volitans

Hi Rider, Another option to double your battery that I haven't seen mentioned is available from BCF (I have no affiliation with them). It's a Battery Box by Ark Corporation (see www.arkcorporation.com). It comes with a built in isolator switch, recharger, (cigarette lighter) accessory plug built in to the box. The beauty of these is if you go camping while fishing it is easily disconnected and taken ashore. Also there is no wiring to instal except the jumper leads between your 1st & 2nd battery. Mine cost $165 and is working well.

mate, I found a list of JW distributors on the internet. (google Jarvis Walker and search Oz sites only) I too needed a QR bracket but chose the Minn-Kota as it was much better. BTW - BCF carries watersnake gear (or at least my local Townsville shop does) Garry

I don't know.... all you spoil sports. That used to be a special treat for Dick & myself after a w/end fishing. We used to sit at the ramp at Nelson's Bay and watch the fun as (not always new) dumbo's did this. We once watched a bloke drop a beautiful Haines f'glass boat heavily and split it from stem to stern along the keel (a fine hairline crack developed). We went over (sarcastically applauding) to offer our help and through his tears he accepted. We asked him what he thought he was doing and he said he always launched like that. By unhooking before descending the ramp he reckoned he could just hit the brakes at the bottom and the boat would effortlessly glide off. Trouble is if, as happened to him, you need to touch your brakes to adjust your direction before you get to the bottom then BOOM So the message is don't unhook till your boat's actually at the bottom of the ramp in the launching position unless of course your aim is to entertain Dick & I as we sit and watch the fun & games.

you know, this is why I tell my mates this website is worth it's weight in gold. My Quinnie 5m Reef Runner has wide gunnels which are showing heaps of aluminium corrosion. Luckily that's the only corrosion I can find and I've just had the deck up replacing the bilge pump so I'm confident there is none in the hull. My plan was to mask the gunnels and strip the paint off with a water based paint stripper then sand and repaint. I thought from memory that when I was in the navy we used a light phosporic acid wash on the aluminium upper decks of the DDG's but I can't be sure. (too many beers in my younger days has made the mind hazy) I might give this 'acid' step a miss unless my old navy mates can confirm it. This clue about prepsol is one of those things that are only discovered by trial and error or through experience from fellas like you. Thanks for the hint and happy boating guys. Garry

I've just come back from feeding fish (I don't seem to be able to catch 'em) and caught 2 strange fish I'd never seen. (Silver Tripod & Spotted sicklefish) This site is fantastic. I identified both fish in minutes. With the weird & wonderful up here in the tropics everyone should be on to this site. Cheers & thanks Garry

Dave, I'm so glad you brought this up. I have a JW electric and have the problem that on the bow of my Stacer Nomad the forward handrails come along the sides and almost touch at the stempost. This means I can't place my JW motor without cutting, shortening and rewelding the handrail. Reading your post reminded me of the JW accessories page and guess what? There is a quick release bracket. Hope this helps.

Yes it does Iri, two ways. Firstly for stowage when ashore and finished. It even has it's own zip-up cover. Secondly, as I found out last week, when you try to reverse under the carport and you've forgotten to lower it. Arrrrrrrrhhhhhh. Fortunately I just bent the one rib and it won't cost much to replace. I'm so dumb sometimes. Gaz

Got a Stacer 4.5 Nomad with 40hp Merc. According to my GPS exactly 40kph flat out. Fuel econ ~ 50km to a 25ltr tank at that speed. Gaz P.S. Wondering - how much drag the bimini puts on the boat and effect on fuel economy????

In case you’ve never been to one (shame, shame) I thought there might be some of you guys interested in The Annual Townsville Fishing & Outdoor Expo held last weekend at Cluden Racetrack. I don’t know the final tally of visitors but the local ‘rag’ reported that over 4000 people had passed through the gate by Saturday afternoon at this all weekend show and Sunday was even busier. The ATFOE was very well organised by the Townsville Sport fishing Club and included a wide range of exhibits. Coast Guard, The Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority, various other government departments, Billabong Sanctuary (one of the Premier attractions – wildlife/croc farm), accommodation houses and of course most sport, tackle and outdoor retailers in the city had stands where almost anything (except EPIRBS it seems – but that’s another story) could be bought at bargain prices. There was a stage between the grandstand and the main straight where local fishing identities gave talks on a wide range of subjects and an appearance by John Bowe (no doubt to support our upcoming inclusion to the V8 race competition) was much appreciated. There was a 14000 litre ‘Yamaha Supertank’ loaded with barra to demonstrate lures and techniques. Of course the boat shops in town had their wares on display with over 150 boats on display at ‘expo prices’. There was even caravans, campers and camping gear on show. Personally what I thought was going to be an hour or so looking at a few tinnies turned out to take up most of Saturday and I could have easily returned on Sunday. My wife and I definitely got our $6 admission worth of fun not to mention the bargains. Anyway here’s some photos that I took and if anyone wants a great holiday Townsville is like the old fashioned family destinations you used to go to as a kid. Not glitzy like Cairns or the Gold Coast but a week on Magnetic Island for instance will ‘hook you’ forever and we have over 300 days of sunshine per annum. (No I’m not on commission from the tourist board!) Anyway, the pics;

up here in Townsville we have our annual "boat & Fishing expo" this weekend (next weekend - i think- it travels to the Whitsundays, down the road) and I will be asking questions of suppliers regarding the new reg's regarding epirbs as I haven't heard anything up here. Assuming I get the answers I'd expect I'll be keen to join you in any bulk buy offer. Garry

Actually netic it would still work albeit at a reduced efficiency. Its been over 35 years since I was trained as a naval rating specialising in sonar (UC - Underwater Controllers we were called) so don't ask me for exact figures of speed of sound underwater but in a nutshell all a sonar does is send a concentrated sound wave out from the transducer and listens for it's echo (hence the nickname 'echo sounder'). Our naval systems consisted of a 'segmented/multi directional' transducer while a modern sounder like those we use in our tinnies and so forth are uni-directional and some, (side scanning sonar) have multiple transducers. The direction a single tranducer is pointed is irrelevant. The sonar sends out a pulse, measures the time it takes to receive the echo and mathematically calculates the distance from the object from which the echo came. There are variables that need to be accounted for such as water temp, inversions (ie cold water layers over warm), backscatter from impurities in the water, salinity, double echoes, sound wave frequency etc but if you send out a pulse say, sideways in a steep rock sided canyon, and receive the echo the sonar will tell you the distance from the transducer to the rock walls but not the depth. Echoes are deflected in ALL directions so while a pulse might hit a solid rock floor at an angle, sufficient reflection of the sound will be received to allow the sonar to work. Hope this helps explain it. I could tell you heaps of stories about tracking subs, navigating channels etc but "Sea Patrol" is on and I want to finish watching it.

You're absolutely right Slinky however.... I just bought a VHF handheld and in my naievity I believed the salesman who told me I didn't need a license. So off I go to the Coastguard to have a chat where they set me right and put my name down for the next radio operators course which could take months to happen. Commonsense dictated though as the Coastguard guys said "in the meantime we'd rather you had it and not be licensed than leave it at home (because I'm not yet allowed to operate it) and not have any way of calling for help. If it saves your life you'll be happy to pay any fines."