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Post by pilgrim17 on Dec 16, 2017 20:43:01 GMT 1
Having been really disenchanted with Mumbles Belle after last Tuesday's fiasco I haven't been near it this week, but with Monday's forecast being very good I thought that I would go down & confirm that the electrical problems would prevent me taking it out! Well I turned the isolators back on & gave the igniktion switch a turn expecting to hear click, click, & little else, but surprise, surprise, after a little cough the engine spluttered into life, the rev counter shot up, & the voltmeter went up to 13.4v & stayed there & everything else worked as normal. I scattered salt over the pontoon & the deck boards & over the seat where we get on board, & fished a big log out of the water which was near our stern ( & there was a very large bra wrapped around it?? ) filled the water container & made myself a cup of coffee, & did several other jobs around the boat while the engine rattled away at ~ 1200rpm & the voltmeter remained steady at 13.4v. I had a quick peep under the engine cover & all looked fine, fan belt was turning without deflection so to all intents & purposes she is ready to go again. I will nip down again tomorrow & connect up a battery charger to each battery & leave them charging overnight to make sure all is well for Monday. Reports are that there are plenty of 2lb whiting about outside the SWIGG, & lots of good dabs just outside the Mumbles moorings, & that fillets of sprat is the best bait for both, so I look forward to Monday, but I really need an "able bodied" angler along just in case of emergency.
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Post by pilgrim17 on Dec 12, 2017 17:27:43 GMT 1
THE ELECTRICAL PROBLEMS PERSIST! With the full intention of going out today, I went down yesterday & checked just about everything possible, just to be sure I ran the engine for about 20mins just to make sure the batteries were topped up, & when I left everything was "Bristol Fashion". I decided to leave the isolator switches on last night, because they are arkward to get at (especially at my age), everything was switched off (except the automatic bilge pumps which are independent anyway). This morning I went to start the engine & not a flicker from it, not even a click as the starter engaged, by using a spare battery I got the engine running, & the batteries back on charge, but I still have no idea what is leaking power when the isolators are left on? & enough to drain 2 x 74ahc batteries at that??? I was under the impression that the isolators prevented, power leakage not encouraged it. I really have no idea what an isolator does, but I assume from the name that it isolates the power when it is turned off? This is not the case with Mumbles Belle & despite paying some hefty money to a so called "expert" we still have electrical problems. The answer is to make sure they are switched off every time after use, & I will see if I can mount them somewhere more easily accessible, so that I don't have to squeeze between the back of the engine box & the fuel tank to switch them on & off. Sorry anglers but contrary to some opinions I do not have a death wish, & I wont take a chance on being stuck out in the Bay having to rely on somebody else, or the emergency services to pull us back in. There will be other days.
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Post by pilgrim17 on Dec 8, 2017 18:57:54 GMT 1
Not a lot to report, I went down to check over the boat today to make sure bilge pumps are working etc, & give the engine a run etc. I noticed that somebody had moved the stuff stored on the pontoon & put it in the boat, so I checked the other pontoons & found circular marks on the pontoons where somebody has come around with a revolving brush to clean the deck boards. However once again none of the other boats "pontoon storage items" were moved onto the respective boats only ours? (as if the fact that it is club owned, makes it acceptable for the marina staff to treat it, & us, as second class citizens ). I gave the engine a short run to boost the batteries, manually switched on the bilge pumps, & collected the crockery to bring home to wash (much to my wife's displeasure ) I have cancelled Sunday's proposed trip because of a poor forecast & reposted for next Tuesday (12th) which looks possible if only across in the moorings it will produce whiting & dabs maybe even codling. I gave yet another talk down the club last night on the felling & processing & sale of timber (some people were actually interested ) most were surprised at just how much softwood we consume in UK in a year, last year we consumed 11,800,000 tons of it, & 763,000 tons of hardwood, 90% of both is imported "Not a lot of people know that" Will be making a start on the new wheelhouse at the weekend & hopefully it will be fabricated & ready to be installed by the spring of next year. I noticed on Facebook today that there were a couple of turbo's for sale, I wonder if one would fit on a 3 cylinder Lister?
