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Post by pilgrim17 on Oct 27, 2015 13:06:14 GMT 1
Getting a bit concerned
Having not been down the marina since I moved the boat to its new berth, the weather has been against me getting down there (you have no idea how the wind affects a small motorbike, with a fat git sat on it), I only hope that Steve has been down to check. I want to check the ropes as well as the bilges, so if the rain eases after dinner I will go down & have a look at it, & let you know how things are later on when I get back! Well the rain did ease up after dinner so I went down as I had threatened, & all was well, the forward bilge pumped out automatically when I got on board, & I checked the engine oil & water, & the stern bilge was empty as well so the automatic pumps are working fine. I ran the engine for a while to put some charge into the batteries because the little solar charger wont keep up with the power drain from the bilge pumps, but it makes sure there is still sufficient life in the batteries to turn the engine to start it. I dipped the fuel tank & there is still ~ 57litres in the tank enough for a few more trips before I need to fill up again, so I will have time to work on those jerry cans. I think I may have to rethink the mooring ropes too, everybody else has a couple of "bootlaces" front & back, & I have bow & stern spring lines, bow & stern tether lines, & a couple of others for good measure, & a huge buoy to stop the bow hitting the pontoon, I think I need to "downsize" Well I have some lunatics who want to go out on Sunday (on a day between 2 tsunami's) I am pretty sure that like last week the water will be too dirty for good results drifting, & I have no intention of putting the anchor down to provide "Danny Boy" with dogfish for whelk bait, but if they want to go & waste their money I will take it off them as long as the weather is ok.
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Post by pilgrim17 on Oct 28, 2015 18:37:03 GMT 1
What a bloody cheek!
When I moved the boat from berth P29 to P30 I transferred the remaining electricity from supply meter P29 to P30, then when I went to plug into P30 supply I find that the boat from P31 is using P30 power supply because his is out of order! Now having already "topped up" P30 with what I had left from P29, I couldn't remove my part of the total now in P30 so I unplugged the P31 plug & plugged ours in, boiled a kettle & plugged his back in, now I have had a message from the marina saying that he has complained about it! So tomorrow I will have a word in both his, & the marina's shell like, & if push comes to shove I will disconnect his supply permanently, Mumbles Belle occupies P30 & as far as I am concerned the supply marked "P30" is ours. The marina never pointed out that there was any problem with the electricity supply when they agreed the move, & if he has a problem with that then he can add an extension to his cable in plug into P29, because as far as I am concerned his problem is with the marina & not with me, if they gave him permission to use P30 then they can either provide me an extension cable to reach P29 & refund me what I topped up P30 with, or give him an extension cable to reach P29 & refund him what he had in P30! Today I modified the !Chinese Jerry cans) by taking a hammer & chisel to them & cutting the breather pipes off, (unfortunately theses pipes are now in the bottom of the cans & if I try to tip them out the diesel in the bottom comes out as well?). I also removed a grab rail from the midships part that people will use to board, just in case somebody trips over it on their way on or off. I also moved one of the new handrails, to bring the stern boarding position in line with the pontoon (going in bow first meant it was dangerously close to the end of the pontoon) now you SHOULD be able to board at the stern without walking off the end of the pontoon!
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Post by pilgrim17 on Oct 29, 2015 15:15:28 GMT 1
That's that problem sorted out!
Went down the marina office this morning, "full of vim & vigour", to sort out this electricity supply problem out, but the woman was very understanding & came up with several solutions which she presented to the guy who had complained. (a) He took his credit off the meter every time he left, & I do the same, until his own supply is installed & we share the supply point on P30. (b) He move his boat to a berth that has a power supply (taking a chance on whether he can get P31 back once power has been installed to it) (c) He shuts up, & allows me to use the power when I need to, until he has his own supply. He agreed to (c) because he needs to be plugged in 24/7 because he runs a battery charger, heaters, dehumidifier (sliding doors & conveyer belt etc) & allowing me to boil a kettle twice a week was the line of least resistance & most convenient. While I was down there I fitted a cleat amidships & modified both springs into a single rope, with a caribiner in the middle of it, this only has to be unclipped, both tethers cast off & we are away, same on the way in, grab the spring rope, clip it onto the cleat & it cant go anywhere while the tethers are attached. I have taken measurements for an idler roller to mount on the gunwhale (similar to Oystercat's anchor set up) so I don't have to dangle my arse over the side to get tension on the anchor rope Well it looks not three bad for Sunday with a light SE wind, (I would prefer a light SW) but we will have a look at it, probably be our last chance to drift for plaice, the last ones were full of roe, so probably they will be heading for the Trevose Head area to spawn soon, & we will be looking for whiting & cod, & as long as we don't get plagued with growlers that will be acceptable. See you all tonight at the AGM (yawn) if I don't go, I miss my one night a week out, my few pints, & my Chinese Pancake Rolls none of which I am prepared to miss!
