JDP

So are most of the bars in Amsterdam!!
🤣

Yes it’s a thing here in Australia as it’s often the coldest month and can be very much like Europe in winter.
My son headed off Friday to do a few music gigs in a small town the other side of the mountains, a 10hr return trip. His next gig after that is a 4 day 4500km drive. 
 
Just settled down for a relaxed evening with the Mrs when the phone rings🫣 our son, forgot his guitar and music folders😳
Mum, dad can you bring my music gear 😣. However the gear is at a different house an hour in the wrong direction from our place.
So a quick overnight trip it was. Got to his gig with 20mins to spare , which was a good night out. Camped at the bottom of the mountains in sub 0’c temps. Didn’t have to head to high before we were driving in the white stuff and -4’c mid day temps. Must admit it’s good to do a few trips to the snow over winter given it’s so close to where we live on the coast. It did feel very much like Xmas.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
 

Yes it’s a thing here in Australia as it’s often the coldest month and can be very much like Europe in winter.
My son headed off Friday to do a few music gigs in a small town the other side of the mountains, a 10hr return trip. His next gig after that is a 4 day 4500km drive. 
 
Just settled down for a relaxed evening with the Mrs when the phone rings🫣 our son, forgot his guitar and music folders😳
Mum, dad can you bring my music gear 😣. However the gear is at a different house an hour in the wrong direction from our place.
So a quick overnight trip it was. Got to his gig with 20mins to spare , which was a good night out. Camped at the bottom of the mountains in sub 0’c temps. Didn’t have to head to high before we were driving in the white stuff and -4’c mid day temps. Must admit it’s good to do a few trips to the snow over winter given it’s so close to where we live on the coast. It did feel very much like Xmas.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
 

Yes it’s a thing here in Australia as it’s often the coldest month and can be very much like Europe in winter.
My son headed off Friday to do a few music gigs in a small town the other side of the mountains, a 10hr return trip. His next gig after that is a 4 day 4500km drive. 
 
Just settled down for a relaxed evening with the Mrs when the phone rings🫣 our son, forgot his guitar and music folders😳
Mum, dad can you bring my music gear 😣. However the gear is at a different house an hour in the wrong direction from our place.
So a quick overnight trip it was. Got to his gig with 20mins to spare , which was a good night out. Camped at the bottom of the mountains in sub 0’c temps. Didn’t have to head to high before we were driving in the white stuff and -4’c mid day temps. Must admit it’s good to do a few trips to the snow over winter given it’s so close to where we live on the coast. It did feel very much like Xmas.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
 

No one will prosecute you for using them in an emergency. I have my old vhf UK licence and a new updated vhf which was much the same cource as the UK when I did it here, its an international licence. I only did it a second time as it was part of our Coxswain training (Amsa international) where we were told that nobody had ever been prosecuted for making an emergency call worldwide. The radio training will teach you vital information you will never need to know!!!!!!..such as the distance certain satellites are and frequencies of certain radios to make calls 100's of kms that you most likely never own, or see. Ive worked with marine rescue for over 20yrs where hundreds of boats per day log on using their vhf radios, where I would guess over 90% are not licensed. In saying that we do need a boat licence here which does explain mayday, pan pan cals etc. Ive heard radio emergency calls where people have not remembered the mayday procedure due to panic, which hasn't stopped them being found or rescued in equally fast time. If they are able to say how many onboard, emergency situation and where they are, you can bet people will be on the way to rescue them, not sitting back saying they didn't have the message quite right and don't have a licence. Ive been onboard a vessel where the skipper was licensed but had never used a vhf in his life and when a boat capsized in front of us on a bar crossing, he panicked so much he wasn't able to use his vhf radio. I had to take over and relay communications to the rescue authorities and other vessels to stay clear as a rescue was in progress as well as a capsized boat in the main channel. Our radio conversation was nothing like vhf training day doing the course, it was real life interaction of a constant changing situation.

Most people these days log on before heading out in their boat via their phones (I also do it). I then put my phone in a waterproof case which I network to my other electronics so I can see who's calling me without needing to get the phone from the waterproof case. When I log on with the marine rescue group we have an option to allow the land base to track the phone, which I allow. The marine base has several large screen computers showing every boats position from their phones on the computer chart screens. We give a return home time, which can change by either altering on the rescue app or calling on the vhf radio. This info is also relayed via relay towers over hundreds of kms up and down the coast, so not simply vhf radio range. Its also a good way of getting help from other vessels quickly which are known to be in the areas. The phone now outperforms the radio by three times the range with offshore trips too. Personally I carry a Garmin inreach for communications and emergency without range restrictions, I can use it anywhere in the world as long as Im outside with a view of the sky.