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Post by pilgrim17 on Dec 2, 2017 20:15:19 GMT 1
Well after much "tooing & froing" we eventually managed to get out this morning (Saturday 02/12) at about 0830 & plodded our way out to the Green Grounds. There were only 3 of us on board, because I had to postpone from yesterday (when I had 6 plus a reserve) because of the forecast. People either couldn't change their arrangements (or they were sulking because I postponed from yesterday). Anyway we had a very good day on the whiting, LOTS of fish from 1lb to 2lb but no real Jumbo's today, we also had a few dabs, a couple of pouting & of course dogs but not a huge amount. Trouble free day mechanically & electrically which is always nice to have, & the locks were quiet seeing as the weather was so good? Maybe everybody was Xmas shopping? Saw the Oystercat out doing either skipper or crew training, but we already have a fully trained crew on Mumbles Belle ME! I am also skipper, engineer, carpenter, painter, navigator, cook & general dogsbody & medic We came in early because it was one of the anglers anniversary & he was under the pain of death if he didn't get home in time to take his wife out? (Mine doesn't expect me to remember ours let alone celebrate it lol) Looking at the forecast for next week for a suitable day, must strike while the iron is hot.
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Post by pilgrim17 on Nov 24, 2017 17:15:26 GMT 1
Today I went to check out the workshop I will using to construct the new wheelhouse & as expected, well done Colin its a tip everything I need is in there (somewhere) its just a matter of finding it, & seeing if it still works Also had a better look at the timber I will be using it is REALLY good 6" x 1.125" air dried larch & western red cedar, with 2" x 2" Pacific Redwood batons to secure the planks, its going to be the "bees knees" when its finished. Not sure yet how to finish it, whether to give it several coats of Clear Cuprinol & then white undercoat & gloss, or whether to finish it with Sadolin in something like Light Oak or Teak, time to decide that when its finished. Today would have been a good day for fishing but I was mindful of the last few days of high wind which will have left a residual swell, plus the BBC & XC varied in their forecast so I erred on the sign of caution, I didn't want to be stuck off the pier all day catching pin whiting & undersized dabs, & bearing the brunt of mutterings from the punters So I will leave it until next Friday when the wind is not EXACTLY to my liking but at least the days before it are forecast to be northerly which shouldn't create a swell (the best made plans lol) Today I also picked up a selection of hardwood flooring offcuts which I will sand & wax, to demonstrate in my chat (From Felling to Selling) the high quality hardwood products that have value added to them & that can come from properly managed small local woodlands creating local jobs & incomes. I sometimes wonder where I get the time from???
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Post by pilgrim17 on Nov 23, 2017 18:27:18 GMT 1
Needed to do a couple of little jobs to keep the TLC going, I tightened the recently fitted fan belt because it had stretched a bit, & I also swapped the anchor rope. The rope I had fitted was an abseiling rope (it's origins would alarm Donald Trump ), but it is a stiff rope & it was skidding on the winch drum when the rope was vertical, & I had to rely on help from one or more of the anglers on board to break the anchor out, this soft rope should grip the drum & come up easily. I also pumped out the anchor locker which holds about 20 litres of rainwater, & the well in the bow that housed the davit brackets holds about the same. The combined weight of water would be about 80lb in the bow, which I wish was in the stern to keep the prop down I bought a couple of galvanised buckets the other week, (not for swabbing the decks me hearties), but for using as stabilisers, when somebody passes us when we are at anchor, their bow wave & wake set us of rocking & rolling & it takes ages for the rocking to stop, so when the lifeboat launched last week & passed quite close I threw both the galv buckets (attached with about 8ft of rope from cleats) over the side & waited for the "dancing" to start. Well we certainly had some, but nowhere near as much as we were used to, & it settled down quicker too, so I think we can call that a limited success. I intend to start fabricating the new wheelhouse soon, but when the weather is good enough to travel to Three Crosses where the workshop is by scooter, it is usually good enough to go fishing Murphy's Law I think they call it. Looking at the weather for the next few days looks like it wont be good Belle weather for a while, so maybe I can make a start if its only to check the machinery is in working order, that they start, & blades are sharp. belts are tight, guards are in place etc
