suzook12

I will get round to ordering the parts this week, so can get moving on this........

Okay, so work got in the way a bit...... Had 2 x 3m lenghts of 19mm od EN8 bar turn up, slightly later than olanned, but set to cutting the lengths required, facing and chamfering on the lathe and drilling on the mill. Hopefully Thurs will be over to get them fitted with the new rollers. Will get a box of Stasinless split pins I think, and some new washers, 20mm will be close enough. For the snubbers, I want to do something slightly different, so need to measure up for those. Hopefully by end of next week, it will be ready to have a boat lifted on. Need to order some strops and make some spreader bars. Getting there!!

we had quite a few yesterday, I would say fgar more than usual, but maybe coz the mac werent about. Only ever caught them on feathers

Was sat at work yesterday watching the trees bend at some serious angles and nervously checking Windy every hour. Windy gave us NE 6knt wind and sunshine...... Arrived at quayside this morning with a full boat ready to rock. Once the fuel boat had passed High Flyer2 departed her moorings and we were off..... Mackerel were a struggle to say the least, first 3 marks and we had boated less than half a dozen. Possibly attributable to yesterdays winds. Last maccy spot and I had a string of 4, a couple of others boated and we were away for the tope. Didn't have long to wait, my rod being away in the first 20 minutes. a small but feisty 15-20 in the bag.... Then it went quiet. We moved to another nearby spot and within 2 minutes another rid was screaming..... Another around 20lb and again went quiet. Almost at the death of the ebb, we had 3 in quick succession, one that wrapped 4 lines up without tripping a single reel ratchet!! All too soon it was over, we headed back in a happy bunch on a beautiful day. For once the forecasts were spot on, even the switch to easterly around 4pm which killed it stone dead...... That was the last of the tope trips booked for this year, hard work but we got there in the end. I may be lucky and catch the tail of the summer in my own boat, working towards that as fast as possible.....

Box of rollers and bits turned up today, 2 3M lengths of EN8 bar turning up tomorrow, so little bit of cutting and machining to do ready for the weekend, Just gotta get some split pins and good to go...... 2 tubes of gorilla glue stuff sat in truck also ready to get bunk carpets on, measure up for some new bolts and we're cooking on gas!! Once the trailer is back, will strip and clean the brakes. Need to order some long strops for the lift now......

So today saw the yam get hoisted down from the mezanine in readiness to prep it to go on the back of the jack tar...... Will soon be a follow up of going through the service items and getting it bolted on.....

£16 but ok, B&Q have it so will go with it..... Cheers

As yet I also have to choose some LED lighting to fit to this. I fitted LED lighting to my flat bed trailer and have been well impressed with that, 2-3 years in and no lighting failures!! Obviously for this trailer, they will be dunked so have to take that into account also..... So good quality units, no ebay chinesium......

Hi Jon, yeah prices have gone up massively too since I last did a trailer.... In this case, bigger wheels would make no difference, as the trailer has been raised with packers under the chassis and risers for the rollers (now removed). I will wait until boat is actually on the trailer and see where we are at. I also like a trailer as low slung as possible. My L200 also has a high tow bar, so will need to make sure I have enough clearance at the rear with boat and engine on.... Yeah, it is a shame, I seem to collect everybody elses left overs lol. In your scenario, for me the welder would have been out and made/repaired to rebuild, I may even get round to building a trailer from scratch as I keep threatening to do. Galv plating is quite cheap so all doable, but the cost of axles, hitches and stuff is quite scary at the moment. Steve

I also decided I wasn't happy with the castor rollers, so they will get replaced also. After that, it just left the winch and winch strap. It was at this point the decision was taken to retire for tea! I need to get some glue for the bunk carpets, then can start the carpeting process and get those refitted with new bolts. Don't know whether to go for evostik or sticks like sh*t.... We will see. Will make a decision in the morning, have to go pick some sealer up so get both at same time.... The trailer looks to have been modded for height, with the roller blocks, and also packers between the chassis and axle. I feel this should probably have 16" wheels, but that would involve new hubs as the bolt pattern is now obsolete..... Like the boat, what started out as a cheapie, is fast racking up, with the current shopping basket, plus the bits already bout, we are over £500 already, so the trailer is coming in at £1300 so far...... As yet, I still have to finish the boat, service the engine and probably reprop it. I envisage being around £3k all in..... Had I had turned up a shetland alaska for that sort of money, this wouldn't be here but half the fun is the project eh.....

Ok, so today was the day to make a start on the trailer. Landed over my mates with a couple of trolley jacks, got both sides jacked up, and off to the tyre guys to fit the new tyres. As you can see, max load 900kg. I would like to go higher, my thinking is that weight transfers from side to side with cornering, so both tyres should be able to withstand full load..... Maybe that is already factored in, I don't know, but for now this is what we have..... Next I started on removing the bunks, and once they were off, started removing the old rollers. These were initially on riser blocks, but I removed those, at least for now..... I have fitted the new rollers temporarily, as all the pins are bent, so will order some 19mm EN8 and make some new ones...... Now, cleverly I ordered 6 new rollers instead of 7, and 5 came! So have to order 2 more, and at the front there is a 5", so will replace that also, and 2 snubber rollers.

I agree, vhf regardless of licence. But all the better if you know how to use it. Was quite surprising when I did mine, I was on CB for years so no issues at all, but there were 2 or 3 gin palace owners who really struggled with the basics, like keying the mike before you start talking...... If you have no experience of radio useage, then I think the course is ideal...... However, with many areas being combined nowaday, we got a call for a mayday at Matgate. Now, if we had left to attend immediately the call came in, we still wouldn't be back yet!! I think they need to look at it again, otherwise people will start turning them off....

Sure is mate, hence why I want my own boat on the water, if the day is right, do it

Yes n no, it is what it is, just good to be out, plenty of banter

Made our way to Gorleston harbour to jump on the High Flyer 2. The previous day the sea had been flat calm and a boat record tope was caught at 70lb. They had also had a big session on schoolie bass, tho mist were undersized. The first notable thing before casting off was there was a significant breeze, NE 12-15mph, so was going to be a bit snotty to start as wind against tide, The day was also rearranged to hit the bass marks first and do some drifts rather than be at anchor, then anchor on the tope mark once tide had turned and sea flattened off..... Mackerel, plenty of them, all bait size, but no bass. Got harpooned by a scad, and thrown about a bit, but unlike 2 of the crew who needed to rearrange their stomach contents, all good... The time came to hit the t5ope mark, a little bit early, but weren't too bad. First rod goes flying off... My mate to my right off of the back, then it goes quiet, dropped........ Shortly after, the rod to my left goes off, this time a 20lber on uptide to scad head. Then the tide dropped away and all went quiet, the wind switched to E, and that was us done, not a thing after that on feathers, bait or tope rigs, even with a move. Right at the death a rod goes flying off, I jokingly said it was the seal that had been watching us for the last hour....... It was!! Hook pulled, seal reappeared to give us the flipper, and that was that. With that we headed back in. A good day out except for the fish..... Roll on the 16th