JDP

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. 

 


 

He was contacted via VHF a number of times, in the end the navy had to go over to him and sort it out… so that was perhaps part of the prosecution costs… 
I’ve also seen recently that a Jet ski driver was also prosecuted recently under the updated Col regs where PWC are required to follow the Col regs…. Apparently he was was wake jumping in front of the Cowes ferry, in Cowes week forcing the ferry to take immediate evasive action…. 🫣🫣🫣🫣
Moral of the story….. read the rules folks, may save your life 🙂 

Felt like a long time since Ive been out on the water after stuffing my back but back at it today. Must admit I struggled with breath holds on shallow 8m reefs.  Added a couple of extra weights to my shoulder harness which eventually helped, strong current however didn't help. Took a couple of youngsters on one of the boats my daughter skippers and it wasn't long until we all had our bag limit of 3 lobsters each and 2 abalone each. 

Just had a plate of crumbed lobster and lobster, even enough for our spoilt dog!!!!!

Decided not to do anymore commercial fishing work as its that which stuffed my back again. 

Felt like a long time since Ive been out on the water after stuffing my back but back at it today. Must admit I struggled with breath holds on shallow 8m reefs.  Added a couple of extra weights to my shoulder harness which eventually helped, strong current however didn't help. Took a couple of youngsters on one of the boats my daughter skippers and it wasn't long until we all had our bag limit of 3 lobsters each and 2 abalone each. 

Just had a plate of crumbed lobster and lobster, even enough for our spoilt dog!!!!!

Decided not to do anymore commercial fishing work as its that which stuffed my back again. 

Bit of rewiring, new nav lights, live well leaks, plumbing in toilet, lift and anti foul.

Needs a bit doing to it but working my way through the jobs 👌

Hi Jon, yeah over seven and a half foot beam, that's what sold it.
As for whether it's a keeper, we will see. If I get on with it ok, it'll be around for a while, if not, will move it on. Like everything, if the right price is offered, it'll go..... But not until I've christened it
I have seen some real horror stories when it comes to wiring, bikes too, and inevitably, what starts as a tidy up ends up as a rewire, just because it's ultimately easier

For anyone interested, 2 videos up
 

When the boat was built in 2019, Ribcraft sea trialled it and found the 3 blade prop supplied by Mercury made it 'under propped'.
Ribcraft normally supply Suzuki engines, but I had specified a mercury 150, and, Mercury (Barrus in the Uk) were keen to do more business with Ribcraft so they sent down an engineer to the sea trials, and he suggested 19 pitch 4 blade Revolution, which they fitted and found it to be OK. As you know, it is basically a racing prop with exhaust vents that can be opened or closed to fine tune it.
I have found the grip the prop gives to be outstanding, with no noticeable slip on a 30kt 'J' turn, and the hole shot is very impressive.
The best thing of all, is the prop cost me no extra on the package, however, I tend to look after it as it would be around £800 to replace.
The only change I have had to make is I had to upgrade the prop hub to an almost solid hub (I believe it is bushed but has titanium rods running through it) as I was getting some 'prop rattle' (due to its weight and grip) at idle and low revs, the new hub was £150 ish

Maybe we will see you with fish now!!

I too have a growing collection of trailer parts, just waiting for the tyres to arrive

All setup for new adventures. 
 

 

Slow postage getting the softer black skids but all cut and fitted now and marine carpet on the bunks. Starting to collect so many trailer parts now, I could almost build another !!!!

All setup for new adventures. 
 

 

All setup for new adventures. 
 

 

All setup for new adventures. 
 

 

Totally agree…. 
 
I use the cheap stuff for general fishing but I use trusted (more expensive stuff) for the big fish trips.

Do you stick to buying the same labeled ebay braid or shop around ? Maybe its just this part of the world but everyone Ive known to try ebay braids have ended up binning theirs. Maybe being so close to China we get way more fraudulent braid. Ebay even shows this when I looked to see what we have on offer https://community.ebay.com.au/t5/Buying/BUYER-BE-AWARE-OVER-RATED-STRENGTH-RAITINGS-ON-BRAID-LINES-amp/td-p/1729155

Some of the department store braids can be cheaper than Ebay and at least people have a bit of warranty if it doesn't perform as advertised. I saw a conversation on another site where dry and wet strengths also changed on some of them.
We might only get 1 or 2 days (nights) opportunity to target broadbill, which can be in excess of 300kg and found offshore in water depths of 3000m. I'd prefer the confidence of knowing the braid on my reel when I have 1200m out that it is as advertised. 

Slow postage getting the softer black skids but all cut and fitted now and marine carpet on the bunks. Starting to collect so many trailer parts now, I could almost build another !!!!

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.

Looks yum!!

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.

Do you find you always get the same braid or ever noticed the same brand changes at all ? Ive had friends buy ebay braid and been happy with, then bought from the same site and had terrible results. Ive also had friends by what they thought was genuine saltine braid in  1500m spools on obey which you could break with ease. 
Apologies on the earlier post, had a few days in and out hospital which I find frustrating. Still good to see some of your pics. If the pics are too large to post, you can take a picture of them with your phone perhaps and resize down if you have more. Its funny as we are starting to see large skate in my area now, not rays but true skate like what you posted. What's more, one of the deep water investigators recently filmed skate at 3000m deep off the coast here, which was a huge surprise to the researchers. 

For anyone who may have read any of my posts over the past few years, I've highly recommended the 131 braid. I've found it to outlast any other braid I've used, which ends up costing far less in the long term as I don't need to replace it often. In fact I've not replaced any in 4 yrs. The reels that I originally put this braid on have handled all sorts of fish, both large and small. Its only downside has been the price. This line casts very well, but like many braids, the accuracy of the strength labelling seems a bit off - expect it to break well above what the rating is.

Apparently Sufix are not making enough out of their premium line and sell far more of the cheaper 832, so are dropping the 131 from manufacture. So tackle stores this side of the pond are now selling it at well bellow the price of jbraid and other budget braids. If I hadn't recently spent so much on my boat and trailer I would be buying a little stock pile given how good the price is, however I have ordered 4 spools of 300m which should cover me well for the next few years.
 
If you have never tried it and considered it too expensive, keep an eye on prices to see if your local tackle store drop the price. Price here equates to around 20 quid for 300m of 10-20-30 and 50lb. 
 
A non related image of my boat in the background just to brighten the page !!!!!.....because I know Jon likes random pic's.

As a tackle dealer, I am in direct contact with the wholesalers, so I get to know when a lot of 'major brand' is made, and some of it would surprise you !
An example would be 2 major hook brands in the uk come from the same factory, same batch runs. We will call them A & B. Some anglers use B because A breaks. Some anglers use B because A bends, yet they are the same hooks 🤷‍♂️