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Post by pilgrim17 on Nov 22, 2017 13:11:51 GMT 1
It's been a while since I last posted on here, mainly because there hasn't been much in the way of good news to report. A series of minor problems have kept me busy, a split hydraulic hose on the steering, & split plastic pipe from the engine to the oil pressure gauge, a snapped fan belt, all minor problems when you are on the berth, but not when you are on the Green Grounds Even when all is going well the fishing is inconsistent, 3 weeks ago we had a good day on the whiting with everybody having a really good feed to take home, then the next 2 trips we struggled for anything big enough to keep. Lots of small whiting & dabs with only a few of keeper size, then we went out on Sunday firstly to Mumbles to look for dabs on the ebb, & then out onto the Green Grounds for whiting. From the first drop down we were into the "Jumbo's", lots around 1.5lb some bigger, the biggest of the day being over 3lb, lets hope they hang around for a while & that we have some good weather to get out to them. For you Huw Jones this is the best of the day so you can see what you are missing
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Post by pilgrim17 on Oct 10, 2017 13:53:56 GMT 1
WE ARE NOT AMUSED! After going down & checking and running the boat on Saturday morning, & getting £13.50 worth of bait, & buying sausage rolls, pies, milk, coffee (yes it doesn't fall out of the sky) on the way home, I get a text from Trevor (at 3.30pm) telling me that he has received a cancellation from 2 of the 4 booked on anglers, saying that they had to cancel "because they got the dates wrong, & they had an important darts tournament on Sunday"!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! The one remaining angler is not well enough, or fit enough, to act as crew in an emergency & so I had no option but to cancel the trip. This did not please the remaining angler who had also bought bait, but I wont take the boat out with 2 on board, unless the 2nd person is a capable crewman. I shall be taking this to committee next week, & looking for reimbursement for 50% of the cost of the food purchased, & 50% of the cost of the bait I bought, along with the £10 donation payable for the day. If they impose this maybe it will deter people from crying off after others have been but to trouble & expense to prepare the trip! On checking the club rules it clearly states that "people who have registered for a trip & wish to cancel, must do so at least 48 hrs before the arranged trip, failure to do this will result in a donation fine of at least £10" So maybe an £18 fine will teach people to check their calendars before booking in future!
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Post by pilgrim17 on Oct 3, 2017 19:34:52 GMT 1
Not a good forecast for the next week, the wind is a bit too high for Mumbles Belle because the whiting & dabs are not inshore yet. We could hide in the moorings but at the moment the fishing in there isn't good, & 17-24 mph SW winds makes anywhere further out uncomfortable, even though there is no danger who wants to be "rock & rolled" all day for a skipload of growlers? I will keep my eye on the forecast, & keep the boat ready to go at short notice, but until there are fish to catch there is no point in taking it out to get thrown about for small returns. Keep watching because as soon as its suitable to either go out deep, or productive enough to hide in the moorings, I will post a trip hopefully for whiting & dabs. Vic
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Post by pilgrim17 on Sept 15, 2017 12:02:23 GMT 1
Ready to rumble Just about done everything mechanically possible to ensure a trouble free trip on Sunday, new starter motor fitted, new steering hydraulic hoses fitted, & I have even sorted out the "trampoline" section of the deck just outside the wheelhouse door. The ply underneath the firbreglass had got wet & rotted (surprise surprise) & whenever I lifted the duckboard to work on the engine, it was like walking on a trampoline, so I ripped the fibreglass up (not difficult as it was no longer stuck to anything) & cut & fitted a new piece of plywood which can be lifted to allow me to pump any water out that gets trapped, hopefully under my feet in the wheelhouse should stay dry.