 

JDP I took your advice and have purchased a solar panel kit which includes a solar controller that is suitable for SLB batteries so thanks again for your wise and knowledgable advice. Cheers

Thank you so much you have explained that so well for me cheers 

Not managed much fishing lately due to work but yesterday came free so i grabbed the opportunity. 
Picked up my couzin David at 5am amd was driving out Brightlingsea harbour by 5.30.
We headed for the priory spit hoping for smoothounds with an hour Before higj water left, but jt was a bit slow, David had 1 houmd at 6lb and i had a couple of doggies.  We fished it down for an hour so and them moved up on to the gunfleet where it picked up a bit  i had 1 bass at 3lb and 4 hounds around ths 6&7 lb mark amd a small tope,  David didnt get a bite which caused him some consternation, he put it down to the side of the boat i was fishing from unitl the tide turned again and the boat swung round amd i carried on catching and he didnt.  We fished the tide back up for a few hours then moved back to the priory where there was now 3 charters and 2 privateers and we were straigjt into the hounds. My total was 12 hounds with the  biggest at 13lb and David had 4. Bait was ragworm amd squid. 
  Great day especially winding up David about his poor fishing skills. 
 

Not 100% sure how they landed it. It was a club member but I wasn’t there when it was caught. 

Almost every boat here will have a vhf radio, which there is a licence requirement to use, however both here in Aus and in the UK Ive never heard of anyone being asked to prove they have a licence. Maritime will not prosecute any boat owner using a vhf without licence to make a safety call. The only time people get in trouble is when being a nuisance on the radio. Doing an international recognised vhf licence course is very easy, however is it really needed. Most people can easily look up how to do a radio call, whether a mayday, pan pan or relay etc. I would recommend anyone to have a radio rather than not have one because they don't have a licence. Within 2nm its not a legal requirement to have any radio on a boat here but beyond that yes a radio and even an epirb is needed. 
You can always find your closest rescue service and get the phone number for the call station. In a boat like yours, consider a handheld waterproof floating vhf.

No not far from a couple of hundred yards to a mile out, as for a bigger engine yes but I’m having to save up for that 

Yes it’s a thing here in Australia as it’s often the coldest month and can be very much like Europe in winter.
My son headed off Friday to do a few music gigs in a small town the other side of the mountains, a 10hr return trip. His next gig after that is a 4 day 4500km drive. 
 
Just settled down for a relaxed evening with the Mrs when the phone rings🫣 our son, forgot his guitar and music folders😳
Mum, dad can you bring my music gear 😣. However the gear is at a different house an hour in the wrong direction from our place.
So a quick overnight trip it was. Got to his gig with 20mins to spare , which was a good night out. Camped at the bottom of the mountains in sub 0’c temps. Didn’t have to head to high before we were driving in the white stuff and -4’c mid day temps. Must admit it’s good to do a few trips to the snow over winter given it’s so close to where we live on the coast. It did feel very much like Xmas.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
 

Yes it’s a thing here in Australia as it’s often the coldest month and can be very much like Europe in winter.
My son headed off Friday to do a few music gigs in a small town the other side of the mountains, a 10hr return trip. His next gig after that is a 4 day 4500km drive. 
 
Just settled down for a relaxed evening with the Mrs when the phone rings🫣 our son, forgot his guitar and music folders😳
Mum, dad can you bring my music gear 😣. However the gear is at a different house an hour in the wrong direction from our place.
So a quick overnight trip it was. Got to his gig with 20mins to spare , which was a good night out. Camped at the bottom of the mountains in sub 0’c temps. Didn’t have to head to high before we were driving in the white stuff and -4’c mid day temps. Must admit it’s good to do a few trips to the snow over winter given it’s so close to where we live on the coast. It did feel very much like Xmas.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
 

Yes the trailer is just for slipway launching you are right it’s not road worthy. I will be using her out of Bembridge harbour only a mile out there are some great Bass and Plaice spots I know that I can’t wait to get back to 😉thanks for your reply 

the one i cept had a belly full of small crab.

well i went beach fishing to day (26/724 )
sun was out, a bit of a brease but pleasent, it was 10 pm and i loweded up my transport. 3 rods and rod rest,i had no idear what i was going to catch but tbe out of the hose was grate. off i went heading to leep beach,the trip there was uneventfull , iterned on to the park and maide my way to the little spit.
iset myself up on the beach. there ws a bit of a breaze but the sun was out.
i set one rod up with 3 hook rig, and one with a 1 hook on a slidder,the last rood i set up for mackreal.
the tide was on the tern to come in. i yoused dirty squid for baite. nuthing happend till the water had coverd the flat ground and then one rod gave some bigbite movement. grabing the rod and lifting it slowley i got 2 more jerks, so i wound in the baite was only in about  a 30 to 40 cm of water. it was a desent bass, tide came in a bit more and the outher rd did the same. yes anouther bass a bit smaller but a fish arfter all.  it went quite and the wind got up a bit. then the seewead made fishing hard woork. so i packed up and went home.
photoes to follow

Thank you so much that is all so very helpful cheers!

