GPSguru

This is the bit I most like about this whole episode ............... a decent repair is going to be achieved that hopefully will see the end of it for many years to come.

Wayne Kerr 🙄

I have used Primocon on other stuff, and it is really good, a very tough paint, so much so, that we painted a hull with it after striping of the antifoul, it was so successful that it was never over painted with a top coat. This was a trailer boat. Most of the other anglers that I know on the estuary with moored boats don't antifoul their transducer, 99% of them just give it a clean a few times per season by just leaning over the stern / bathing platform ...... is that not an option ?

I have had some very big Ling from there, but that was 30years ago .......... Not the place to be tonight though, the Channel lightship is reporting 13ft waves and a wind speed of 39knts

It is probably no worse than mine, especially as I just got bloody drenched shoring up a wind damaged fence, that belongs to my neighbour, but was resting on my boat 😡🤬👹

Wot, like Shirley the plumber 🤣🤣

The 7 dwarfs ....... whistle while you work .....🤣

Last year I caught a 3lb smoothound pup on Mack Feathers (tinsels) ! ........ hooked fair and square in the gob ............

You have probably used that getting out of Marina 🤣 It would be a round trip of 110L (ish) so carrying another 80L will give me a buffer of 60L (ish)

Whilst you are smiling about that, Golum is lurking some place in Essex on Thames 🤣🤣🤣

True, carrying 4 x 20L cans is no problem, and then refuel with a jiggle syphon........... Ribcraft give a weight of circa 1200kg ........... my engine is heavier than the zuk 140, add to that 70kg of fuel (90L) and all the kit (probably at least another 50kg ) .... Ribcraft_585_Professional-1.pdf

Yep, the two hobbits, Frodo and Samwise from middle earth Hants & Berks ........... but which one will be Samewise Gamgee ? 🤣🤣🤣

No, unfortunately I have a 90L underfloor tank. There was an option of 180L tank which I now wish I had gone for, but at the time I just considered it to be extra weight to carry. However, a couple of times last year I came back in on almost fresh air, the worst case being just 5L left in the tank ................regarding the boat weight I have never put it on the weighbridge, but I would guess about 1300kg. It sits on a 2T trailer and Ribcraft are a heavy layup and renowned for being a bit heavy, which together with the hull design gives them their almost legendary sea keeping. Fuel wise I use about 0.85L / Nm, so I base all trips on 1L/Nm ..........

Following on from Andy's excellent thread about the French Banks, the Hurds Deep is almost an iconic place to fish, It is the deepest part of the English Channel, a long narrow trench that goes down to 500ft in places. For me, it is a 65 mile steam, so in my boat that would mean carrying an extra 80L of fuel to maintain the 'thirds' rule, but in the summer it just might be worth the effort. On a nice day with a decent sea that will be a 2.5 hour journey. I fished it many years ago on a boat from Plymouth and had good sport with double figure Pollock and some seriously big Ling. At that time it was also renowned for some big sharks ............ There are a few wrecks in the Hurd Deeps, so it could be interesting to fish them ............ I shall have to mention it to my mate next time we go out on his Offshore 25 and maybe make some plans.

Locating areas where Gilts feed can be tricky, a good starting point in an estuary is where a creek meets the main river. Pound for Pound probably one of the hardest fighting fish in UK waters, I tell people to imagine the fight of a 3lb Gilt to be the same as a 6lb Wrasse on steroids !

For us, it is a 45min boat ride ............

Yes they are Gilts from the Tamar .................. the big identifier give away is the big black spot just behind the gill covers. We get Gilts in all our estuaries here, some bigger than others ........ in the Teign we max out at about 2lb, but other estuaries like the Yealm and the Erme fish of 5lb or more are not uncommon with the record standing at 12lb which came from (IIRC) the Salcombe estuary (Salcombe is not a true estuary it is a Ria). A terrifically hard fighting fish, where small strong hooks are a must, I generally use Sakuma Chinu Pattern hooks .............. bait is the key for these, small Gilts can be caught on worm (Rag), but the bigger specimens will always go for Peeler and Razor baits ..............

I would also be interested what the paint manufacturer has to say ..... ?

What doe the manufacturer say about it ? Modern paints in general are much 'greener' then even a couple of years ago, so maybe the solvent and metallic content of antifoul is now much lower than it ever used to be.

Yep, we used to do almost the same with the Bayliner Classic a few years ago. When we went out to the mooring on the dingy, the first job would be to tie onto the stern and clear the transducer of growth (mostly Mussels) and check the engine intake was clear.

When are they starting ? .......... weather is poo until the end of the week

I looked it up on the charts and got a rough idea of the location ........... East of the IOW and along the Hampshire coast Not too far then ............... we often fish the wrecks up to 40 miles out, sometimes further if the weather is OK (out past the Channel light vessel is 55 miles). The 20 - 30 mile wrecks are a pretty common trip ............. when I fish the Skerries it is 22 miles each way, often ending up with a 50+ mile round trip. Give it a go, looks like you pass some good marks on the way, so there is elbow room for a Plan B, and Plan C

9/10 ........... unusually good for you Luke ! 🤣

How far do you call a long way ?

If there is nothing obvious then you need to check the weight of the boat ............