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Post by pilgrim17 on Oct 30, 2015 17:59:36 GMT 1
Never bothered with the marina today
Having been down there yesterday & found everything to be functioning quite nicely without my interference, I spent today at home messing about with reels & traces ready for the oncoming whiting hordes, made plenty of 2up 1 down "muppet rigs" which will see me through the defence of my "whiting king" title, so well deserved from last winter! Ok Stan might have caught the single biggest one, but mine were consistently the biggest all winter. We are going to have another go at the plaice on Sunday as long as the weather stays friendly, a couple have dropped out so I could do with a couple more to make the trip worthwhile, but I think the "Flying Pallet" also has a trip planned up to the Severn Bridge or similar location, so no doubt the uninitiated of you will head up east, & all the rubbish species with teeth, thorns, spines, & slime, & leave us to the table fish. There was an awful proposal put forward at last nights AGM that club night should be every 2 weeks or maybe even once a month! Thankfully it was about as popular a proposal as would have been asking David Cameron to be a guest speaker" I only have the one night a week to have a few pints, & the idea of that going to be once a fortnight, or once a month, was as popular as a turd in a swimming pool with me Luckily it was passed over by the assembled mass. Forecast for next Wednesday looks ok so I have posted a trip for then, & the couple who cant make Sunday are coming so I have a start of bodies, no doubt if we have another "Plaice Race" on Sunday the Belle will look like a immigrant boat from Turkey to Lesbos on Wednesday!
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Post by pilgrim17 on Oct 31, 2015 16:07:53 GMT 1
Ready for the morning
Never bothered to go down the marina today, the boat is getting boringly predictable now that all this work has been done on it, & it doesn't need "babysitting" every day now. The bilge pumps come on without any outside help, the fenders are sound, the mooring ropes are sound & adequate, & unless I particularly want to get out of my wife's way, it doesn't need me any more! I did go to CK's to stock up on sausage rolls, crispy bread rolls & bacon for tomorrows trip, & I will pick up my bait from the marina tackle shop in the morning before we set off. Ken informs me that he has made up the mother & father of all plaice & dab traces it will probably look like a Maggie Thatcher necklace & be about as much use too! It's the first trip after the clocks went back so we will have to adjust it getting dark by 5pm & arrange our lock-in's accordingly, getting the Belle into the locks is akin to herding a hippo into a horsebox, & the onset of darkness wont help, I think an inflatable ring around the top of the gunwhale would help, but we will take note of the wise words of the American President who told Sitting Bull to "Endeavour to persevere" (maybe not, because Sitting Bull declared war after being told that) So watch this space for the outcome of tomorrows trip, if you are impressed with the report & catch, & want to come on Wednesday then tough, cos the boat is full
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Post by pilgrim17 on Nov 1, 2015 17:47:58 GMT 1
A waste of time & fuel
"After the Lord Mayors Show comes the **** cart shovelling up the ****" well that was what Ken & I did today, after collecting our bait & locking out uneventfully at 8.30am we made our way across to Mumbles to catch the start of the ebb @ 9.15am for our first drift. Weather conditions were perfect with little or no wind & we picked up our first drift exactly where I wanted us to be, Ken had a knock almost straight away which turned out to me a miniature bass, then nothing else for the rest of the drift? So we went back to the start line moved a little east & drifted again, this time Ken had a growler & I had a small whiting, & so it continued drift after drift, either miniscule bass or whiting with the odd growler thrown for good measure. With a couple of hours to go until low water we headed out to the Middle Fairway Buoy to have a drift in deeper water, but the water was as dirty out there as it was in close, & the wind was starting to rise from the east. We had a short drift & had nothing & with the wind rising by the minute, we had a chinese parliament & decided that seeing as we hadn't had a single flattie in 6hrs, the chances are we weren't going to have any in the next hour. I think our failure (& that of a lot of other boats drifting Mumbles) was due to the colour of the water. The last trip we went on the water was like gin, but today it was like tea, you could only see the beads for