Saintly Fish Posted February 10, 2021 Share Posted February 10, 2021 Nice one Mike. All you need now is a calm day and a bit more warmth. Oh and a willing volunteer to guide for a few hours. Looks like your set for a good season. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mike farrants Posted February 26, 2021 Author Share Posted February 26, 2021 got my A2 buoy, alderney ring, 150m nylon rope, flare pack and the guy who sold the boat to me is going to take me out tomorrow and show me it all - plus we might dangle a hook over the side while we are at it! excited is not the word! Geoff, Dicky and Andy135 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andy135 Posted February 26, 2021 Share Posted February 26, 2021 Excellent Mike! Will keep my fingers crossed that everything goes smoothly for you. Take lots of pics and post up a report afterwards please. 👍 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Saintly Fish Posted February 26, 2021 Share Posted February 26, 2021 Good on yer Mike. Hope all goes well! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mike farrants Posted February 26, 2021 Author Share Posted February 26, 2021 theres blondes, undulates, spurs, eels all out in the bay! i'll let you know how i get on! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andy135 Posted February 26, 2021 Share Posted February 26, 2021 3 minutes ago, mike farrants said: theres blondes, undulates, spurs, eels all out in the bay! You're just rubbing it in now 🤣 #landlockedandlockeddown mike farrants 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mike farrants Posted March 1, 2021 Author Share Posted March 1, 2021 almost a false start - went to run her up friday night ahead of going out saturday morning and noticed the solar charger display said the battery was 11.9v - she wouldn't start - so a quick trip to Halfords and a new battery on 12.8v and she fired up on first turn of the key - disaster avoided! I replaced like for like battery - However the old one was a leisure battery- I didn't think they should be used for heavy loads like starting engines? I might be wrong though as i haven't a clue- all i know is I have a starter battery and a leisure battery in my Van and they are different - can anyone shed any light? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andy135 Posted March 1, 2021 Share Posted March 1, 2021 5 minutes ago, mike farrants said: almost a false start - went to run her up friday night ahead of going out saturday morning and noticed the solar charger display said the battery was 11.9v - she wouldn't start - so a quick trip to Halfords and a new battery on 12.8v and she fired up on first turn of the key - disaster avoided! I replaced like for like battery - However the old one was a leisure battery- I didn't think they should be used for heavy loads like starting engines? I might be wrong though as i haven't a clue- all i know is I have a starter battery and a leisure battery in my Van and they are different - can anyone shed any light? @suzook12 is our resident battery expert, so I'll leave him to respond re: start vs leisure batteries. Might be worth investigating why your battery voltage dropped to begin with though otherwise it'll happen to the new battery too. Oh, and how did it go on Saturday then?? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mike farrants Posted March 1, 2021 Author Share Posted March 1, 2021 (edited) ok on to the trip - started at 7am on saturday 28th Feb Weymouth marina, got her warmed up and and sorted out the anchor, buoy and ring. Foredeck was like an ice rink but it was a gorgeous morning! loaded up with gear and supplies and headed off the pontoon at 9am. chugged out for a few miles (about an hour) to a mark my mate showed me - accompanied by a small pod of dolphins - dropped anchor and started fishing the ebb - squid and mackerel on simple ledgers - fishing started brilliantly, with me pulling in a strap conger on the first drop with one rod and then a starry smooth-hound on the first drop of the 2nd rod. My mate had a decent Thornie on his first drop. I had 2 smoothies & 2 congers, and he had 3 thornies - I was using smaller baits and shorter traces than him -- but seemed odd he had his species off one side i had a different species off mine! 🙂 I struggled to hold bottom in the tide with 8oz weights so had to double up for a while (i dont have anything bigger yet - its on the list) things went quiet at slack water then picked up a bit as the flood started - between us we then pulled in pouting, whiting, and one Dog. pulled up the anchor at 3.30pm with the alderney method = he drove and i pulled in the rope but twice it pulled back through - so after the 2nd failed attempt we hand balled the anchor up to find the chain had tied a knot or loop in itself that wouldnt go through the alderney ring - very strange as we had let it out slowley when we dropped anchor - only thing I can think is it either piled up on itself after the first failed lift? or perhaps the anchor spun and twisted the chain into a knot? very odd..... We got back to the marina at 5pm and packed up - after a thoroughly brilliant day! learnt so much and got a bit more used to handling the boat. Edited March 1, 2021 by mike farrants Dicky, Geoff, jonnyswamp and 1 other 3 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Saintly Fish Posted March 1, 2021 Share Posted March 1, 2021 2 minutes ago, mike farrants said: ok on to the trip - started at 7am on saturday 28th Feb Weymouth marina, got her warmed up and and sorted out the anchor, buoy and ring. Foredeck was like an ice rink but it was a gorgeous morning! loaded up with gear and supplies and headed off the pontoon at 9am. chugged out for a few miles (about an hour) to a mark my mate showed me - accompanied by a small pod of dolphins - dropped anchor and started fishing the ebb - squid and mackerel on simple ledgers - fishing started brilliantly, with me pulling in a strap conger on the first drop with one rod and then a starry smooth-hound on the first drop of the 2nd drop. My mate had a decent Thornie on his first drop. I had 2 smoothies & 2 congers, and he had 3 thornies - I was using smaller baits and shorter traces than him -- but seemed odd he had his species off one side i had a different species off mine! 