SpeciMan

Yikes!

Excellent report Mark. Well done with the first doggie.

Jolly, there are a number of yak fisherman in your area who post here: http://anglersafloat.proboards107.com You'll need to register first to view the boards.

Yes, quite a few made it over. http://anglersafloat.proboards107.com/inde...amp;thread=2627 You'll need to register to view the forum.

Ouch - thanks for sharing David - will make doubly sure I don't leave rigs lying around now.

Marko, marine charts for your area should give you an indication of tide strength and direction. There may also be publications for your area with more comprehensive inshore tidal data than shown on the charts. Generally speaking currents will be much stronger around headlands and in areas where water is funnelled (eg entrance to estuaries). In my area (Dorset) we have a double low tide west of Swanage and a double high tide east of Swanage. This is due to geographical features of the area. The strength of the tide will also change throughout the tide cycle - in general the mid tide cycle is the strongest part. However in some cases it may be the last hour or two of the ebb or flood where the tide is at its strongest. Spring tides will give currents around double the speed of neaps. Which area do you plan to paddle? I use electronic charts which contains tide times and current data - plus I have Peter Bruce's tidal info books for my area (Solent and Portland - St Albans Head). http://www.memory-map.co.uk/acatalog/maps_uk_atsea.html

Glad you made it back safely Cannonfodder. For general fishing I wouldn't recommend anchoring in much more than a 2knot tide; 3knot tides are the maximum for me. Small pot buoys will be dragged under in a 5 knot tide - it's a shame the dry bag started to fill although it could act as an indicatior that its time to move. I put a nick in the mini cable tie I use on the anchor making it much easier to break out if its stuck. When retrieving the anchor I sometimes keep the quick release line in the cleat, pull the kayak up to the buoy & pull on the main anchor line to see if she's stuck. If I think the anchor is stuck/hard work to break out I'll paddle up tide and then try again. A 5 knot tide is very hard to paddle against (slower yaks won't be able to make progress). Some of the guys are now using modifiied cleats near the front of the yak to wrap the anchor line around whilst pulling. I may fit something similar to mine.

+1 What Jeff said

I no longer use plastic carabiners - they have a tendancy to unclip themselves.

Chesil Cove isn't the safest venue to fish. If conditions change you can get into trouble heading back in down there, and you have to drag the kayak back up the shingle. Best to launch the other side and fish around Portland Harbour if you are a newcomer.

Ackomeister is a windup merchant.

Hi Dizzy I've replaced wrist and neck seals on my drysuit. They can be repaired by yourself providing you take your time over it. Neck seals are harder to replace than wrist seals. For wrist seals if its the first or second replacement: Cut back existing seal but don't cut into drysuit material - a ring of latex about an .5-1inch thick should be left. Some instructions here: http://www.kokatat.com/documents/cserv/KokatatAnkleWrist.pdf Save yourself hassle and buy a kit - it comes with the glue which can be expensive/hard to get hold of on its own http://www.sailboats.co.uk/Catalogue~Latex...4020~c4704.html - that kit also comes with instructions.

I hope the book is a great success & look forward to reading it.

Thats good news if the 797 supports both transducers - you're getting me interested in buying one now - if they work as advertised the potential of such a unit is huge Cheapest (UK) I've seen is around £900 without charts.