about a foot & then they disappeared, whereas last week we could see them 8-10ft down. I am surprised we never had any dabs as they hunt by smell more than sight. Again our decision NOT to drop the anchor paid off, as a boat next to us in the lock had a dustbin full of growlers which he was going to give to the whelkers as bait, ok so its finding a use for them but they are like mosquitoes in a swamp, there are millions of them EVERYWHERE at the moment. With 4 +myself booked in for Wednesday (if the weather is good) I may have to bite the bullet & try either "The Hole" or the "Kidney Bank" to find some fish for them, & if we get our share of growlers they can go in a dustbin for Danny Boy to use as whelk bait, maybe a cull will help a little bit? Belle was much easier to berth today, straight in bow first, clip the "spring" caribiner over the cleat & it cant go anywhere, slip a short tether bow & stern onto the pontoon cleats, & go home, much easier than trying to guide a hippo into a horse box! PS I was right about Ken's new plaice rig it did look like Maggie Thatcher's necklace, a wishbone rig with luminous spoons, & a full string of blue & yellow beads, when it was on the deck it looked as though a dog had eaten the left overs from a Chinese takeaway, & thrown it back up, back to the drawing board Ken!
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Post by pilgrim17 on Nov 2, 2015 18:17:52 GMT 1
Stayed away from it today
Otherwise the bloody boat becomes addictive & there is always something to do on it, currently it could do with a coat of paint on the seats (which also get walked on) so they don't stay white for long. I also need a solution to the fender problem, the gunwhales from amidships back to the stern are quite low, there so there is only a very short rope from rails to fenders, so when you bring them inboard there is very limited rope to put them anywhere, they come over the side & stay practically horizontal I will have to give it some thought, with the wide rubber "rubbing strake" we have all around the boat the fenders need to be fat otherwise they don't offer any protection below the rubbing strake. In order to have fenders that stick out further than the rubbing strake we have to have fat ones, which always seem to be too long, what we need are short fat fenders (something like me ) I will have a look on E-Bay to see what I can dig up, & do some precise measuring tomorrow when I go down, I have to go & make sure all is ready for Wednesday clean the cups, wash the plates, put fresh water aboard, fill the stove etc. I don't know what we are going to do on Wednesday, yesterday was a total waste of time, with next to nothing on the drift, & when you put the anchor down its a "Dogfest", if its suitable I will put us either in "The Hole" near the SWIGG, or on the Kidney Bank to see if there is anything apart from growlers about, & if there isn't I will take a dustbin to fill with growlers for the whelk pots! Not really looking forward to Wednesday really, clashing forecasts one giving light S/SW another giving light E/SE which is what they gave for Sunday but by low water it got quite choppy, we will just have to go with the flow & if it gets choppy I will anchor in the moorings at Mumbles & sit there until its time to go home. I will be glad when the real winter comes & at least we have whiting to fish for.
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Post by pilgrim17 on Nov 3, 2015 21:08:42 GMT 1
Still not 100% sure
The forecasts are so hit & miss that I am still not convinced that the trip tomorrow will go ahead? I went down the marina this morning & with a similar forecast for the one tomorrow the sea state was good when I looked from the observatory! So I did all the usual "Pre Flight Checks" fuel, oil, water, greased the prop-shaft & the steering, put clean water in the container, filled the cooker with spirit, hosed the deck & seats down, run the engine to charge the batteries etc, bought sausage rolls & bacon & a loaf, so all is ready for the morning as long as it stays comparatively windless. Where to go will be the problem? if we go to either "The Hole" or the "Kidney Bank" or the Green Grounds we will get dogged out, if the water is still dirty like it was on Sunday & we drift in Mumbles, we wont catch much, so I am between a rock & a hard place, so a "Parliament" is called for before we leave, then the anglers can decide on either very little, or dogfish, now I call that "Hobson's Choice" However with 4 + me booked in, that is another £50 off the moorings & insurance costs, & not to be sniffed at & you never know the whiting & codling & dabs have to put in an appearance sometime, maybe tomorrow will be they day? I will let you all know via this forum tomorrow night!
