mike farrants

Back on her mooring....

So a few weeks back i had pugwash out the water in Portland sailing acedemy for a week to scrub off, paint and swap anodes. she was filthy and long over due a jet wash - but it didnt quite go to plan..... after the jet wash we found that the fibre glassing around the bilge keels/skegs was coming away in big flaps (didn't help with the speed) so after the scrub down i had to set about fibre glassing - they are only there for strengthening as the boat used to dry out - so i did the best job i could not pretty and not one i ever want to do again - fibre glassing upside down, round corners under a boat is not fun. one that was done i set about antifouling, and then painted the hull (with 2 coats of masonry paint [i don't care for a gloss finish]) - and she looked splendid. fibre glassing done some hemple primer/undercoats and antifoul and she was done. But.... upon removing the anode we noticed the bolt turned - so we removed it scrubbed it up applied liberal amounts of sealant and put it all back together. happy days - or so i thought. .... when she went back in the water i was halfway out of the marina when i saw the anode bolts letting water in - so a quick turnaround and we had her back out of the water in the yard. we realised we weren't using correct anode bolts with the welded washer so we got some new bolts and some CT1 and i did the job properly. Back in the water today and back to Weymouth - and my feet stayed dry! lets hope it holds!

cracking write up - well done!

so the OOFF league has ended - and what a great season we've had - Vectic Caulkheads looked unstoppable from the start - but Dogfish FC soon found form, gave them a scare mid way and a run for their money in the 2nd half of the season - a well deserved 2nd. Fishy FC an admirable 3rd, Nitrous nutters 4th and Cobb were dogged by injuries all season, and rumours of unrest in the dressing room, plus their manager reportedly said in interview "Its still all shit" - lets hope they come back stronger next season. Vectis Caulkheads 2045 (after 80 points deduction for starting early) Dogfish FC 1843 Fishy FC 1685 Nitrous nutters 1625 Cobb 1526 well done for taking part - lets hope more do next season!

i've "calibrated" my shore gear on chesil many times!

cant you call it a shake down of the boat, annual sea trial, checking the running gear - washing your leads? werent you calibrating the rod and reel? 🤣

Nice fish! But isn’t that a small eyed ray? And a huge one too! I Thought blondes were way more spotty!

this @JonCguy 👆 is an absolute legend - thanks Ian!

yes we were dragging the sabikis along the mud, but held vertically so as you say, with a bit of line out would bring the top hooks closer to the bottom. interestingly 1st time the red bands were caught on the middle sabikis not the bottom one. mine might be too big - i had size 4

no that video is full speed 🤣

both very common here - we get plenty of gurnard and i love them! good that they're showing again!

looked like a cracking day out...... i love the bream! heres a video of me steaming along by comparison......... 🤣

Me and Tim took seadog out on Saturday for a trip to the adamant - via the red band mark to try for them again and see if there were any mackerel about. A lovely calm day with just enough breeze for a slow drift over the red band mark with sabikis (we each had 2 types - fish skin and small tinsly ones) I managed a small pout, and Tim had his first ever red band fish and 2 mackerel - after an hour of trying i gave up - plenty of time to bag mine! we headed off to the adamant to anchor on the top where we have had good success before I got an early Thornie which felt massive in the tide, we both go pretty dogged out, Tim had a couple of baby tope, and then a much bigger one (probably double figures) which put up a great fight in the boat! they are angry...... gorgeous weather meant we didn't mind the dog fest so much on the way back in we returned to the red band mark - and i managed to find a grey gurnard in the fish skin sabikis - but little else. thoroughly good day out and much needed after the week i'd had (i'd of been happy blanking - it was glorious out there!!)

awesome looking fish and what a cracking day to be offshore!

sounds like a good day out with plenty of action!

So the plan was to head over to Lulworth again for the Bream on Tims boat - but as he was returning from a trip out the day before - he glanced over at a charter boat and saw someone pull in a red band fish - with the mark noted - we had a slight change of plan! we decided have a go on them before we head to lulworth - we've never seen one let alone caught one - but do know that Weymouth and portland is known for them! They like small baited hooks/sabikis so we grabbed some rag and headed to the spot - 2 of us had fish skin sabikis and jason had tinsly ones - he dropped down first without bait and literally in minutes had one - Wow! a red band fish on his first drop - then he had a 2nd on his 2nd drop and you guessed it a 3rd on his 3rd - we all tried for an hour but only Jason got them in the first few minutes - on his unbaited tinsly sabikis. I did manage a mackerel though on mine! we soon headed over to lulworth, anchored up and settled in for a day of drizzle - flat calm - almost eerie. I had spotted ray, conger and dogs, Tim had bream - one monster 3.5lber, a grey gurnard, dogs and 2 mackerel, cant remember what Jason had - thornie rays i think. we tried for the red band fish again on the way home but only had a few more mackerel between us. good that the mackies are showing up and great targeting and seeing such a rare fish as the Red band fish - wonderful purple tinge along its fin edges - pictures dont do it justice! and Tim gave me his bream for tea! Epic day out!

nope- just brought up well by a frugal granny!

many thanks Andy - received today - and the bonus is the stamp didnt get stamped - so i can use it again (not going to lick it though)

and less flamable.......

i keep ragworm in the fridge, wrapped in dry newspaper, and inspect & change the paper regularly (once a day), so it doesnt get or stay wet and i remove any dead or manky worms. i can keep good worm alive for a good few day like that! all depends on the quality of worm. one local shop will stay alive a week - another they're practically dead when you buy them!

very true - there was a cracking Quicksilver 640 for sale recently in portland, and one in bridport - i didn't have the money at the time - but would have snapped it up if it was for sale now! don't worry - i'll act when it feels right!

there's no rush - I want the right boat not a quick decision!

don't want to jinx the weather..... Mrs is on a hen do with the ladies football club on sunday and its starting here at home with pre drinks - so im deffo going fishing on sunday - just depends on the weather where. if its nice its back over to Lulworth for the bream on tim's boat seadog, maybe the Adamant bank in the PM if the bream get boring! if its not so nice i'll be off the shore - either portland rocks for wrasse/pollock with my new kanji set up or chesil for plaice to try out my new Abu 6000 reel! so either way i'll be fishing!

i was worried that with it being all recorded online now the 2nd test would just build on the 1st - but when i spoke to them they assured me they would take a fresh pair of eyes to it and they did, great to find honesty out there!

im staying quiet. 🤫