Herbs73

What braid are you guys recommending/ are there any good deals out there. ?  I’ve always used 50lb ish breaking strain as it’s thicker and doesn’t dig in. I tried some thinner stuff years back and didn’t get on with it but maybe it was just me at the time and I should be using lighter braid.  What do you guys think? 
 

tia 

3 hours ago, Andy135 said:

😭 Ah, what a shame. It's always annoying when you get loads of other species but not the one you're really after. Still, well done for trying. 😉🤣

It’s always disappointing when the dogfish don’t turn up, 

9 hours ago, JonC said:

@Herbs73  what bait was best for the hounds?  Fresh hermits are always good but frozen are good too I find. 

We had some fresh peeler which they went mad for. The rag worm fished ok as well

Just now, JonC said:

Well done. But I hope you wasn’t fishing on one of my marks 🤣

I’ve remotely hacked your gps and stolen all your marks.  Today was the first one on the list. 😎

Afternoon gents,

Getting the boat ready to go back on the water and usually get last years petrol taken out when it’s serviced as there’s not usually a lot in the tank. This year however there’s nearly a full tank so thought I would empty it myself and stick it In the wife’s car. But do I really need to ? the boat came out the water in October (i think I filled it up in august)  and I always use premium fuel not the E10 crap and I did put stabiliser in. Or is it just best practice to change it  regardless ? 
 

tia 

On 4/12/2023 at 10:53 PM, GPSguru said:

 

Hmmm..............

Unless you are regularly going to venture out in conditions of poor visibility, then radar is just an expensive toy, and this comment applies to the majority of small fishing boats for recreational use. Personally, I don't go out if the visibility is less than 1nm, or forecast to be 1nm or less, I am recreational, I don't need the hassle, it can wait until a better day. If you understand weather forecasting, then you will never get caught in fog or sea mist. FFS, the CG gives regular weather forecasts on ch63 (usually) and imminent means within 6 hours, so you have plenty of time to feck'off home.

Those on here that have said it is good for night navigation are not going to pass any advanced RYA seamanship practical exam's by using radar. Navigation on a night passage must be done by understanding ALL lights and their meanings / identification. Most skippers fail miserably in the identification of various types of vessel and their orientation 🙄. Also, no pleasure boat skipper who understands 'responsibility', would not purposely venture out on a night passage of poor visibility.

Also, it is worth noting that AIS has its downsides, in that the GC can see your location and ask you to assist another boat by calling you using DSC. It has happened to me 4 or 5 times in the last 4 years.

AIS also gives your fishing position away, unless you have a transit inhibit switch fitted. I can set AIS transmit to 'off' but still receive all AIS traffic at the flick of a switch.

AIS is also good for when you are at anchor. It clearly transmits your MMSI and the relevant info, i.e. speed =0,  Course=0, update time every 6 or 8 minutes,

An upside of AIS is that unlike radar, it can effectively 'see' around corners, I use this to good advantage when steaming close inshore past areas like Berry Head, where there could be hidden traffic coming out to sea on my port side from Brixham, however, all these 'aids' are exactly that and a focussed lookout watch must be maintained at all times.

 

 

 

I agree that electronics doesn’t replace good seamanship but I see these as aids for when things go wrong.  I’m also planning on weekends away in the boat and I’ll be sailing around Harwich and Felixstowe and I like the idea of ais in that scenario. I also like the idea of an ais mob  beacon in conjunction with my PLB. 

54 minutes ago, Saintly Fish said:

Why are you caravanning in your boat? 

54 minutes ago, Saintly Fish said:

Why are you caravanning in your boat? 

I find it’s cheaper than mooring costs but I did get a dodgy look off some old boy washing down his caravan when I cast  a 50z uptide. Don’t catch much though 

Yep, I have Navionics on my phone and tablet as well as the plotter. I can also mirror the plotter on the iPad although the resolution isn’t as good I get a bigger screen. I can control the plotter from the iPad as well 
 

13 minutes ago, JonC said:

Yes. It’s limited compared to other units but it was half the price that any other system would have cost me. I think it’s obsolete now, it didn’t catch on  a bit like Betamax 🤣

With more people using tablets you would think that other brands would have taken Furuno idea and come up with a wireless radar that was as good as hard wired units,

Just now, JonC said:

B&G seemed to be the cheapest option when I was looking for a new system 

Isn’t b&g geared more towards sailing ? 

32 minutes ago, Saintly Fish said:

I have the Garmin HD4k radome coupled to a pair of gpsmap 8410 plotters. It all works a treat. 
Maybe one of the more technical bods like @GPSguru (don't bother with @Andy135 he just copies and pasted from Google) can tell you if the garmin can be used with the simrad that you have? Or you could purchase a smaller garmin plotter and use just the ais and radar on that, then have the simrad as a stand alone??

As far asi can tell only Navico units will work with each other. Also I have a Simrad go7 xse which isn’t radar ready, I was planning on getting a bare go7xsr and having the 2, (I wouldn’t have to buy a transducer) but it’s still another £550 on the cost.  I’ve got used to the simrad which is keeping my staying with the brand. However I’m also keen on saving money amd I could sell the one I have and switch to garmin. 