I've setup my 4x4, both my daughters 4x4 and my son Hiace van to run permanently off grid without needing to run any of from the alternator. However they all can charge off the alternator. 

Three vehicles are running renogy 175w solar panels which produce around 13amp in good sunlight. Obviously output varies depending where you live. One vehicle uses two different setups, a dcdc controller from alternator and a seperate 120w companion solar blanket. The reason this one has just 120w blanketr is they also carry another seperate Dometic plb40 battery which has connections for usb's anderson plugs and cig etc. That battery can be taken away from the vehicle to run their 35lt fridge freezer and led lighting when camping away from the vehicle. That system can only use a max of 10amp solar, hence the smaller 120w blanket, which still keeps the battery capacity charged to full after an hour or two of good sunlight.

Our other vehicle setups are solar and alternator into a bcdc charger controller which provides more than enough sunlight than we ever need to keep our 90ah lithium batteries full within 1hr of sun. All three of these vehicles run at least 1 x 45lt fridge freezer, mine runs a 45 and a 12lt, sometimes my daughter will run one fridge and two small 60 and 80lt freezers when travelling with her fishing buddies.

My 15ft boat has an engine starting battery which runs to a dcdc charger which powers the house battery. Again this dcdc charger controls solar as well, however this battery also has a BMS which can take direct power from solar without a dcdc charger. When I head to remote islands, I take a Victron solar controller, a 160w solar blanket and the house battery from my boat, which I leave on what ever island Im based at. I can freeze bottles of water into ice to take on day trips in the boat. 
I could also power the boat battery without a dcdc charger by just using the Victron solar regulator and what ever solar panel i chose. 

If funds allow for it, you could look at a quality flexible panel with a built in regulator from Solbian sun power, this would be the way I would head for something permanent in a boat and as simply as sticking or tying down and joining tow wires to the battery.

Just to add my victron solar controller as has functions to allow for timers to turn certain things on and off, a great idea if you wanted security lights to turn on etc. Obviously bilge pumps can be set as auto functioning with float switches.

Some solar panels work better than others in shade, so perhaps look at the likes of the Renogy cigs for cloud and poor light performance. 

Having a battery constantly monitored and topped up will also extend the life of the battery.  
https://www.solbian.eu/en/24-allinone-solution?_gl=1*1s3r0wv*_up*MQ..*_ga*MTc5NTY0MzIxNi4xNzIxOTk2NDE2*_ga_FWBBRBJNZX*MTcyMTk5NjQxNS4xLjAuMTcyMTk5NjQxNS4wLjAuMA..

I was left doing duties helping out transport for old people I somehow ended up volunteering for 😐
While once again my daughter headed off in search of some more tuna for smoking. I bet the wind will blow its bum off when I get chance to head offshore. Hopefully some big tuna heading up the coast behind the first run of smaller ones. 

 


 

A quick dry brine mix of 1 part salt 2 parts soft brown sugar. Slice the tuna and cover in the mix and leave in the fridge for 30-40 mins. 
 



 


Rince off the mix and pat dry with paper towelling and leave in the fridge for another 30+ mins to form a dry sticky surface. If the surface isn’t tacky it won’t form a decent coating and rather steam in the smoker. Grind some black pepper on some for those who like that. 
Start the bbq charcoal, I  use an electric fire starter, which has the charcoal burning well in about 1 min. 
close the lid and get the temp under control for a 90-100’c smoke. Place a couple of chunks of apple or cherry wood among the charcoals ( not coals ).


 
I use diffusing filters very much like pizza stones over the flame and have the tune placed on a wire rack higher in the bbq. 
leave for around 35mins then remove and allow to cool. I find vacuum sealing a few steaks seems to increase the flavour. 
Only issue was I didn’t have enough tuna, so need to head out and get more.

I was left doing duties helping out transport for old people I somehow ended up volunteering for 😐
While once again my daughter headed off in search of some more tuna for smoking. I bet the wind will blow its bum off when I get chance to head offshore. Hopefully some big tuna heading up the coast behind the first run of smaller ones. 

 


 

I was left doing duties helping out transport for old people I somehow ended up volunteering for 😐
While once again my daughter headed off in search of some more tuna for smoking. I bet the wind will blow its bum off when I get chance to head offshore. Hopefully some big tuna heading up the coast behind the first run of smaller ones. 

 


 

I was left doing duties helping out transport for old people I somehow ended up volunteering for 😐
While once again my daughter headed off in search of some more tuna for smoking. I bet the wind will blow its bum off when I get chance to head offshore. Hopefully some big tuna heading up the coast behind the first run of smaller ones. 

 


 

I was left doing duties helping out transport for old people I somehow ended up volunteering for 😐
While once again my daughter headed off in search of some more tuna for smoking. I bet the wind will blow its bum off when I get chance to head offshore. Hopefully some big tuna heading up the coast behind the first run of smaller ones.