RogB

Sounds like a nice day out and some fish as well. Good to hear some squid around might give it a go from Princess pier soon. Cheers

Sounds and looks like a fun day out, glad you made it back to post the photos and report!

Looks a cracking evening, nice to be out I'm sure.

Hi Ralph, from one newbie to another welcome. Might see you out and about in the Teignmouth or Torquay area. Nice video btw!

Thanks Andy and Mick, Having successfully completed our Powerboat2 course on Tuesday, Wednesday evening was our first time afloat. The roll over the gunnels worked for boarding and despite a bit of mis communication we managed to get car, trailer and boat off the slip undamaged, each in the desired direction. We only had a short run out as high tide was at dusk so we did about 2hrs just to see how she went. Tide was incoming hard as we made our way out of the estuary at a very genteel pace. Outside we opened up a bit and planed easy enough at 20knot+ with more to come. Not too wobbly when sat fishing which we managed about 40 mins fruitlessly searching for anything. Then all too soon time to get back in and a pub dinner. Looking forward to some more inshore trips and fishing when the weather allows....

I use a Vanford for my shore lure fishing for bass, very light and great line lay but the line roller bearing rusted up within a month. Shimano claims they are treated with a hydrophobic coating.....I swapped the bearing for a ceramic, which is noisier but works full time. If you are on a trip away pack a few spare line roller bearings (and screw for them as they are very light and made of cheese, the head came off first time I unscrewed it!).

Ta, pictures are my bad. I'll sort something out with them when back from the pub!

Ok - so we did indeed buy the Pilot 4 and we are hoping to go out for its maiden voyage on Wednesday if the forecast holds. Prior to that we are both doing the RYA Powerboat Level 2 course, so we may be a little less of a liability, and would like to fit a fishfinder to keep an eye on depths in the estuary and for baitfish along the coast. We bought a Garmin Striker 7sv as a slight step up for the 4 CV's on the kayaks but we are a little hesitant on fitting the transducer. I have read the instructions and watched numerous videos but drilling holes in our nearly new boat is a bit worrisome. I've read about various stern saver type blocks glued to the transom which seem available in the US and Aus, but not so much here, which sounded like a good no holes option. Should we start with some temporary lash up with the transducer on a pole or do we just need to man up and carefully drill some holes and fill with Sikaflex 291i? Would you mount it about where the rhs rear roller wheel is - it looks pretty flat and away from the shaped bits of hull? With the motor fully down it looks like this - looks to me like that position should be in the water (we havent got the boat in the water yet). We won't be fiddling with any electrics yet as the fishfinder can run off my kayak battery, and the cable will follow the rest of the engine cables to the helm. Lastly how the hell do you get in when launching (no pontoon to walk the boat too from the slip)? with the engine down its 4" off the ground and I need 4 rungs of a stepladder to get on the boat while its on the trailer so I suspect a similar height when its in the water (OK engine up so a bit better). It does have a ladder at the back and is probably small enough to manhandle around but I would rather have the engine in the deeper water. I'll take some photos if we get afloat! Roger

Thanks all for your comments, I have been following them. I understand it is too small for general sea fishing but for what we want to do I think it will suffice and be a good platform to learn on. I had read the Tiddler posts on PBSBAC as part of my research, I probably should have messaged him.

I'm off to see a Pilot 4 tomorrow, nearly new so engine (100hrs, 1 yr old), boat and trailer are warrantied still, which is somewhat re-assuring for a newbie. They wont take me for a spin in it as its not insured or moored anywhere so it will be a look on the driveway. Seems you can idle the Tohatsu MFS40A EPTL as long as its got a healthy water supply from muffs, bucket or the dedicated flushing hose port so I expect they will do one of these. Anything I should look out for beyond - a strong telltale pee, smooth idle, no smoke etc? Steering working, no bumps or dings in the hull, no cracks in the floor or GRP anywhere (its described as immaculate). I guess the trailer winch needs checking its secure and the wheel bearings aren't wobbly/seized. How many sets of keys would you expect to get? Thanks Rog

Yes, we did Ness beach for a bit but the waves and wind weren't conducive to anything showing so we moved onto Shaldon, had a chat with Stuart who left and caught a few schoolies on redgills. I kept snagging up though so called it a day early before losses got embarrassing. A few others arrived as we left.

Thanks, I had already contacted them and had a nice swift reply. Seems your mate must be very lucky as the charges must have gone up - £90+/per month for 5m. Which at first sight is a bit steep but if you launched once a week it would cost £40 per month for parking at Polly Steps. So, assuming you can park at Riverside while afloat, its not quite so bad for regular use. Unfortunately I recon we would be closer to launching once a month average. We did go look at a Pilot 4 in Exeter and a quick measure up confirmed it would just fit lengthwise but the cuddy would need to come off for the height, which isn't a problem as its designed to pop on and off. That one was nearly new with a 30hp Tohatsu 4s and a small fishfinder (which is a bit surplus as we have fishfinders and portable VHF from kayaking). It looked roomy in the back for two fishing as although short (very short as we observed when driving off and comparing to the Warrior 165 parked next to it) its also 6' wide which would be enough for our lure fishing (no bait tanks, chopping boards etc to worry about). We also found a private seller with a better spec nearly new, with a 40 hp, useful accessories and no extra electronics for similar money, which on paper seems a better option. This, and the access problems and fact that the boat would hinder or block getting the kayaks out of the garage, is causing me some concerns. But I don't think we can justify a bigger boat (which would have to be older and more risky proposition for newbies) and a lot of ongoing non maintenance costs. So still undecided.....

