew the affect of air pressure on tide flow and hight, it's been mentioned a few times. If not, is there a subject here for a bit of a teach in one Thursday. The other thing I've mentioned a few times is that there is nothing in the tables to say they are going to be 100% accurate, in fact they are called Tidal Predictions rather than certainties. Going out from a port (Poole) that has water all the time makes one a bit blase, I remember the short time I lived on Hayling Island I couldn't get used to the normal cycle of tides and was caught out several times. Mad Mike

Intimate contact see Always remember when intimate contact causes a problem bring your nuts back a bit Mad Mike

Quote..I think our problem is that we dont have any type of retaining device to keep the warp in place That's the source of your problem Jack. IMO you must have some method of stopping the rope jumping out (as it will do) of the stem head roller. A simple S/S strap bent into a U and fastened using the stem roller through bolt is what I use. Mad Mike

A game warden finds a man at a popular trout fishing spot with two dozen trout swimming in a bucket. "That's way over the limit," he says. "You're under arrest." "But officer, please," the man says, "these are my pet fish from home. I just bring them down here to let them swim free once a week. When I whistle, they all come b ack and get into the bucket to go home." "I don't believe it," says the warden. "Show me." The man promptly dumps the trout into the stream and gazes after them as they swim away. After a minute, the warden says, "OK, how long?" "How long what?" says the man. "How long till you call the fish back?" "What fish?" Mad Mike

What d'ya mean there's no reverse!

Jack, assuming you fasten the main Anchor line to the bottom of the anchor and connect the chain to the anchors top ring by a weak link, how thick are you making this weak link? I can't understand how you have had so many problems lifting the hook if you are setting up the anchor correctly. Lifting the hook should be a doddle and be dead easy, just a slight tug on the bouyed line usualy lifts an unjammed anchor and a strong steady pull to break the trip line and invert the anchor works on one jambed under summat. Give me a PM if you want and I can pop round and have a look. Mad Mike

Go back to sleep were still on autopilot.

Hardly ever if at all Kam. If one were able to look at the sine wave you would see that it would have to go through an almost infinite number of cycles before the harmonics fell into a sequence that would cause further vibration. The point I am making is find out if some simple movement of objects or slight packing between touching components will stop the vibration before throwing money at it. Mad Mike

The sympathetic resonance that Bob mentioned is well worth looking into. Syn Res happens as he says when the natural frequency of an object is almost the same as an intimate second object. What happens it that object A vibrates at the top end of a sine wave and object B just after the the top of the sine wave thus accelerating the vibration. To cure it may be simple. As an example if one took a 12 " ruler and held it tight to a desk with an end sticking out, then placed any recipricating or revolving motor hard on the desk, by moving the ruler in or out one could find the vibration frequency that made the ruler vibrate the most in sympathy to the motor . Move the ruler in or out and the vibration stops. So try making the vibration happen and whilst it is move the fuel tank somewhere else, move the battery, look at the engine cowling is that vibrating hard, could a small piece of packing stop the frequencies getting in sync, etc. It's worth a try before you do anything expensive. Mad Mike

A good caution indeed. And I am sorry about the thumb. Try holding it on ice (frozen peas inna bag) and then in hot water, keep alternating. This brings out the bruise and relieves muscle spasm. Back to the caution, I always say 'If something could happen it will' . Just as chefs NEVER try to catch a falling knife but jump back out of the way, I never get my hand or fingers UNDER a rope if I can help it. Pull from the outer side not push from the inside. Mad Mike

Reminds me of that bit at the very end of the original Italian Job. You know when they are all at the front of the coach and the gold is at the back, hanging over the precipice. OK NOW NO BODY MOVE ALRIGHT! Mad Mike PS so what's the full story? Not that I am laughing mind

One should always attempt to keep ones flies dry. Unfortunatly in life one comes across the odd drip. 'honi soit qui mal y pense' Mad Mike

