mike farrants

nice report and a good day out! sounds like there was plenty of action!

awesome!

Had my Brother in law and niece staying with us - so decided with a break in the weather on Sunday we would pop out to see if there were any mackerel about. Shaun is quite happy on a boat but hadn't fished for a while, Maisie had never fished but was keen to catch something! She's been on boats before but isn't the most confident - but it didn't take her long to get her sea legs. we headed out of weymouth to Portlands North entrance, but the mackerel eluded us and the chop from the tide and SW wind was making it a little uncomfortable, so we headed up to Checkers (east entrance) and tried there, my bro caught a Gurnard, which he was chuffed with but not much showing in an hour of trying we decided to head back in and try the Pier. on the way back in I saw a mark on the fish finder so stopped and dropped - almost on the way down Maisie says "ive got something help" - handing the rod to her dad he pulls in 3 mackerel on maisies feathers - she was absolutely buzzing! - she wasn't too keen on touching them as the pic shows, but insisted we had them for dinner! she watched me gut them, and then helped prepare them for dinner - she ate all of hers! (I had a pout off the pier)

i had family visiting - but they were keen to try fishing - so we did a few hours feathering out of weymouth and a few hours on the pier too - i'll do a (short) catch report later!

nice fish! do love a gurnard!

suppose id better join in - since i can walk to the marina......

nice one - who you booked with?

dont ask me, im from the IOW i have extra digits.....

oh and you can thank me for the inclement weather = i booked tomorrow off.........

never heard of any trouble at Portland stack - that one is enclosed on 3 sides to the SW - only open to the NW

id love to know where in dorset........ i'm in weymouth and not had a bass yet form boat or shore!

nice fish!

got it now thanks! was getting confused with Bungs - i dont have a self draining cockpit so no bungs- but will have a stern gland - i'll take a look at it!

not even sure how to check the stern gland? i always turn the pump on when i return to berth and not much comes out

yeah i guess it could be life in an old boat - especially timber - i know how it can warp and shrink. weirdly i pumped it out on saturday, took her our for a jolly, and yet last night there was still a litre in her at least - and it hadnt rained - i know the water may have moved around - eg it might have pumped dry but only that section, guess im going to have to do the taste test!

yes plus the fact that now with full fuel tank, full spare fuel tank, anchor and rope all in the stern, it may be angled backward more than flat - making it worse. the bigger concern was the moisture in cabin roof - i guess that was coming down from where the wheelhouse joined the deck, but could have been condensation rising from the water ingress from elsewhere...... well ive sealed the wheelhouse i think (and did it when the timber would have been at its driest) still to do - new on seal the hatch, new better fitting cover, and install a lip on the wheelhouse roof - any suggestions here?

thats a good shout andy - perhaps it does there's a small lip - but i will test it with a hose yes good call SF - blue roll is a good call!

nice install! looking good!

So after bouts of heavy rain and even not so heavy rain, the bilges gather a fair bit of water - new to boat owning im uncertain whats normal, especially on a 40+ yr old boat with a wooden wheelhouse. after a week or two it seems like the bilge pumps out about half a bucket to a bucket (ive never measured it) i have identified the hatch leaks (i first assumed it was just condensation on the glass) but having sat in it during the rain i know it leaks - Job number 1 - tbc The ceiling under the dash in the wheel house was also showing signs of water ingress (this is where the old fibre glass foredeck goes under the wheelhouse to form the base of the dash inside the wheelhouse - i have sealed the join from bottom of front windows to fore deck with tiger seal, some wide plastic bath trim (had to be flexible doe tot he P/S curve of the deck), and further sealed that with clear silicone. I have also last night ran clear silicone around the entire joins between fibreglass hull and wooden wheel house and wooden cockpit trim. I will at some point this year replace the old canvas cover with a PVC one (although htis doens leak as its rubber backed it doesnt fit very snug) is there any thing else i might be missing? and other precations? how can i be certain itsnot coming up, rather than down? without tasting the bilge water to see if its salty? many thanks

awesome - these type of threads should always be accompanied by piccys!

and where the pics this magnificent machine and all her toys?

I was just dropping the bait into a hole no more than 6 ft from the pier and getting taps instantly - some were 6-8 inches, some were 4 inches or less - great was to spend an evening none the less!

had to get out the house and get some fresh air - decided i couldn't be arsed to get the boat out so went to the pier with 2 spinning rods -had nothing in 3hrs on the float - no one else did either, and when the 2nd spinning rod produced nothing on the lures i switched to scratching to save the blank - simple 2 hook flapper, size 6 hooks, and squid strips produced the results - I was getting small pout on every drop - (much tot he amusement of passers by and tourists that wished they had been allowed to bring their rods) - great sport on very light gear - especially the 4 or 5 double shots i had! must been at least 30 of them in total!was lovely to get a break from the pout and bag my first ever Scorpion fish - what a lovely (spikey) little fella! everyones evening was spoilt by the incessant jet skier who insisted we wanted to watch him blast up and down just yards from the pier - i mean, its busy with boat traffic, swimmers, kayaks and paddle boarders - nothing against jet skiers - but you have hundreds and hundreds of miles of coastline and open sea to enjoy - why be 5 yds from the pier - perhaps he couldn't swim or was scared to go out of his depth....... I only hope he impressed who ever it was with his bunny hops and fast turns.

nice write up - must be nice to cruise around to keep cool! at least the bait freezer is topped up!

Awesome - thanks! guess what ill be trying when the mackies aren't in their usual spot! wish i'd tried last night now - instead I went to the stone pier and pulled up 5 or 6 million pout and 1 scorpion fish! all on light gear!