JDP

I use Garmin blue chart g3 vision which has been extremely good in both 8410 and 8412, one off purchase, no subscription. I also had the simrad Navionic vision for simrad, which I gave to the owners of the commercial boat I work on at times. I also had the phone app version but dropped it after the subscription doubled. 

I also build my own quick draw charts in areas which haven't been surveyed. To be honest though, Ive been busy on other boats and stuffed with my back for a while, so will need to get my head around using it again now, especially given the boat Ive been working has Simrads. Building your own charts and setting various colours for different depths can be very useful.

Airmar https://www.airmar.com/Catalog/Marine/Chirp-ready

There are numerous styles of adapters to make many compatible. I've got one Simrad transducer (airmar) connected to my Garmin and two Garmin transducers all into an 8412. 

Midweek I get a sneaky message from. @Saintly Fish sending me an XC forecast and asking if I could be available on Friday. With my work schedule looking relatively clear I move a couple of meetings and get the ok to skip off work for the day.
A 4.45am wake-up wasn't the nicest but boy was it worth it. Out of the marina by just after 6am. Mint conditions as soon as we hit the water, and we were on our mark by 7.30am.

The target was stingrays. By 7.37am Neil nails a thumping bite to boat a beautiful 10lb smoothound, taken on ragworm.

20 minutes later he does the same with another lovely smoothie, this one nudging 12lb.

Feeling the pressure a little at this point I'm glad to see my rod tip give a good rattle then bend nicely. After a lively scrap we see our target coming to the surface.

My first ever stingray, about 4lb and very welcome. I also managed a couple of out-of-season congers too, on both my rods at the same time. Very surprised to see them in summer.
The next 30 mins or so were quiet, with nothing bothering our baits. Neil rustled up a stingray of his own as the top of the tide neared.

Slack water arrived and with the wind building a little we settle in for the start of the next tide. All of a sudden our rods go nuts! With bending rods and drags singing we each have decent fish on. After a bit of Laurel & Hardy shenanigans with the net we boat two lovely smoothies.

Really chunky ones at 14lb and 12lb and a new PB for me.
Another few fish follow, sending the rods over in typical smoothound smash & grab style.


At this point we'd lost count of the number of hounds to the boat, but we're fairly certain we had 7 double-figure hounds by the time we ran out of bait and headed in, plus two stingrays, two congers and two PB's for me. We ended the day with a well-earned beer in glorious sunshine back at the marina.
Big, big thanks to @Saintly Fish for hosting, skippering and putting us on the fish 💪👍.

Ive used a couple over here in Aus, the seado is considered the best as a fishing ski. Never been tempted to actually buy one though.

Like I mentioned, never been tempted in buying one. Those who buy them head out and never come back!!!!!.....Well one came back, however he was minus the ski.

Not sure Steve will be back somehow. Hasn't been online since his original post.
Can't even blame @JonC for scaring him off this time...

Oh Danny Vokins assumably u mean.
well sounds like they’ll be a next time great stuff 

They'll be back again, one most likely again later this year and both next year again. Both have travelled pretty well and caught hundreds of sharks in UK waters. I believe Danny has had over 60 threshers from his boat now and 200+ porbeagles. We used to work and fish together back in the UK, just felt bad not being able to get them a mako to the boat.

mate over in Portugal   as  had nowt but trouble with his twin 150 hp yams   oil pump packed up on one     gears  knacking up      if you get a good engine regardless of make  you tend to like them    get a  duffer  and its  like burning £50 notes  

I love my Yam, however the guy Im working with at the moment owned a Yam dealership and also a die-hard Yam person but put a Merc on the commercial boat Im skippering the next few days and can't fault it. He's ordered another for next month having clocked over 2000hrs in just over 12 months. Yes this boat is on the water running everyday, all day carrying up to 1 ton of shellfish most days. 

Yamaha all the way 😉 

They'll be back again, one most likely again later this year and both next year again. Both have travelled pretty well and caught hundreds of sharks in UK waters. I believe Danny has had over 60 threshers from his boat now and 200+ porbeagles. We used to work and fish together back in the UK, just felt bad not being able to get them a mako to the boat.

Just had some old sharking friends stay with me from the UK targeting mako's. Just before their arrival I was feeling confident of ticking the species off their list, with mako just about everywhere from inshore reefs to offshore, even the day they arrived a 264kg mako was landed. However the weather turned to pretty much to 2m swell on 1.5-2m seas for the entire period they were here, not to mention a couple of boats I had lined up falling through due to a split fuel tank on our first day and other issues.

So it was down to my 15ft boat to get us offshore each day. Seals were a menace soon finding our burley trails each day, then thieving us out of baits. We had mako's just 5m from the boat very reluctant to take baits and those that did simply grabbed and dropped baits, even live bonito's weren't enough to keep their interest. Whalers sharks on the other hand weren't so fussy and took baits without issue, however it wasn't those we were targeting. Plenty of hammerheads also checked out the baits but typical to hammerheads, none would take a bait with wire. A thresher smashed a bait on the surface but only stayed connected for about 30 seconds before pulling the hook. 
 
There was a fair amount of tackle failure, with 14/o hooks straightening and specially bought from the USA mako wire traces getting bitten through. I think a serious tackle review will need to be considered before heading out again. One day we had 9 runs to just one shark staying connected (which happened to be the only bait I rigged).

