Afishionado

Well done it's great when everything comes together and your rewarded by a splendid fish Mad Mike

I think when faced with a large expance of 'wild blue yonder' many helmsmen seem to want some thing to aim at. We all know that the gin palaces truckers and weekend yachties are not that skilled or for that matter conscious of other water users and I think they see an anchored boat as just another waypoint or handy bouy to use as a referance. Rather than wait passively to see if they have noticed me I am quite happy to give 'em a blast wiv me hooter. Well it certainly makes me feel better any road up Mad Mike

Weather forcast is for 60mph SW tomorrow (Wednesday). Any one for a trip out?..............................Any one? Mad Mike

Were you on your own or was Helen with you? It all sounds a bit scary. Have you got one of those air canister hooter thingies? They work quite well at expresing ones feelings!! Mad Mike

S/S band needs to be #316 grade S/S it is easy enough to drill and counter sink with sharp drills and a pillar drill. Fixing with srews and sickoflex would be the way to go BUT the pilot holes and screws MUST be of the matching size to avoid pressure stress on the GRP caused by small pilot holes and too biger screws. The S/S is easy to pre-bend ofer a rough former prior to fitting. There is a company on one of the Verwood trading estates called Ferraris (they are in the book) who sell all sorts of non-ferrous metals and are not expensive. For short lengths of keel or bilge strips one can also buy galvanised 'Water Bar' from a builders merchant. This stuff is about 3/16th thick and heavily galvanised. Mad Mike

Yes it can chop up a bit coming through the haven??????????!!!!!!!!!!! Wow and double wow!! Mad Mike

Hi Jon, welcome and dive in Mad Mike

And you call me nuts!!!! Mad Mike

To find the maximum speed of a displacement hull .......... Multiply the square root of the waterline length in feet by 1.5......... eg Waterline length 16ft. Sq root is 4. Multiply by 1.5 = maximum hull speed. Which in this case will be 6 knts. A totally flat hull is a planing hull. but it will slam into waves and skid in turns. So to give a flat hull some 'bite' and lessent the slaming the flat shape was developed into two flats joining as a shallow V shape. This is a compramise between stability at rest and efficiency at speed. Take the V form a bit futher and one gets a Deep V hull which given enough power slices through the water beautifully but wallows from side to side like a pregnant sow when at anchor. For comfort and stability go for Displacement.....But they are slow For a bit of speed but retaining stability go for a moderate V hull For speed and manouverability on the go then a deep V is the thing.......But it is uncomfortable at anchor and on the drift. Mad Mike

(Ive been signed off sick for a week due to laringitus!?) Hu, that's easy for you to say!!......... Seriously my sympathies mate it can be very painfull and watch out for secondary infections which can be worse than the sore throat. I know its a bore but taking it easy at home might be the best thing for you. Mad Mike

Being an old bloke I remeber the days (Durin' the woar etc) before all this electromatrix HRT PMT BSC LCD stuff , and at the risk of sounding snooty (which of course I am being ) we managed then. The answer in my honest opinion is the Mk 1 eyeball and experiance based on observation. Ones night vision is far better than you might believe and on most summer nights there is sufficient light to see pretty clearly what is in front. However any light shone out from your boat will instantly destroy your night vision making you think that the light is needed. Observe on your way out in daylight, transit bearings that will show up in silhouette against the back lit shore on the way back. Street lights, carpark lights, gaps in hedges, prominant trees, all show up well at night. Eventually after consciously practicing these old ways they become instinct and a feel for where you are, And that is what I think the charter skippers have. I bet that they don't even have the GPS on as they approach the harbour as the glow would harm their night vision. Not a boast but to proove the point. I know I can navigate round Poole harbour including South Deep and Arne at night with nowt but me one eye. but then I've been doing it off and on for 30 years. However the skills needed do not take anything like thirty years to learn, I reckon a couple of weeks and a bit of using ones brain . Mad Mike

I would love to crew for someone if they have a spare seat. Mad Mike

Moi? Jelous? Why would I be jelous of someone out at the weekend catching splendid fish from a sparkling sea whilst I tended a spotty irratble woman with insessant demands for tea and buns whilst she sat bog eyed infront of the telly watching Big Brother for 48 hrs. JELOUS?? OF COURSE I BLOODY AM!!! Mad (yes really mad) Mike

Don't worry mate.........He who last laughlastlast last laughs longer laughter Mike

I wonder how that dude who was going out on his mates boat for his first time sea fishing afloat did?? If he followed our advice and did great, aren't we clever!! If he did bad........... well it were his own fault Mike

What a neat site. Yes your sugestion is exactly what I would do. And thanks for the site info' too. Mad Mike

Blue tack? On Afishionado I've got a sorta S/S socket fixed to the cabin roof and a short S/S mast that slots into it. I had some trouble at first with the mast dropping out but then some one told me the socket should be on the outside of the cabin pointing up Seriously though the reflector shoul be fitted in what they call 'catching rain' position. Apparantly if it is mounted in what looks the obvious and easiest way it is a very poor reflector, but if mounted so that the top section would collect rain it is 100% more efficient. One could fabricate a nice hardwood socket and a length of S/S pipe to fit it. To secure whilst in use a simple 'R' clip through the base and mast. If you want to go that way I've got some lumps of teak and you can have one of them to shape up or I could do it for you in the shop. Mad Mike

Paul please let me know where and when for Sunday and anything else you might want me to bring. Good luck for you and the family tomorrow and do have a smashing time. Mad Mike

They call 'em 'gang hooks' and I've seen them used on those Australian fishing prog's on Discovery. They use them to bait up with a sardine/sprat like fish. The hook set up looks easy enough to copy and I thought one day I might give it a try to see what happened. Mad Mike

As a matter of interest how does a 2 hook pennel set up rate? I mean it's just ONE bait presented. It's nothing like a 2 trace paternoster rig. Logic would dictate that a 2 hook pennel counts as one hooked bait? Also factor in a 3 hook 'gang hook' where the bend of the second and third hooks go through the eye of the one below?? Mad Mike

Meeeowwwwww! Mad mike

Look at http://www.planet-stuff.freeserve.co.uk/St.../Wind_Speed.htm This will show you The Beafort Scale it is used to measure/discribe wind speed. Force 5 is a very definate NO NO for small boats. Force 4 is not comfortable at all But if the wind is off the land you will find the actual wind speed is less within 1/2 a mile of the shore. Also wind WITH the current smooths the waves but wind AGAINST the current makes them REALLY bad One thing that most folk do not understand in relation to wind speed is the relation ship of the wind speed to the pressure that the wind exerts on an objct. Very basicly if wind speed increases by a half the pressure it exerts quadruples. So a 9mph wind will feel TWICE as strong a 6mpn wind, and an 18mph wind will make the sea really cut up . I accept that the maths might be wrong but it's the principal I am trying to explain Another handy bit of sea law is that 'The wind almost always dies right down about an hour before and after sunset in the summer months' Mad Mike

No problem boss. It's a skill I learnt when I was ringing stolen cars but don't tell anyone else will you......... Mad Mike