Thanks - that sounds like a good suggestion and minimal faffing. I am more open to paying for secure storage than for a mooring (a patch of gravel and a load of liabilities in my eyes!). I didn't know they also did accessible storage. I am aware of the Shaldon Marine storage yard but I expect thats mainly to overwinter boats.

theres no space edge out to start the turn in reverse - the lane is typical devon lane - 1 car wide, no pavements and a wall/house directly opposite the drive. Luckily the road is quiet and people are used to waiting for deliveries etc. I don't think these are legal in the UK - it was my first thought for shortening the space required but seem to be not allowed.

Thanks for the warm welcome folks. Yes I do intend to keep the kayaks, I need the excersize!

That's my exact plan - with a big battery and solar panel charger on the roof. Any recommendations for the winch?

Thanks for the replies everybody, please keep them coming! One of the reasons I liked the look of the Pilot 4 is that the cuddy is removeable which should drop the height appreciably. I think a cuddy will be essential to get out of the rain showers or sun on a hot day. The garage entrance is 2m high so pretty reasonable. However the biggest problem with the drive is that its 25m long and very steep drive(~1 in 4), luckily its straight to the garage but has a hairpin to the house! Cars tend to wheelspin if its wet so towing up will be a non starter (plus its very tight). I think I can fit an electric winch at the back of the garage, with a jockey wheel at the lip, which would work, but a light craft would obviously help. Again the Pilot 4 is relatively light. Winching will add to the faff somewhat! A winch however might prove useful for other things as well. The Pilot 4 seems to review well (admittedly most reviews nowdays are marketing - but these are boat fishing mags so perhaps they would be critical) - they are a bunch linked from the manufacturers site Pilot 4 and unsurprisingly all are very positive and say it feels much bigger than it is. It still in production and made in Plymouth. Are there any similar competitors to consider? At the moment I think its either a small boat or nothing as we neither have the time, funds or experience for anything larger. I view a smaller boat partly as a training and experience building exercise so that when more time becomes available in later life we have the experience and some commitment already to base bigger purchases on. I often chat with Stuart when I see him - he does winkle out fish when most are blanking, and all the other regulars on shaldon side - I'm the one in the grubby wide brimmed cream hat if you are zooming past! I did watch a couple of boats head out last friday mid tide with a bit of wind against so there was some standing waves on the bar - the predator 165 out front bobbed up and down a good few times and then shot off right, the bigger Arvor following it didn't fancy it and turned around. If we were kayaking we would have nipped over the training wall before the waves, so size isn't everything! I haven't looked into a RIB in detail but I doubt that they would be practical from a deck space, shelter and low freeboard point of view. Also probably too wide for the garage taking up too much space. Roger

Hi All, as i mentioned in my intro post I am considering a boat to fish from Teignmouth, but have no experience afloat apart from several years of kayak fishing. I'm trying to work out whether the outlay is going to open up some interesting opportunities or will be similarly in broad terms to the kayak. It will be joint effort with my kayak buddy and we only fish lures (occasional fly). Of course we will do some trips with the wags so 4 up max. I would like to keep the boat at home in a garage (which is 5.5m long) rather than on a mooring as I can't be sure we would use it that regularly and the costs, extra security and maintenance are a concern. How long a boat and trailer would fit -I'm guessing about 4m with about 1m for the towing and 50cm for outboard? Most of what I have read says don't buy too small a boat as you soon outgrow it, but what is too small? I have been thinking Westport Pilot 4 might be a good option -is it?. I know I should go watch some boat launches at Polly steps but is it greatly tide dependent? On the kayaks we launch from Ringmore and try and catch the tides right in and out which combined with weather really limits our options (and we can faff for England getting set up and ready!). Is Polly Steps doable at low, high and mid tides - or does it run out of water at low and the current runs too hard mid tides for novices? Lastly, for now, our fishfinders (Garmin strikers) on the kayak show a featureless and pretty barren bottom (and never any fish other than shoals of sandeels occasionally) and i generally catch more and better fish from the beach. Would access further up and down the coast bring us more joy - I expect the islands off Hopes nose would be a bit more reliable? I think GPSGuru once suggested we kayak over to the Skerries on another forum - from Torcross not Teignmouth! Would that sort of thing be doable if we trailered somewhere closer to launch? Anyway apologies for the long post (without pictures!). RogB

Hi all, My name is Roger and I have just signed up. Currently I kayak fish out from Teignmouth or the local area but I am seriously considering my first boat. Having lurked a bit and read many of you threads on here I took the plunge as I could do with some advice as I know nothing about boats! I will start a new thread shortly with some questions which will be about craft suitability for the local area, practicalities of transport, storage and ownership etc. I hope to post up some catch reports as and when we get out. Cheers, Roger