Saintly Fish

Hi Patrick
welcome to the forum. There are plenty of experts to give you advice on your first boat. 
Muck in, get to know people and ask as many questions as possible. 
No such thing as a stupid question if you don’t know the answers ! 👍🏻

Thanks for the link - found that book a month or so ago and was very impressed with it. Covers a lot of topics in a very easy to read style

Ahhh the old broken boiler excuse, I’ve used it well myself (just to get out the house). 

Glad you sorted it out ok. What you could have done with was a mate who would lend you a hole saw kit !! 

Super pics of boat, fish, family and friend Neil, we now all know that she does leave the pontoon on rare occasions. Sorry that this is my last post tonight, you are at the end of the list because I just spent the last hour going through this thread and replied to them in the order that they came up in. I must say that I thought that every ones pics looked really good. Geoff. ❤️

Welcome Dicky. Glad you made it over ! 
make yourself at home and get to know the locals. Nobody bites but a couple lick windows ! 
Stick up an intro if you like , let us know about yourself and your fishing etc. 

WI is Scottish area. 🙂

Four Buoys with a 75 Optimax on the back  

You’d better brush the crumbs off your tummy Jon before they get soggy. Or they’ll never wash out of your string vest. 

#lazy👨🏼‍🦰👽

Thought I’d better intro myself. 
Been fishing since about the age of 10 so not long compared to the rest of you. I own a Starfisher 840 and fish the solent and surrounding areas. 
I have an unfair rep for being a bit camp because my Mrs put stripy cushions and curtains in our boat. But hey, whatever ! 🤷🏻‍♂️
Ive known most of the guys on here for around 2-3 years and have enjoyed many a piss take, it never seems to get old. Don’t tell them but they’re a great bunch to virtually hang out with . 

looks like a copertion for the blankty blank check book

Neighbour is having part of their roof re-tiled, and the roofers let me have some scrap lead for free!
#littlewin!

Some other items to have at hand when tackling a wiring job.
Heat Shrink. An absolute must and not that expensive, can be bought ready cut in various sizes or as a length/roll to trim yourself. It comes in various different colours so you could even have a colour code system going on with the heat shrink. Remember to put the heat shrink on first!
Fuses Always have plenty of fuses of each and every type you use, keep a good stock on the boat as well
Tape Several types to consider. Harness tape, the non sticky stuff tou wrap around a loom or spur from a loom to protect it, held in place with heatshrink. Self amalgamating tape, again to wrap around a harness for protection, bonds itself together to form a more reliable sheath. Insulating, or insulting tape as I often refer to it, ok as a get you home temp fix, but better suited for taping wires together when harness making
 
Gas Soldering Iron These things are brilliant, can be used for shrinking heatshrink to soldering multi wire splices. Just remember to carry a lighter and a gas can

Wouldn’t normally stop you . If anyone can catch a 🐶🐠 on lures it’s you ! 

White lures at night is a new one on me. 
I always was told dark lures for dark conditions. 

I like most anglers have many rods as back up !! 👍🏻😇

I like most anglers have many rods as back up !! 👍🏻😇

So Pete and I were on the boat at 8.45 this morning. I was hoping that after filling the coolant we could just push off and go on a sea trial. But as these things go it never happened. 
fired up the engine and we got a puff of exhaust gas right up Pete’s nose. Oh dear I said.
being that the turbo is in quite an awkward position and yesterday I forgot my glasses, I thought that I’d maybe not aligned things quite right .
so we stripped off the clamp and re aligned. Same problem. 
another two attempts with the same results saw me break out the temp gum exhaust paste. Just a slither around each side of the gasket and all was well. No smoke in the engine bay. Horaah ! 
by this time it was 11am and I had to get home to take Leo for another riveting under 10’s footie match. Leo and his team won comfortably 6-1 !! 
Pete, iou a trip out mate 👍🏻

They are a favourite because they are cost effective and good value for money. 
my main rods are zziplex UK hooks. 
but at £300 a pop, not many people have them. 

Thanks for your help this morning Pete, glad to eventually get the issue solved and sorted just sorry we never made it out for a sea trial . Especially as you got up extra early  ! 

Did what you said and all seems good
U da man 
Cheers zook

Our last trip of the year (down west) started with an uneventful 2hrs odd drive to Milford, where we were all fairly glad to find the toilet block open and free to use
Boarded Lady Gail at 8.30am and got through the lock a short while later, to the sound of Fen (skipper) asking what bait we had
Lures and feathers we happily replied, why didn't you bring bait, should've brought bait he said
With a wall of concerned expressions looking at me, I explained to Fen that his booking agent (mate on another boat, long story) assured me that we would be fishing the islands and reefs as we had the last few trips
Mutiny avoided we headed out of the Haven and with the islands in view, turned left away from them (they don't fish too good this time of year apparently)
Stopped on a reef just outside the mouth and picked up a couple of small Pollock around the 2lb mark on first drift, then nothing
Move a bit further east for similar rewards and this was pretty much how it panned out for the remainder of the day
Probably tried 8-10 different areas, doing 2/3 drifts in each, but no rich pickings today
We did have a couple of drifts where the fish were around 5lb (and I managed a couple of brace) but then seemed to disappear, leaving the smaller ones on the feed
Back through the lock and tied up around 5.15 ish and on the road by just after 5.30
A very enjoyable day with great company and plenty of piss taking (especially our mate who blanked)
If any of you fancy a trip next summer, I can't recommend this area or skipper highly enough
Not brilliant this time of year, but June to Sept it's phenomenal, absolutely non-stop
 
 

She'l be right....👍