People in the marina say that I spend too much time messing about on the boat & that it isn't worth the effort that is put in, but there is always interest when I post a trip, & it has to be pointed people that it is probably the only boat in the marina not being used for the purpose it was made for. It has been converted to an open boat when it was intended to be fully enclosed & watertight, & unless you do a 100% job on the conversion you are going to get problems, & unfortunately they are all arriving at the same time, & its all due to the fact that rain is getting in, & because it was designed to be enclosed there is no provision for it to escape, everything has to make its way into the bilges & be pumped back out, which is why I am always checking the bilge pumps, & lose my temper with well meaning people with access, who switch the pumps to "manual" to pump any water out, but don't switch them back to "automatic" when they have finished. This has cost the club £260 in the last few weeks for hydraulic hoses (which perished) & a starter motor (which got submerged), such things do not help the Mumbles Belle cause. Sometime in the future hopefully I will have replaced all the rotten bits, & drilled holes in all the water traps so all the water will drain into the bilges & pump out, then like every other boat in the marina, Mumbles Belle will be "fit for purpose"
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Post by pilgrim17 on Sept 11, 2017 14:57:45 GMT 1
Update on Mumbles Belle 9th Sept 2017 After a series of electrical problems (not all completely solved) we are now back to "operational readiness" on Belle & we have a trip planned for Sunday 17th if the weather holds good. After thinking that the electrical problems were over several weeks ago I went down to the marina one day a few weeks ago, & found the stern to be well down in the water, so far down in fact that I couldn't start the engine because the water was covering both the starter motor & the alternator! So I luckily have an emergency electrical bilge pump, & I carry a fully charged spare battery, so by using these I was able to reduce the water level below the starter & alternator, & then I started the engine to use the bilge pumps to do the rest. Before starting the engine I have to turn on the electricity isolators situated between the rear of the engine & the fuel tank, to my surprise they were already switched on? I went to the bilge pump switches & they were in the "Off" position & not in the "Auto" position that they should have been in ?. I have a "shut down list" which I go through before I leave so it is unlikely that I left them switched on, anyway everything SEEMED to be ok once the engine was switched on, the bilge pumps emptied the water quickly, & the voltmeter showed a healthy 13.6v charge from the alternator, the engine started, & the bilge pumps worked so I was fairly confident that "I had got away with it". We went down to Langland one trip, & off Mumbles on another trip, then coming back in one evening we were last out of the lock, only for the engine not to start. Nobody was prepared to give us a tow "You cant tow with an outboard" "we haven't got a strong enough cleat" & several other excuses & eventually Oystercat towed us back to the berth & put us safe & sound (Thanks to Dean & his crew). I investigated all possible reasons for the starter not to work (not out of gear properly, loose battery terminals, loose wire on starter etc) in the end bite the bullet & take the 4 month old starter off, & take it for inspection only to find it was full of water & knackered & it had to be replaced at £138 Anyway it has been replaced & is working fine, as is the alternator, & the rev counter unfortunately the ignition warning light isn't working but the voltmeter gives me visual reference on the charging. Also we had a steering problem, the hydraulic steering hoses burst behind the rudder where they were sat in water, & they had to be replaced at a cost of £137 so Mumbles Belle needs to run trouble free for a sustained spell to repay the costs! We are coming up to the time of year when Belle comes into her own, doing Bay trips for cod, whiting, dabs & a 30 minute run puts us as far as we need to go & gives a good return for the trip so hopefully this winter will "clear our slate" as I am aware there is still a "sink the Belle lobby " should we suffer any more breakdowns. The new wheelhouse will be fabricated over the winter & fitted next spring during the "dead period" when there is nothing much to catch. That brings you up to date I think, if you want to join us keep an eye on the booking calendar or ring me on 07814528082 if you want to go, remember you don't HAVE to go to Lundy to catch fish
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Post by pilgrim17 on Sept 5, 2017 18:16:36 GMT 1