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Post by pilgrim17 on Nov 4, 2015 20:04:48 GMT 1
It could have been a LOT worse!
Locked out quite uneventfully at about 9.00am (but I wish the anglers would use the bloody boat hooks to catch the ropes, rather than leaning out & missing them & nearly falling in) Some daft sod is going to go into the lock one of these days, maybe then the message will get through! Anyway we plodded through some snotty water to reach Mumbles & the water looked fairly clean, so I decided we would have a couple of drifts to see if we could catch any flatfish, end result 2 tiny bass, 2 tiny whiting, 2 dogfish no flatties, so time for a change of plan! Oystercat came in from outside, & John Elvins said that the fishing was awful on the Oyster Ledge, & so was the weather, so that trumped my intention of going to either the Hole or the Kidney Bank after high water, the fact that I had a junior member onboard on his first boat trip was also large in my mind, so staying in the shelter of Mumbles was crucial, but where to go? I thought about the Blin Hole, but the water was looking pretty white through the Sound, so decided against it, the area between the pier & the Middle Island produces flatties but I only ever like to fish that on a flooding tide, & by now it was ebbing. There is one little "change of depth" rather than a hole I came across by accident some time ago (after coming back inside from some bad weather outside I looked for somewhere calm to boil the kettle) I dropped the anchor there, dropped my rods over the side, put the kettle on, turned around in time to see one of them give a knock, & I pulled in a nice fat dab, then another, then another & in the end I had about 8 & a good gurnard, so that went into my "remember" brain. So I made my way across & after having trouble getting the anchor rope to go the right way we eventually sat over this little feature, & once again the kettle went on (not to interfere with tradition ) Sure enough the young lad's rod rattled & he landed his first fish from a boat, albeit a growler he was delighted, & with his uncle letting him land his as well he was in his oils. Then somebody had the first keeper whiting, followed by another & another so I made the measuring board prominent for all to use & fair enough they stuck rigidly to the MLS. Then we had a couple of nice fat dabs followed by a few more & a few more keeper whiting & an in size tub gurnard. In the end we had more than a dozen in size dabs (& returned a few) same with the whiting, we retained the keepers & returned the undersized fish even though their only ambition seems to be to die once they have been touched, one good sized tub, & 3 wheelie bins full of growlers! But it was comfortable, the rods kept on nodding, the youngster caught his first, growlers, whiting, & dabs on board Mumbles Belle, & no doubt he will come back, & so will his uncle. We packed up at 3.15pm & got back to the berth by 4.15pm right on time for his mother & father & sister waiting for him in the marina (fully expecting him to be green & miserable) instead they found him fit & well with a bag of fish for the frying pan. Once again the crew tried to grab the mooring ropes with the brush & the mop, their hands, ANYTHING EXCEPT THE BLOODY BOAT HOOKS! I think I need to go online & buy a whip so I can crack it above their heads to remind them, mind saying that they are Turks, & they do speak a different language to the rest of us
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Post by pilgrim17 on Nov 5, 2015 15:25:52 GMT 1
I normally go & clean up
The day after a trip out, but not today! The rain can wash the muck either into the marina or into the bilges where the bilge pumps will do the job automatically I would have liked to go down & wash the cups & plates, stow the anchor, tidy ropes, check oil, water, fuel levels etc but not in this weather! I used the time fitting a couple of LED lights onto my moped, because it seems drivers have difficulty seeing me, despite my Orange helmet, & my fluorescent yellow hi-vis waistcoat, it seems that I am still invisible to most drivers, so lets see if the addition of 12 EXTREMELY bright LED bulbs will make me more visible! Checking the forecast for the next week it seems as though the weather is going to be against boat fishing, with high winds & rain on the horizon, just when I was starting to get a nice regular run of trips going, & Belle was starting to eat into her annual expenditure deficit, it looks as if the weather is going to bring it to a temporary halt. Every cloud has a silver lining, & Carl Israel is going to fabricate an idler roller for the anchor rope & with luck it might be completed before our next trip. For reasons known only to itself the anchor rope wont take a double turn around the drum without going under itself & tangling up, which means you have to stop the winch & undo the tangle, & all the time you do this you have to hang onto the anchor rope with one hand to give yourself some slack to work with. The only way the anchor rope will come in without tangling, is if the rope is taken off the drum before it completes 180 degrees around the drum, which means that I have to be forward of the winch drum to take off the rope, & because it has not completed a 180 degree turn I am still partly lifting the anchor by hand. It is not really physically hard, but it does mean that you are very close to the bow, & if its rough it can be quite a wet experience. I am hoping that with the idler roller fitted then anybody can stand safely behind the winch, & take the anchor into the locker without getting wet or facing going overboard With luck if it works successfully then anybody can bring the anchor up. Another thought has just crossed my mind, what if I need even thinner rope as anchor warp? Maybe the winch was only designed for yacht sails, & only works properly with 6-8mm rope? Would 8mm nylon rope be strong enough as anchor rope? Now my brain is running in another direction lol, Google here I come, then maybe E-Bay
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Post by pilgrim17 on Nov 6, 2015 18:23:32 GMT 1
Spent the day!