25 minutes ago, JonC said:

I’m sure a Garmin one will serve your purposes, basic units now are far more advanced than older models. 
My furuno radar is very basic, has very few settings but it shows targets pretty good and that’s all that matters to me, I’m not interested in rain clouds 20 mile away. 
I have a furuno Drs4w that runs through an iPad, when I bought it I didn’t have a mfd so it was a cheap option at the time at about £1000. This was before I knew anyone who was an expert at Garmin stuff. 

Is that the wireless Furuno ? 

So which radar would you guys recomend ? I have a Simrad plotter so I’m leaning towards a Simrad radar. However the cheapest Simrad plotter is 2k. For the same money I can get get a garmin and a plotter.  Is there much difference between the 2 and if there is does the Simrad just have capabilities/ features that I will never use. I’m not a yachtsman planning on sailing round the United Kingdom or cross the Atlantic and a cheaper garmin will do me just fine. It’s bloody confusing and  I can read product reviews all day but it’s the experience you guys have that’s invaluable . 

6 minutes ago, GPSguru said:

If you network it with nmea200 and then activate AIS on the plotter, then the plotter accepts the AIS 800 info, which updates dependent on the speed you are going.

Will do 

10 minutes ago, GPSguru said:

Provided that you simrad has a nmea2000 port, then yes, it should network ok. I have 2x garmin 95 plotters, garmin livescope panoptix sonar, AIS 800, mercury engine management, and mercury active trim, all joined together on a nmea 2000 network.

Yes it has NMEA 2000, could I connect the vhf to the transponder via NMEA 0183 instead of trying to connect it to the mfd? 

20 minutes ago, GPSguru said:

Yes, the splitter is built into the Garmin AIS800, so I just have one VHF antenna.

 

 

Just had a look on cactus, that’s a decent price as well. I take it that it will work with a Simrad mfd ? 

5 minutes ago, GPSguru said:

I use AIS as it is more useful to me than radar, because I never go out in fog or visibility of less than 1nm. Also I sometimes fish in the shipping lanes.

I use  the Garmin AIS 800, which is B+, however most transponders are now B+.

My boat is 45knts , but I mostly cruise at 28 - 30knts.

Just a glance at the plotter shows me all the commercial marine traffic nearby, and their course / speed. Here in South Devon a lot of pleasure boats also use AIS.

 

Do you have a splitter and run the ais from your vhf Ariel or a separate Ariel ? 

27 minutes ago, JonC said:

The big container ships out of harwich and Felixstowe transmit, other than that it’s just the Thames barges that seem to show up. The commercial fishing boats don’t turn theirs on 

Isn’t it illegal for a commercial to be moving and have ais turned off ? 

42 minutes ago, JonC said:

In the Thames area nobody seems to transmit AIS. I don’t have AIS myself to see it in real time but when I look on the phone apps ( which I know aren’t that good ) there’s only ever a couple of vessels on the screen even though there could be 20 boats in sight. 

Yeah I guess not many recreational boaters use it, I guess my thoughts are that with my intention of going out further I want to avoid being run down by a commercial. ?

So far no I’ve not gone out out much in fog or travelled at night, this has been due mainly to me staying within my comfort zone, however I am planning on going out further and want to be as safe as I can be.  I am based in brightlingsea so have traffic in the Thames estuary to contend with and I’ve promised the wife some weekends away in the boat ( this was a proviso on buying the boat 5 years ago which hasn’t really happened) 

. Im also wanting to all round improve my seamanship in general to get the most out of my boat and improving the electronics  I think is a part of that process.  But yes my plan is ais first and then radar maybe next season 

Morning guys,

im looking at getting AIS and then radar at a later date, however I’m finding it a bit confusing to decide which is the best and most cost effective way to go. 
   I upgraded the plotter to  a Simrad go 7 with NMEA 2000 but my standard horizon vhf  only has NMEA 0183 it going to cost £100 to get the converter so should I just get a vhf with built in Ais ? or a separate transponder? I’ve pretty much decided I want to transmit as well as receive but don’t know if class b is good enough or do I need b+. My boat will do 27 knots but I only cruise at 18 ? 
 

would this be a good buy and if so what else would I need to buy ie splitter/ Ariel. ? And can I make my existing radio work with it ? 

https://www.cactusnav.com/ocean-signal-atb1-transceiver-class-sotdma-with-wifi-external-antenna-p-28023.html?gclid=EAIaIQobChMI6bvDo5Od_gIVp4BQBh2kJg7zEAQYASABEgJuuPD_BwE

TIA

I didn’t even know there was a Brightlingsea comp, who organises it. 

So we fish in the same area Jon, do you find you can use the reel for all the types of fishing you do ? 

Thanks for the reply Andy. To get a lever drag into free spool do you just reduce the drag ? and does this allow casting and letting out line for uptiding etc ?

i think its definately a case of want rather than need, but can you have enough reels ? i will have a look at the Avets.