Been a few weeks now Since I last wrote on this members forum , & seeing as there is ALWAYS something going on with Mumbles Belle, I am remiss. We had a couple of fairly mechanically uneventful weeks, where we got out & got amongst the bream & codling & Pollack, on our last trip we had 9 species (including a red mullet), however the day did not end well, & I had to towed in from the Tawe Lock by Oystercat, because the starter motor packed in again! Its a long story but you are going to hear it anyway! There are an unknown number of keys to Mumbles Belle knocking about throughout the club, & I am used to going down & finding things not as I left them, wheelhouse unlocked, isolators switched on, VHF on, mains electric plugged in etc. I am always glad of extra help to "keep an eye" on things, but recently these actions have cost the club money, the isolators left on & the VHF switched on meant the VHF was on & running on low voltage which damaged it & it had to be replaced. The bilge pumps had been switched onto "manual" to remove water from the bilges, but were not switched back to "auto", which meant that the engine compartment filled with water, & the starter & alternator were submerged for a few days, & they never dried out as I had hoped, so they had to be replaced. The hydraulic steering hoses were sat in water behind the rudder & they perished, & the braided inner core rusted, & had to be renewed. Tedious & time consuming you might think, but also damned expensive, a total of £900+ much of which was unnecessary, had people did things properly, or left well alone. I am now going to fit a hasp & staple on the door & keep the key myself to prevent it happening again. Tomorrow should see the new starter fitted & the engine run up the batteries. Unfortunately the weather for the next week is bad, so although the boat is ok, the weather is not so hopefully an "Indian Summer" is just around the corner, hopefully before the cod season starts!
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Post by pilgrim17 on Aug 14, 2017 19:00:25 GMT 1
It's been a while Since I posted on here, as the Facebook page seems to be the flavour of the month, but I have been prompted about my "political correctness" on a couple of posts. & it seems to be losing its personal appeal to me, & we already get a "disinfected" angling report weekly in the Evening Post we don't want another one like that I am not going to ramble on about how many fish we have caught, or not caught, because you cant compare chalk with cheese, & if you want to go mid channel hunting bass, or Oxwich moorings then Mumbles Belle is not the boat for you, we can barely make Langland Reef & back in a single day, & our electronics are somewhat "Entry Level" which limits where we can go, & what we see when we get there & our engine only develops 29hp at 3000rpm (which we have never yet achieved). Plus we are unfortunately having a bad run of electrical & mechanical problems which don't help or inspire confidence. We have overcome the charging problem by using a "Jury Rig" instead of going through the ignition light (as it should) we have rigged an alternator "exciter cable" from a live feed, rather than through the ignition warning light which is where it should come from (the ignition warning light should go out, when the alternator is "excited" then go out when it is activated) at the moment it gets exciter charge permanently? We have a long standing problem of the wheelhouse rotting around me & dropping bits on my head (this is in hand), & now the hydraulic steering has gone kaput! This happened last night as we were attempting to pull a grounded yacht off the mudbank in the river, we managed to get him off but he engaged forward instead of reverse & ran himself back onto the mud only deeper. In the ensuing attempt to pull him off again the steering stopped responding, & we were without any means of steering across the river by the ferry terminal. luckily Belle has an emergency tiller control which I engaged, & we made our way up river to the lock (against the wishes of the lockmaster) who wanted us to tie up on the outer berth, rather than run into any posh boat in the already quite full lock, with myself on the throttle & engage lever, & Martin Morgan on the tiller, & the others on ropes, we got in & out of the locks no problem, well done the crew. On a lighter note earlier on in the day we were heading towards Singleton Hospital when the lifeboat went past, very close across our bow at full speed & sent 2 big green wake curlers over our bow, & over the 2 guys who were sleeping in canvas chairs on the bow deck, the rest of us thought it was funny. So you can see that our days are never without incident, but the continued work needed to keep it fit for sea, & the continued effort to try to make as effective as it can be, then the problems of people booking then cancelling at the last minute, & standing on the wall shouting for you to drop what you are doing to let them in, then wanting you to organise who out of the 6 gets the 2 parking permits available, & who gives who a lift back. Then when you have made "tea milk no sugar" "coffee black with sugar" then want you to carry it up to the bow for them, or they want brown sauce on their sausage rolls & want you to put it on for them. It is getting very close to the last straw to be loaded onto the camels back, but I will sort the steering problem out before anything else. However Mumbles Belle is starting to become more of a chore than a pleasure.
