Horseshoe rocks Sat 19th

[jonnyswamp]

A forecast of 2/3 knt Easterlies and a small tide is as good as any to fish this mark, so we got the 6 am lock and headed down channel

Wind was forecast to pick up a bit later in the afternoon, but that wouldn't matter as we would be back up around Cardiff area by then with the last of the flood giving us a helping hand

The 2hr 20 odd minute steam down went pretty quick and went straight to the largest of the rocks/reefs to see what our line of drift would be

With that sorted, the first proper drift produced a very welcome Pollock of around 7lb, caught on a 6" Rhubarb and Custard

The next 3 drifts produced another few Pollock around the 4lb mark, then nothing for a few drifts

The wind was quite obviously more than 2/3 knts, easily 12/14 knts and wind against tide made the drifts interesting

We moved to one of the smaller rocks/reefs where we had 2 Pollock around 4/lb and a solitary Bass of around 300mm, that went back

Back to the largest rock to see if there were any bigger Pollock showing, but no, nothing

A bit early for the Bass by the looks, but the Pollock were there. There were small pockets of baitfish all over both marks, so hopefully won't be long before they turn up in numbers

Wind was worsening by the minute and making things very lumpy, so at 12.15 I called time and we turned for home

Fuck me, 3m swells are not nice to go through, 4/5knts max and getting beat up to boot

Climbed over one, only to go straight through the next like a sub

Forward hatch above the V berth suffered a snapped handle and was letting gallons of wet stuff in, so a rope was tied from base of rails either side and a fender wedged between the rope and the hatch

This got the water ingress down to a trickle

Then a wiper blade fell off, so swapped the remaining one over to my side

I won't go on and on, but it took 5 hrs to get back to Cardiff, but we got back !!!

Tied up to drop the lads off and lifted the engine hatch to discover water up to the engine mountings, fuck, fuck, fuck

Switched on the other bilge pump and was empty in a few minutes, main auto bilge pump had been merrily pumping nothing for the last 5 hrs due to a blockage

Was lucky that the amount of water that was sloshing about under the deck didn't short the electrics out and leave us dead in the very swelly water

Went back down to the boat Sunday and repaired/refixed all the things that failed ready for tomorrow's outing (a lot more local)

 

[jonnyswamp]

No pics sorry as we were going to lie the fish out on the deck and photograph them all at the end of the day 

[Saintly Fish]

Sounds like you had a proper adventure. Is that the worst conditions you've been out in In Your boat? 
 

[Andy135]

Crikey! What a session! You lot were massively lucky to get home.

Glad you made it back safely in the end.

[jonnyswamp]

1 hour ago, Saintly Fish said:

Sounds like you had a proper adventure. Is that the worst conditions you've been out in In Your boat? 
 

Yes, it's the worst sea (relative to boat size) I have been out in

Not one I want to repeat

[jonnyswamp]

8 minutes ago, JonC said:

The excess water in the bilge probably acted as ballast and kept you more stable. 

Yes probably, but the way we were pitching we could've easily had electrical problems

On reflection, I'm amazed we didn't

[Dicky]

Should’ve pulled into Watchet or Porlock and spent the evening in the pub .

mate of mine fished horseshoe rocks a few weeks ago and had 10 bass. If it’s the same one down by watermouth 

[mike farrants]

good fishing a bit of luck with you on the return journey - lucky you called time when you did! stay safe.

[Andy135]

Just reflecting on your experience a bit more and when I think about all the implications of what happened I'm amazed that you made it back in one piece. 😱

Definitely a wake up call for us all.

[Odyssey]

I have the fun job of renewing all mine later this year. 
 

I’d rather replace before they fail. 
 

sounds like an “interesting” trip…. Reminds me of a day coming back in from Celtic Deeps…. 3m swell on your bum, howling Easterly in your face… crew laid down on cabin floor and said “wake me up when we get in or if I’m about to die” 

Its amazing what your boat can take :S

[jonnyswamp]

4 hours ago, Andy135 said:

Just reflecting on your experience a bit more and when I think about all the implications of what happened I'm amazed that you made it back in one piece. 😱

Definitely a wake up call for us all.

Agreed, I played it down when we got back in

Could quite easily have been different 

[jonnyswamp]

3 hours ago, JonC said:

Well worth us all  checking our pumps, I personally know that my smaller switched bilge pump works but I haven’t checked my big auto one for ages. 

The entire bilge is having a wet vac Friday, to get out any crud that's down there

The filter was clear, the pick up got blocked with paper/wrappers off feathers

I'm.out tomorrow, but not venturing too far and won't be taking any over the bow !

[jonnyswamp]

5 hours ago, Dicky said:

Should’ve pulled into Watchet or Porlock and spent the evening in the pub .

mate of mine fished horseshoe rocks a few weeks ago and had 10 bass. If it’s the same one down by watermouth 

It did cross my mind, but forecast was worse the next day

Yes, same mark, 4/5 miles off Ilfracombe 

[Dicky]

That must be getting on for 40 miles each way!!

[GPSguru]

16 hours ago, jonnyswamp said:

Wind was worsening by the minute and making things very lumpy, so at 12.15 I called time and we turned for home

Fuck me, 3m swells are not nice to go through, 4/5knts max and getting beat up to boot

Climbed over one, only to go straight through the next like a sub

 

That is  RIB weather ! I guess you were having issues climbing one wave and then surfing into the next and trying not to stuff the bow, throttle control is key !

Well done on the Pollock. At least you have a nice clean engine bilge with all that water sloshing around and cleaning it !

 

 

[Odyssey]

11 hours ago, Dicky said:

That must be getting on for 40 miles each way!!

Yep maybe a bit more….

 

[jonnyswamp]

22 hours ago, Dicky said:

That must be getting on for 40 miles each way!!

42

EDIT

add another couple of miles, as that is from when I plotted the course out in the Channel, not moorings

Edited June 23, 2021 by jonnyswamp

[Saintly Fish]

On 6/22/2021 at 7:30 AM, jonnyswamp said:

Yes, it's the worst sea (relative to boat size) I have been out in

Not one I want to repeat

At least you know that not only you, but your boat can cope with the conditions. 

[jonnyswamp]

23 hours ago, GPSguru said:

 

That is  RIB weather ! I guess you were having issues climbing one wave and then surfing into the next and trying not to stuff the bow, throttle control is key !

Well done on the Pollock. At least you have a nice clean engine bilge with all that water sloshing around and cleaning it !

 

 

Could well be my inexperience in those sort of conditions that made things worse, was on the throttle constantly trying to smooth things out

Wave height, time between waves and direction were random, with no regular pattern to anticipate, so just took it as it came and did what I could