plaicemat

Trust me, Charlie, it's not difficult, even I can do it. And your son will be well impressed with his Dad,

Wick is a good spot to launch and almost fresh water which means minimal salt damage to the trailer, also the engine gets a flush. However, although the fishing is good Christchurch end, one is limited a bit by the tides.

I normally launch at Wick, Mudeford or Portland so, no problem. I avoid Baiter like the plague. However, when I have, I push the trailer in far enough to float the boat onto it and secure it then use a long rope to tow the trailer out with the car. Rob, its all right for young fellow me lads like you to lightly talk of hand winches, I've used mine for years but, when you get to a certain age, the easy option seems to get more attractive. Using the car to pull the boat onto the trailer is VERY difficult as when the weight of the boat loads onto the rear of the trailer, the front end flies up in the air and you will need a very weighty crew to pull it back down.

Neil, not expensive to join the club. Members always get first choice, obviously.

Sorry for the delay, Mick, I have been busy with visitors for 3 weeks. I had three choices, battery wise. 1) Fixed battery on the trailer 2) hard wire the car with an anderson connector on the back by the towbar 3) a battery box in the boot of the car with the override switch mounted and a length of cable with a male anderson connector leading to the female one mounted on the winch post of the trailer. I discarded the first as sometimes the battery can get swamped (Baiter) and will be inconvenient to charge. The second proved to be a fairly expensive and awkward option and, as I'm thinking of changing the car in the near future, not a viable choice. So, I went for the third option which is proving to be very workable and I just put the battery back in the garage on the solar charger when I return home. If you want any other info, let me know.

I fitted one to my Warrior's trailer recently. Makes a big difference.

However Steve, as Steve Porter pointed out, they're not resident on the banks only pitching up to feed. So, if there's nothing feeding it probably means they're not there. All good imput though.

Deteriorating by the hour. Bugger!

Go to sign in at the top right of the page.

when are you thinking of or are you another member of the old gits club who can go any time?

Have a great day young'uns.

Thought we were going on the 4th.

Done.

Done.

Missed this on the 10th, hope you had a great day, Jim.

Thanks Mal but way ahead of you, spoke to him today. He is also going out Friday so I may be lurking near Mudeford quay.

Friday looks like being a very good day so I shall be out on the water departing from Christchurch. If anyone fancies joining me, let me know. I shall mostly be targeting plaice but bream could be on the menu also.

A Very Happy Birthday Mr. Chairman.

Should have been a bit more specific. If the met is steady, I'll be heading for some lumps.

Looking at Weds, Thurs from Portland, fingers crossed.

Ahead of you, I have a fairly large panel running through a 3 way regulator to keep both batteries on the boat topped up plus the new one. The only trouble is that in inclement weather, the regulator uses more power from the batteries than it is putting in. It is just starting to show a profit.

Good question, Rob. I had three choices, 1) Mount a battery box on the chassis of the trailer, 2) Hard wire the car to an Anderson connector at the rear of the vehicle 3) Make up a battery box complete with the control box of the winch and accompanying leads fitted with Anderson connector. With the first, I am sure with the trailer parked in Christchurch or indeed any other car park, the battery would not be present for very long. The second option would be a good one but is fairly expensive to set up and when I change the car would have to be done again. The 3rd option, which I chose and carry in the boot of the car works well and during 'down' time, the battery is connected to a solar charger to keep it topped up. The winch is wired to an Anderson connector which is secured on the upright post that supports the hand winch so it is a simple job to just open the boot and connect. The winch has both a fixed switch and wireless hand sets for operation. I have left the hand winch in place, just in case!.

Coincides with favourable tides as well. Perfect!

Not sure what happened there, it started the correct way up.

After a hectic couple of weeks, I think I'm about ready to go fishing. First off, I've fitted a nice, shiney new electric winch to the trailer, no more hernias from hand winching Stingray back onto it. However, when I moved the boat to the other drive to do the work, the axle collapsed. Bugger!. Still, better here than halfway to Poole. New axle for a Hallmark Roller Coaster trailer is the thick end of 600 quid but, through the Warrior facebook site, I managed to get one from a very nice man in Middlesborough for £400 delivered, result! It is now all fitted and as it came with new drums and brakes, I have treated it to new stainless bowden cables and associated fittings meaning that I am starting anew from ground zero. Now, some decent weather please so I can go fishing.