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Post by pilgrim17 on Jul 4, 2017 17:17:38 GMT 1
At long last! The charging problem has been sorted by an AA man! He scratched his head many times, & even went home to get another alternator to try it. In the end he ran an "exciter cable" live feed direct from the battery to the alternator & it started to charge, & the rev counter works & the voltmeter now tells me that the batteries are charging. The only things not working are the ignition warning light (not important as long as the voltmeter is working & showing charge) & the odometer? (that tells you how many hours you have run) isn't working either, but I have a pretty good idea how many hours I run in a day anyway. So it seems that the problem is a wiring breakdown on the ignition switch/odometer circuit (which also includes the rev counter) I don't care about that now that I have the alternator charging both batteries when I am running. So its back to normal business now, I would have taken a trip on Thursday but I have to collect "er indoors" from Bristol Airport so Sunday will be my first available day. No doubt Langland Reef will look like Tesco's car park but we will muscle our way in & sort out a few bream not doubt!
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Post by pilgrim17 on Jun 10, 2017 16:19:39 GMT 1
It's been a while Since I posted on here, & I get reminded that not everybody is on Facebook to read the news on Mumbles Belle, so I will keep you up to date. I am currently having problems with the electrics on the boat, firstly the solenoid went on the starter, & then that seemed to start a chain reaction, with the alternator not charging, the rev counter not working, the split charge diode not working, seemingly the failure of the VHF was down to using it when the voltage was low. The low voltage also affects the chart plotter & the depth sounder, & the auto electrician is almost as confused as I am by the tangle of wires in the engine compartment, & behind the dashboard, the back of the rev counter looks like a magpies nest! I am currently running trips using 3 fully charged batteries that I keep charged using trickle chargers, these make sure we start ok, & I use the Alderney Ring method to lift the anchor to conserve battery power. The instruments work fine on fully charged batteries, but I have my tablet as back up, which is internally powered & has 2 Navionics Navigation Apps on it, & I have a Sonarphone which doubles as a depth sounder. So if the worst came to the worst I have a navigation system which is superior to the boat instruments to get us home. Fishing wise we have had some mixed trips catching bream, Pollack, codling, pouting, even garfish, but unfortunately we have had lots of smoothounds & huss which are an occupational hazard over Langland Reef. We have drifted in Swansea Bay several times for plaice & dabs but had no luck due to the Mayweed & the perishing smooth hounds which take pleasure in taking tiny flatty baits & running for Singleton Hospital with them! Next time out I think we will try the Green Grounds to see if we can get away from them, & get a few flatties for the pan! The deck changes on Mumbles Belle have made it into a different boat, there is now plenty of room front & back to fish comfortably & move about, & the sliding window in the wheelhouse means that all I have to do is make tea/coffee/pies etc, open the window & shout "Service" & they vanish as if by magic. It has been christened "The New Good Karma Mumbles Belle" & anglers who have never set foot on there before are threatening to come out, I even have a trainee skipper of Oystercat who wants to serve his 40 days before the mast, & find out how the other half live I am hoping to get the auto electrician down to the boat on Monday/Tuesday to assess the essential wiring work that needs to be done to make the electrics reliable, I have asked other members of the boat committee to be present to confirm that it will be the assessment of the electrician as to what needs doing (& not any fantasy of mine ) & how much he will charge to carry out the work. I will keep you informed of what transpires after the meeting. You are all welcome aboard the New Good Karma Mumbles Belle for the real angling experience, & meet the chef who is applying for a Michelin Star
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