Weds 22nd and Friday the 24th (Lyme bay wrecks)

[GPSguru]

A quick catch up report from last week.

I went out twice for two short morning sessions, and unfortunately there is not a great deal to report. The boat engine was serviced on Monday, although expensive, the Mercury main dealer's head grease monkey is very thorough and generally does an excellent job. So, Weds morning was nice (ish) weather and a good opportunity to check out the engine service and also the boat electronics as I had updated all the software and charts. I was intending to launch at 8:00am, but the traffic was again horrendous due to major road works, and it was 9:00am before I was able to slip Bluefin into the water. There was quite a thick mist, which I assumed would clear once I was out of the harbour, but I assumed wrong and even at 8 miles out the visibility was only about a quarter of a mile, which my crew (the wife) was not best pleased with !

 I had decided to visit a wreck that I don’t often fish and the 8 mile trip was ok at 20kts with just enough visibility to make it a safe passage. Once we got there we joined Matt Forrester with Silver Halo who was already drifting the wreck. The fishing was slow, and my jigs were being hammered by jumbo sized Mackerel that were coughing up fingerling mackerel when being unhooked. Also, on the wreck were Scad and Pout, but no Bass or Pollock were at home. Unfortunately it was a tide limited trip as I had to be back on the slip for 12:30. The total haul for the trip was 7 Jumbo Mack, 2 scad, and 2 Pout. However, the trip proved that the engine was perfect after the service and the electronics were all working fine.

Friday morning was also a time limited trip as I had the school run to do in the afternoon. Launched solo at 8:30 and headed out to a 12 mile wreck that produced Bass the last time I was there. The weather was bright sunshine and the sea was OK allowing me to cruise at 27knts, so quite a quick passage to the wreck. Already drifting the wreck was an Arvor that was identical to @JonC, I thought he had taken a wrong turn as the both crew were fungus faced and very rotund in stature 🤣

I drifted the far end of the wreck and using SPJ, and ended up with 4 Bass which were all in the 4 lb (ish) size range, I kept the 2 largest and the others went back to fight another day. Again, later in the morning I was joined by Silver Halo out of Torquay, and Matt and myself had a quick chat before I left at 12:00 midday.

The haul from this trip was 4 Bass and 7 Pout, all fell to a 150g Osoi jig in Mackerel colours.

Back on the slip, I had a minor incident that could have been a disaster. I winched the boat onto the trailer and although it didn’t feel right, I didn’t take much notice, however, I soon discovered that the rearmost wobble roller had turned vertical and was jammed against the hull. I quickly reversed the trailer in deeper, as the tide was rapidly ebbing, but was left with a situation where the boat was jammed on the trailer and would not roll off so that I could correct the issue. Luckily, another local boater saw my predicament and lent a hand to help me get the boat off. I was rocking the stern (and he pushed from the bow. Slowly the boat slid off.

I found that the wobble roller had locked solid (I guess corrosion on the pivot bolt) and it took two of us to force it to its normal position, where I was able to load the boat with no issue.

Fortunately, the hull damage is very minor, with just a 10mm gel coat chip on the lifting strake at the stern, which will be an easy fix. I feel so very lucky as I have seen this issue a few times in the past and a vertical roller normally takes out a long deep gouge in the side of the hull. The trailer is 2.5 years old and in that time I have made 89 trips, so the trailer has been dunked 178 times. The only maintenance required has been adjusting of the brakes back in the summer. Washing the trailer after each trip and using the hub wash really does work. I checked all the other wobble rollers (16 pairs in total) and they are all fine, however, I think I will replace all the pivot bolts with SS hardware.

This coming week the weather is rubbish, so I will get the trailer rollers sorted out and repair the very minor gel coat chip (easy on a white hull).

So, a few fish and a little excitement for the 2 trips, with a total distance of 54Nm

 

Edited September 25, 2021 by GPSguru

[Andy135]

A good couple of sessions. Well done 👍

If your trailer is galvanized then check before you fit SS bolts to your wobble rollers - I have a vague memory that stainless and galvanized don't play well together. Can't remember where I heard it so I could be wrong but worth a quick google anyhow.

[Andy135]

1 hour ago, GPSguru said:

Already drifting the wreck was an Arvor that was identical to @JonC, I thought he had taken a wrong turn as the both crew were fungus faced and very rotund in stature 🤣

🤣 pulling no punches tonight Ian!

[GPSguru]

1 hour ago, Andy135 said:

A good couple of sessions. Well done 👍

If your trailer is galvanized then check before you fit SS bolts to your wobble rollers - I have a vague memory that stainless and galvanized don't play well together. Can't remember where I heard it so I could be wrong but worth a quick google anyhow.

Yes, because Galv (zinc) is higher on the periodic table, so electrolysis over time could be an issue, but with mild steel bolts where the galv wears off will most likely rust a lot quicker than the dissimilar metal issue. However, electrolysis can be limited to an acceptable amount by the use of anti seize compounds (copper grease) or waterproof grease. On the trailer I always use Fuchs Aqua 2 grease which is highly resistant to sea water as it contains a lot of calcium.

A bigger problem is that SS bolts are not as strong, but the forces on this application are purely shear force, so I am thinking it will be ok.

Edit: I have just checked and A4 SS 8mm bolts have a shear capacity of about 850kg. The boat weighs about 1200kg but is supported by 16 wobble roller pivot points, so if we consider the weight distribution to be one third at the bow and two thirds at the stern the average weight on each pivot bolt on the stern wobble rollers (8 pairs) will be roughly 100 kg , I am happy to go with a safety factor of 8 to 1.

 

Edited September 26, 2021 by GPSguru