With Richie & Nigel, "liberating" heating oil from his tank, because he is moving house in the morning, & was leaving behind what I estimate to be over 100galls of heating oil in the tank. I managed to liberate 30 gallons for use in Mumbles Belle, mixed with the existing 10 galls of derv already in the fuel tank, plus a gallon of cheapo 20W/50W motor oil there should be enough fuel in the tank to run Belle for a few trips (I will make this bloody boat break even if it kills me )! I managed to spill a small amount during the pumping operation which made the deck under the filler cap like ice, so if anybody is going on board in the next day or two take a firm hold on something as you climb aboard because the deck is very slippery. I tried to mop it up but with the rain it just spread, so hopefully the rain will wash it all into the bilges. I tried to mop it up, but I remembered that the mop is what some people use to grab the mooring ropes, while another uses the sweeping brush, I must prepare a poster with pictures of a mop, a brush, & a gaff, with explanations as to the use of each. Richie was telling me that he took the minibus for its MOT & it FAILED apparently a cross member which supports the radiator & a couple of other parts is rusted through (apparently its a common fault with them), plus one of the seat belts has a cut in it, we can take that off & take it to a scrappy & probably get a replacement for £20 whereas a new one will cost £150, the cross member is £120 + labour charges of £40 per hour, so the coffers will take another hit. I am itching to get back out now that the whiting & dabs are starting to show but the weather seems to have put a stop to trips for a week or so, hopefully when it settles back down the fishing will be better, & the dogfish will have some competition! PS My son informed me that by using heating oil mixed with derv, & with 20W/50W added, I might notice a slight loss of power He hasn't been out on the Belle of course, what power?
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Post by pilgrim17 on Nov 7, 2015 16:26:47 GMT 1
I need to be a mathematician I think?
Apparently Heating Oil is a "dry" fuel without the additives of derv & gas oil (which are distilled for diesel engines) & therefore motor oil needs to be added at ratio of 25:1 for it to be efficient. So I obtained 6 jerrycans which take 20.5ltrs each giving a total of 123litres which would require 4.92ltrs of motor oil to complete the 25:1 ratio. HOWEVER there was already 50ltrs of white derv in the tank, so that will dilute into the heating oil & probably reduce the motor oil ratio from 25:1 to maybe 30:1? If this assumption is correct then I should add 4.1ltrs of motor oil to the mix, but to err on the side of caution, I will add 4.9ltrs anyway & put up with any smoke, for a saving on fuel of £134.07 I can live with a bit of smoke, nice one Nigel. Provided you supply your own bait that must be worth a free trip I proposed a trip for next Wednesday after looking at the BBC weather forecast (12mph SW) however XC put the forecast wing at almost twice that speed? I am pretty sure these people get the forecast out of a Xmas cracker, so if you are thinking about coming next Wednesday keep a close eye on the wind speed as that is what will decide whether it on or off.