We worked hard at it but just didn't manage the target, one mako even decided to jump cartwheels in front of the boat just to tease us!!! We flogged awful conditions, I even got seasick and took waves both over the bow and stern of the boat but it just wasn't to be. However one of the guests managed to top up 47 species and some 250lb+ stingrays the local bearded greenpeace warriors wanted to string us up for. 

Weather is still terrible.

Just had some old sharking friends stay with me from the UK targeting mako's. Just before their arrival I was feeling confident of ticking the species off their list, with mako just about everywhere from inshore reefs to offshore, even the day they arrived a 264kg mako was landed. However the weather turned to pretty much to 2m swell on 1.5-2m seas for the entire period they were here, not to mention a couple of boats I had lined up falling through due to a split fuel tank on our first day and other issues.

So it was down to my 15ft boat to get us offshore each day. Seals were a menace soon finding our burley trails each day, then thieving us out of baits. We had mako's just 5m from the boat very reluctant to take baits and those that did simply grabbed and dropped baits, even live bonito's weren't enough to keep their interest. Whalers sharks on the other hand weren't so fussy and took baits without issue, however it wasn't those we were targeting. Plenty of hammerheads also checked out the baits but typical to hammerheads, none would take a bait with wire. A thresher smashed a bait on the surface but only stayed connected for about 30 seconds before pulling the hook. 
 
There was a fair amount of tackle failure, with 14/o hooks straightening and specially bought from the USA mako wire traces getting bitten through. I think a serious tackle review will need to be considered before heading out again. One day we had 9 runs to just one shark staying connected (which happened to be the only bait I rigged).

We worked hard at it but just didn't manage the target, one mako even decided to jump cartwheels in front of the boat just to tease us!!! We flogged awful conditions, I even got seasick and took waves both over the bow and stern of the boat but it just wasn't to be. However one of the guests managed to top up 47 species and some 250lb+ stingrays the local bearded greenpeace warriors wanted to string us up for. 

Weather is still terrible.

I had to do this with my three in the back of our landcruiser using cardboard. Any treats had to be in three seperate bowls, worked very well on those big 1200km per day drives.

Just had some old sharking friends stay with me from the UK targeting mako's. Just before their arrival I was feeling confident of ticking the species off their list, with mako just about everywhere from inshore reefs to offshore, even the day they arrived a 264kg mako was landed. However the weather turned to pretty much to 2m swell on 1.5-2m seas for the entire period they were here, not to mention a couple of boats I had lined up falling through due to a split fuel tank on our first day and other issues.

So it was down to my 15ft boat to get us offshore each day. Seals were a menace soon finding our burley trails each day, then thieving us out of baits. We had mako's just 5m from the boat very reluctant to take baits and those that did simply grabbed and dropped baits, even live bonito's weren't enough to keep their interest. Whalers sharks on the other hand weren't so fussy and took baits without issue, however it wasn't those we were targeting. Plenty of hammerheads also checked out the baits but typical to hammerheads, none would take a bait with wire. A thresher smashed a bait on the surface but only stayed connected for about 30 seconds before pulling the hook. 
 
There was a fair amount of tackle failure, with 14/o hooks straightening and specially bought from the USA mako wire traces getting bitten through. I think a serious tackle review will need to be considered before heading out again. One day we had 9 runs to just one shark staying connected (which happened to be the only bait I rigged).

We worked hard at it but just didn't manage the target, one mako even decided to jump cartwheels in front of the boat just to tease us!!! We flogged awful conditions, I even got seasick and took waves both over the bow and stern of the boat but it just wasn't to be. However one of the guests managed to top up 47 species and some 250lb+ stingrays the local bearded greenpeace warriors wanted to string us up for. 

Weather is still terrible.

I don't know how they've gotten such a good reputation, had nothing but issues with my Suzuki 140. Sometimes it wouldn't go over 3000rpm, oil alarms kept going off and needed a new gearbox under 400hrs. Ive owned 3 Suzuki outboards and all have had issues.

https://www.findafishingboat.com/cygnus-tornado-28/ad-134854
 
It’s an excellent boat. If you’re looking for an offshore capable boat it’ll knock the pants off Arvor 25 etc. you’re looking at a something akin to an offshore 25. It’s a very well priced piece of kit. 
 
Outdrive still under warranty. Modern legs are far more reliable if looked after. Volvo legs are used on a range of charter boats and as long as well maintained are ok. More fuel efficient than a shaft too…

That is because sea water, sand, and stainless hydraulic rams are not a loving combo !
 

I've had a twin engined twin outdrive  boat in the past and vowed never to go back to them. Four lift outs in a year for oil leaks on the rams. Even after new seals and shafts, they still leaked. I'd much rather drive slower and have less mechanics to go wrong. 

Looks like a nice craft. Shame about the devils spawn of an outdrive leg. 

Yes mate, people still use them, and still better value than the chinese cr*p on the market. Obviously they are not worth what they were 20 years ago, but still have value.

Yes back when it was sunny 😉

Me and a couple of mates out in dinghy’s fishing, had a pb bass.

Oh no, this is going to be a long thread!!!!