🙂 I struggled to hold bottom in the tide with 8oz weights so had to double up for a while (i dont have anything bigger yet - its on the list) things went quiet at slack water then picked up a bit as the flood started - between us we then pulled in pouting, whiting, and one Dog. pulled up the anchor at 3.30pm with the alderney method = he drove and i pulled in the rope but twice it pulled back through - so after the 2nd failed attempt we hand balled the anchor up to find the chain had tied a knot or loop in itself that wouldnt go through the alderney ring - very strange as we had let it out slowley when we dropped anchor - only thing I can think is it either piled up on itself after the first failed lift? or perhaps the anchor spun and twisted the chain into a knot? very odd..... We got back to the marina at 5pm and packed up - after a thoroughly brilliant day! learnt so much and got a bit more used to handling the boat. Nice one Mike. Sounds like you had a top day out. If that’s you in the photo you look well chuffed!! 👍🏻 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andy135 Posted March 1, 2021 Share Posted March 1, 2021 Quality result! I'm more than a little envious. Well done on the fishing and the learning. It's always a mixture of excitement and nervousness on your first trip out on a new-to-you boat - glad that it all went smoothly. As for your anchor chain knot - did you anchor up at or near slack water? There's a (very slim) chance that the chain could have formed a loop on its way down that then settled right over the anchor, which would have pulled tight once the tide started to run. Likely a one in a million chance though so I wouldn't worry too much about it. Shame about all those unwanted species but well done on your dogfish - you must be super pleased! I know I would be... 😉🤣 More reports and pics next weekend please, assuming you can get out. For those of us who aren't local to our boats reports like these keep us going 👏👏 jonnyswamp 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mike farrants Posted March 1, 2021 Author Share Posted March 1, 2021 yeah that's me in the pic and yes i was well chuffed - what a specimen first fish to bring aboard (we t-barred the conger at the side) couldnt say the dog was the target species but happy to catch anything! we anchored in a flowing tide and went astern as we dropped the anchor - it deffo wasn't tied up as it went over the side - so who knows - as long as its not a common occurrence as that was hard work! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mike farrants Posted March 1, 2021 Author Share Posted March 1, 2021 i would put more pics up but they're all too big in file size? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Saintly Fish Posted March 1, 2021 Share Posted March 1, 2021 3 minutes ago, mike farrants said: i would put more pics up but they're all too big in file size? If you have an iPhone you can change the file size when you select the photo. Or just cropping them slightly helps too. mike farrants 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mike farrants Posted March 1, 2021 Author Share Posted March 1, 2021 Andy135 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andy135 Posted March 1, 2021 Share Posted March 1, 2021 5 minutes ago, mike farrants said: i would put more pics up but they're all too big in file size? Here's a guide to using photo sharing sites such as Imgur or Flickr. No file size limitations when using this method. 👍 mike farrants 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mike farrants Posted March 1, 2021 Author Share Posted March 1, 2021 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andy135 Posted March 1, 2021 Share Posted March 1, 2021 Some lovely pics Mike. 👍 That pic of the east side of Portland reminds me of some sessions I had luring for bass from shore behind the prison. Had a good few bass from there. mike farrants 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
suzook12 Posted March 1, 2021 Share Posted March 1, 2021 True leisure batteries shouldn't be used for starting, however, many are not true leisure batteries and can handle both.... If it has a CCA rating, then you can guarantee it is good for starting. 11.9V is very discharged, could just be an old battery not holding its charge, could be it's been on charge for too long without being cycled. Hard to say if boat is new to you, just keep an eye on it for now. If it happens again, then you may well have a current draw somewhere pulling the battery down. mike farrants 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mike farrants Posted March 1, 2021 Author Share Posted March 1, 2021 i have a battery isolator switch that was off - so nothing drawing other then the solar trickle charge, maybe that went wrong? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Geoff Posted March 1, 2021 Share Posted March 1, 2021 Hi Mike. That sounds like a really great day out, and thanks for posting those lovely photos. Well done. Geoff.☺️ Andy135 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hooked1980 Posted March 1, 2021 Share Posted March 1, 2021 May I ask how your anchor is attached to the warp and at the anchor? Does it have any form of swivel joint to take the twisting out? mike farrants 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mike farrants Posted March 2, 2021 Author Share Posted March 2, 2021 12 hours ago, Hooked1980 said: May I ask how your anchor is attached to the warp and at the anchor? Does it have any form of swivel joint to take the twisting out? no swivel joint no, and its a danforth so quite a bit of surface area - I did wonder about a swivel - its attached with a D shackle to a hard eye spliced in the rope. i'll get a swivel before the next trip - any suggestions on type and where to buy? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mike farrants Posted March 2, 2021 Author Share Posted March 2, 2021 one of these ^? should I use lock tight on the screws? and should it be at the anchor end of the chain or the rope end of the chain? as this is more streamlined than a d shackle surely this will go through the alderney ring easier too? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hooked1980 Posted March 2, 2021 Share Posted March 2, 2021 @mike farrants force 4 chandlery do a selection As for what end to fit I’d say the chain to rope end but it’s down to your own preference/trial and error just to see if it stops the twisting Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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