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Post by pilgrim17 on Nov 8, 2015 14:32:13 GMT 1
I need to get down the marina
To put the 60 litres of fuel that I have in jerry-cans into the tank, but I want it dry to do it, we got soaked on Friday getting it & putting the first batch in I don't want that again! I also need to re-arm a lifejacket that a junior member accidentally set off last Wednesday, he went forward to see a double hook up on the bow & got the pull cord of his lifejacket caught in a rod rest, & it inflated frightening the life out of him! Looking at the forecast it would appear that the trip I proposed for Wednesday will have to be cancelled, the forecast wind is increasing day by day, & looking at the "Gower Live" webcams the Langland & Caswell areas look REALLY rough, & I notice that the blob of bird shit on the Swansea cam is still on the screen, maybe this rain will wash it off! Apart from that there isn't much to report on the boat front, I am waiting for Carl to fabricate the idler roller for the anchor winch, but with this weather forecast to stay as it is for at least 7 days I wont be needing it anytime soon, I think when it is fitted it will make retrieving the anchor easier & safer. Speaking of safety, it is awful that an angler fell into the water near Tawe Lock & has yet to be found, people who witnessed his fall said that he actually was treading water for a while before going under, that must have been awful for him, & those watching, my heart goes out to his family & to those who were so close, but could do nothing to help him. It makes me glad that safety is paramount on our club boats, even if you don't catch much fish, we do our best to bring you back safely. There is a new sign going to be posted on Mumbles Belle, "Please Note, when you have dropped all the sweeping brushes, mops, gaffs etc overboard! That you are allowed to use the boathooks provided to catch hold of ropes, cleats, etc" Not only are brushes, mops, gaffs etc not very effective at catching ropes etc, but it doesn't look very professional to other boaters, lock staff, or the watching public, to see people trying to catch a rope with a sweeping brush! or a mop!
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Post by pilgrim17 on Nov 9, 2015 14:18:25 GMT 1
I got down there this morning!
Seeing as it was forecast to rain this afternoon, I went down the marina this morning to put the rest of that heating oil into the tank, I also mixed 5 litres of motor oil (from my discovery days) that I had in partially full cans in the shed, so all should be well with that 25:1 ratio mix (according to several Google Blogs) the tank is now full, & it started & run no problem without any sign of smoke. My trip down was quite eventful, with the strong wind doing its best to blow me off at most junctions, & motorists looked at me as if I was some kind of nutcase, with my legs spread out like Harry Worth to keep stable! Anyway Belle now has 170 litres in her tank which should keep her going for a while, all we need is some decent weather to get out now. I removed the spent CO2 cartridge from that lad's lifejacket, & compared prices on E-Bay, Marinescene, & Force Four, & when you take the postage charges into consideration, its as cheap & much more convenient to buy it from Force Four, I will do that before we go out next, & while I am at it I will check all the other cartridges, & manually inflate the jackets to check them out before winter comes. The electricians were working on installing power from the main pontoon to the 6 boxes without power, so hopefully the merchant next door will have his own supply & we will have ours back! Going through my tool locker looking for something I came across a bulb I bought some time ago with 50 LED's in it, which will fit into the anchor light, that will be more visible than the "one candle power" bulb we have in there at present, people would run into us before they see us with that on, but they will see this bugger believe me PS it appears that we are going on another "Black Op" on Wednesday morning, to liberate another 60 litres of heating oil Richie & Nigel are coming along to give me covering fire
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Post by pilgrim17 on Nov 10, 2015 14:55:42 GMT 1
For Sale, 1 x Youngs 10m workboat?
If the latest EU proposals go through, in 2016 there will be NO bass allowed to be retained in the first 6 months of the year, & only ONE fish per angler per day to be retained for the rest of the year! That will put a severe limit on the "drifting for bass" trips. No doubt there will be no restrictions on commercial fishing for them, they thought it was funny when the 3 fish limit was imposed, they will think this latest move is hilarious, the sooner we get out of this bloody EU the better. Cameron tinkering around the edges will be no use at all, its either IN or OUT & if 800,000 anglers vote the right way we will be OUT, & we make up our own legislation which is based on conservation, but also on fairness (which is something Brussels doesn't understand the meaning of!). That has to be enough for you to chew on for today Except to say that I must have upset Derek (The Weatherman Mincing) because the forecast is terrible up till & beyond Thursday next week, & in this case they seem to be in agreement! I have a tankful of fuel, there are fish to be caught, & we cant get out of the marina, God must be a woman!
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