Years ago the old time fishermen who fished with hemp long lines and cat gut traces for flounders would talk about flounders 'going down' (stop sniggering in the cheap seats! ) and conversly 'coming up'. The first frosts were supposed to send them down. Therefore after the first frosts one fished for them hard on the bottom. That is untill they 'came up' when the water warmed up again in the spring. At this time they switched to trotting a baited spoon about a foot off the bottom. At the end of each trot the spoon was slowly retrieved. I wonder if with our base water temperatures being higher than say 50 years ago if the founders feeding habits have changed. I don't know how people fished for them recently but I wonder if the baited spoon would be more affective these winter days as the water is definitely warmer at this time of year than it used to be. Mad Mike

I know this for a fact. If you knock up your own grapnel using re-bar and gobs of arc weld, equip it with a mis-shapen loop welded on off center. The sort of thing that looks like medievil knights used to scale castle walls, and if fellow anglers see it they gasp 'wassat'? with disgust on there face. Well that anchor will be the finest rock and wreck anchor ever and you will never be able to loose it. Even after years of welding experiance and toolmanship have passed by and you can now make a state of the art stainless steel self tripping fully folding adjustable fluke angle beauty of an anchor, the ugly old rusting pile of crap will still be there. No matter where you drop it down, under and round power cables, knotted round the chain of the ferry, one little tug and up the little ba***rd comes smiling that 'You can't get rid of me buddy' look as it surfaces in a red cloud of rust scale. Mad Mike PS if any one wants this inistructable anchor they can have it free.

You gets to a certain age Jack and they just don' wanna know. Treat us like bloody children seen but not heard eh? Then if they do bloody remember it's the public bar for a small milk stout and get that downya quick cos' the footies on at 7.30. And tell em you wanna pee and they goes beserk. Wot!! You went before we left for krisake, I'm not stoppin' you'll just 'ave to holdit!! Mad Mike

Oh dear I thought all my comments about junk and wreakage on the bottom all around the southern entrance was enough, I didn't want to labour the point and say DON'T ANCHOR. Not only the Southern entrance but also at the edges of the middle one too. If you need to anchor instead of drifting make a grapnel out of 1/4" or slightly less re-bar or rod, the hook that is snared will straighten out with a bit of a pull and you can re bend it by hand. Even so I would set it to a light trip so that it will break out either way. If the paddle out is not too much I reckon you could have a load of fun out there in the summer months the Hood and the Middle Ship entrance are usually seething with fish. Mad Mike

Crazed angler last seen franticly paddling North in a speeding kayak heading South towards mid channel. Cries for help go unheeded as the passengers in a charter boat collaps laughing. Mad Mike

Ooow Err Bob, you could be talking big money to get a yard or a professional to look at it, upwards of

quote...Is there a strong tide pull through the entrances?? Nothing like Poole or Christchurch but there is a distinct current at times. Nothing you couldn't handle. I remember a brilliant spring day there once when although the skies were clear it was blowing a mad hoolie. Setting out was a bit bumpy but as we closed on the wall flat calm prevailed. We could hear huge waves crashing onto the outer side and from time to time spray pattered over us. But in the shelter it was warm and calm and we had great fun with light tackle catching pollock, wrass, and the first mackerel of the season. Mad Mike

Yes I have, and it's good fun too. BUT you have to pay Portland harbour dues. If not where and when you launch but a man in a boat comes out and asks you for your daily fee. Any way the fishing...... Looking out towards the wall from the causway there are three entrances. The far right one has the wreck of an old battleship acting as a block just to seaward. The bottom is full of junk and rocks. this area will yield wrass, pollock pout etc. The middle entrance brilliant pollock fishing if they are there. Drift in the current (in or out) near the Castle on the right hand wall. Fish with worm and keep the bait moving down to the bottom and slowly up. The bites are vicious and the fight like mad. The bottom is littered with rocks and wreckage so expect to loos some tackle. There is also an area around a big concrete section of Mulberry Harbour left over from the war. This is on the right hand side of Portland Harbour on the Isle of Portland side about half way to the wall. Mad Mike PS the wall is further than it looks from the causway

Paul tells us ..I did try using phpBB with the data from our forum but it is not as flexible as Invision. Yeah I knew that! Mad Mike