Afishionado

Quote........Certainly not a day to remember for a regular angler, Sounds a bloody brilliant day to me mate! Well done Mind you was it cold? I'm getting too old for this winter stuff. But on the other hand a nice big boat with a cabin, a cooker, and a heater sounds very civilised. Mad Mike

A friend of mine who lives in South Africa is one of the local 'boat examiners' for his area. Primarily any new boat owner has to pass a state exam and be licenced. This licence number is then used as boat ID on his craft. This licence is like our driving licence and is the owners for life. Secondly each craft has to pass an annual inspection and get it's certificate for that year the cost of which includes their equivalent of harbour dues etc. Our requirements for club boats are almost identical to the SA requirements. Their boat registration scheme codes the registration of each series of numbers so the police/coast guard can easily see if the boat is being used out of it's designated coastal/inshore limits. Although many would scream about lack of freedom, IMO something like this is well overdue in the UK. Mad Mike

I believe that the Appeal Courts judgment is vitaly flawed and I understand that the case will be taken to The House of Lords. The flaw in the reasoning is not whether a jet ski is a ship or not but whether, no matter what it is, should it obey the navagation rules set out for behaviour any vessel traveling at sea. Mad Mike

Oh they are so rare I give in to the 'little boy within' and can not resist going Harry Flatters just for the thrill of it. Only a dwindling fuel supply limits my extravagance. Mad Mike

nope - haven't said that, or implied that, anywhere again I have never suggested that there was - my original post started ".....to arrive back at a working definition of cruising speed (as opposed to an actual speed) for most boats" not sure why you are looking for a fight with me - have I upset you in some way? Absolute ruggish! You will note the and the spelling of ruGGish both of which represent a degree of humour in my post. Looking for a fight? My goodness you are being touchy Why would I want to do that? However I do admit that I miss read your post and thought you were being specific about boats in general. I still think it is impossible to sugest a cruising speed for any boat as there are so many variables not the least of which is sea state. This can vary over a very short distance as in making a headland and becoming under the affect of a weather shore, or the change from flood to ebb. Mad Mike

LOL But you forgot that in Britain 93.7% of statistics are made up by .000487% of the population. Mad Mike

Absolute ruggish! Are you sugesting that 14, 21 or even 23 kts are possible with say a displacement hull with say an 18hp 2 cyl diesel? Of course not. There is no such figure as a crusing speed that is applicable to all boats. Cruising speed is and can ONLY be what a helmsman decides on the day, to suit the conditions AND TAKING INTO ACCOUNT WHAT THE BOAT IS CAPABLE OF. The next thing will be someone asking what a comfortable cruising speed is Vs maximum cruising speed Vs top speed. Mad Mike

think goose fat, vaseline, suspenders with long handles My goodness that thought has brought me out all hot and flustered! Talk dirty to me baby! Mad Mike

It depends entirely on the boat in the terms of it's water footprint and whether it is a displacement, semi displacement or planing hull. One also has to factor in waterline length and beam, together with engine delivered HP at the propeller and to some extent engine weight. Cruising speed is dependant on all these things, not to mention the will of the helmsman and what he or she decides is a comfortable speed. Therefore you will see that there is no one speed that can be described as 'cruising speed'. One boat and it's crew may feel that 18kts is 'cruising', this may be the absolute top speed of a similar boat with a smaller engine. This second boat and it's crew may well sugest that 6kts is 'cruising speed'. It would be very foolhardy for any one to say that any particular 'speed' was a 'cruising speed' as there are so many variables that it would be impossible to give an answer for all boats on all occasions. Mad Mike

SWMBO in the stockings What?? Mad mike

A winter time tip.......... FOR many years I've kept my legs warm in winter by wearing ladies' tights beneath my trousers. I've never found it embarrassing, as they make perfectly good - and economical - leg warmers. As a pensioner saving money and staying warm are my priorities. In summer I switch to wearing cooler and more hygienic stockings and suspenders. Mad Mike

No it's the older yellow one.......Sky puss Mad Mike

Your more than welcome to have a look at my Samurai. Just to straighten up what folk are talking about, 'Seahog' is the name of the manufacturer, Samurai is the name of one of their hulls. eg 'Ford' Mondeo = 'Seahog' Samurai. If you are name conscious and feel the need to have a designer named boat go for a Warrior. If you want good honest value and EXACTLY the same performance for about

Great White Eliphant Great White House Great White Hope Great White Man (Bwana!) Grated White of Egg (Scottish one) Great White Sauce (Assuming you will have a cooker?) Mad Mike

What a smashing boat Charlie and Sam. I bet you get hours of fun fitting her out too, I know that I enjoy that part of boat owning very much. It makes the boat more part of you so to speak. Will you be boatless whilst you are fitting out? If so I would be happy for Sam to give me some more Bass fishing tips on ours. Have you thought of a name for her yet? Mad Mike

OMG the meeting! Sorry guys I forgot all about it. Wedge how about PM-ing me so we can arrange to meet for me to collect the net? Mad Mike

1) A young girl who was blown out to sea on a set of inflatable teeth was rescued by a man on an inflatable lobster. A coast guard spokesman commented, "This sort of thing is all too common". (The Times) 2) At the height of the gale, the harbourmaster radioed a coastguard and asked him to estimate the wind speed. He replied he was sorry, but he didn't have a gauge. However, if it was any help, the wind had just blown his Land Rover off the cliff. (Aberdeen Evening Express) Mad Mike

Actualy it's ........http://www.uk-hooks.org/ Mad Mike

Is it a RIBed one?

Wassitallabout!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! The suspenders are killing me I demand to know the whole story dammit!!! Mad Mike

Bob boasts 'bout his big pump! I've got a fairly powerful hand pump at home, so I'll give that a go. The problem with tha hand pump is that it delivers the air too slowly. There will be leakage round where the air delivery hose and the sealing cloth is jambed into the filler. With a slow delivery from a foot or hand pump the air will leak out faster than you can pump it in. But with a high pressure fast delivery from a compressor via a high pressure tank you will always pump in faster than leakage can reduce the pressure. Alternatively seal the tank with it's cap and take it into space. The hard vacuume outside will have a similar affect as H/P air on the inside....... Mad Mike

Take the tank to your local gas station and use the air hose for blowing up tyres. You need to make an air tight seal with a bunch of rags jambed in'thole with the air line in the middle of the rags.. If you go the route of hot water inside the tank you will find that any water left in can be removed by rinsing the can with meths. Meths (alcohol) absorbs the water and makes it an aromatic which will evaporate quickly. Mad Mike

Nice piccy Wedger, I can almost feel the cold creeping out of it I wonder what happened to the forcast 25mph NW wind? I shall be eating my roast leg of lamb, pommes Dauphinouis, and buttered savoy cabbage in my nice warm lounge when they come back in the frigid twighlight, damp and fish slimey........... And they call 'me' Mad Mike Mad Mike

Sam says..you can toe us. Sam this might lead to elongation of the foot or indeed ptomaine poisoning. If this happens you will not be able to drive a car and you will need to arrange a tow. Or indeed throw in the towel altogether. Mad Mike

Glad you spelt the last word correctly, once slip to the right on the 'U' - it could have a whole new connotation otherwise!! Bloody hell is his bath big enough for a dock!? Mad Mike