Ian Burrett

My pal has just bought two secondhand yanmar 36's from a port authority. They cost £18,000 new but burn only 3 litres per hour. I don't know what they weigh but they look huge

Things have certainly changed in recent years. When i moved up to Scotland in 1988 all the trees had a 45% lean away from the prevailing SW winds. Now we seem to get a week of stiff Easterlies followed by a period of stiff NW's The settled spell of days with high pressure just doesn't seem to happy through the summer. It certainly makes running small boats more difficult. I guess this has something to do with global warming and will only get worse

whoooo Sorry for the misplaced congrats. I should and have added that Dave was aboard Riptide the latest boat to join our team skippered by Andy Wainwright

Hi Paul An angler told me, he had heard that there had been a recent big increase in Velvets and the pipedish thrived on their eggs.

I reckon within 5 years all manufacturers will have gone back to two strokes with fuel injection. The new breed of Evinrude have a better fuel economy than the present four strokes. Many figures are quoted about the advanatages of four stroke fuel economy over two stroke but I found them grossly exaggerated. On a average trip two identical Hulls and pay load and fishing the same marks. The two stroke would use 5 gallon and the four strokes four gallon With the two thousand pound difference in price you would have to do a serious mileage to get your money back on a four stroke. The two stroke gives more acceleration and instant power which is sometimes necessary in rough seas. Three of our boats are now using the Tohatsu 70's and apart from initial teething problems on one of them they are proving very reliable. A 70 HP is only £3600 and i believe is the best value at the moment

I pay a tenner a year for windguru pro. It gives you hour by hour and for my area is the most accurate. The most worrying thing is it often contradicts the free edition by up to 10 miles an hour and 22 % If you go to sea regular it could be the best tenner you will ever spend

Although i don't usually post our fishing results, I though some would be interested to know we beat the British Bull Huss record today with a fish just over 23 pounds; on a day that produced 20 tope to 55 pounds Dave Nicholson was aboard Riptide the latest boat to join our team skippered by Andy Wainwright The Huss would have beaten the present record by over a pound. The fish was of course returned unharmed

Hi Cranfield. To avoid confusion certain species have been renamed in conservation circles throughout Europe The Spurdog - spiny dogfish The lsd is now officially known as the lesser catshark as other countries have a different shark known as dogfish

A Dark Day for the spurdog Shark Alliance press release CITES fails to safeguard sharks from unsustainable trade The Hague 15.06.07: The Shark Alliance is expressing deep dismay over today’s defeat of a European Union (EU) proposal to limit international trade in imperiled spiny dogfish sharks through the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES). The proposal had failed narrowly in a CITES Committee last week, but was brought back for reconsideration today in the CITES Plenary. After a week of intense lobbying on both sides, the dogfish proposal again fell short of the required two-thirds majority needed for adoption. “We are deeply dismayed that this exceptionally vulnerable and heavily traded shark species has been denied the global safeguards that are so urgently warranted,” said Sonja Fordham, Shark Alliance Policy Director. “It is now up to fishing nations to compensate for this failure by restricting regional fishing to ensure that international demand for spiny dogfish does not result in further population depletion.” Many countries opposing the EU CITES listing proposals for sharks expressed concern over lacking shark fishery management in European waters and used this as a reason to vote against the listings. While domestic failings should not excuse denying global action, EU spiny dogfish quotas are indeed out of line with the scientific advice for no fishing. During the debates, EU representatives underscored previous commitments to development of an EU shark plan by 2008. “The upside of this roller coaster ride is the enhanced global awareness of the plight of sharks,” added Fordham. “We welcome the widespread recognition, by the EU and other countries, that national and international shark conservation measures are urgently needed to recover spiny dogfish populations and prevent depletion of other species. It is imperative that the EU complete its overdue shark management plan, as a matter of priority, and that CITES continues its work to highlight, and consider trade limitations for vulnerable shark species.” __________________

A 4x4 is essential. A lad got seriously stuck last week. By the time he had managed to get a tow the water was draining out the car doors.

See http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml...5/11/nmud11.xml

Try http://www.save-our-sharks.org/page.php?19

Well done Snatcher and as usual a good report with great photos.

I agree totally with you Paul. The tactics on how to catch fish can vary from day to day. A good skipper gets a feel for what is needed and will pass this information onto his anglers giving his anglers a better day.

Hi All The mackerel and Herring were around in big numbers last year when i was in Oban. By the time we had started fishing down this way, they had disappeared until their normal time of arrival, so who knows. Hopefully I will find out this Saturday. John There are appears to be plenty of silver things about. My lad Matthew has had them in four different locations in the last fortnight. Some of the locals reckon the schoolies are here all winter now. The main breeding packs of tope were very late last year. What size was your mate getting? The eating area at the ship will be upstairs, She has removed the bar and placed it at the cellar end where the ladies toilets used to be. She must be expecting big numbers as there are 7 urinals in the men's toilet. Opening night is sometime next week. Accommodation will certainly be a problem for us this year. In my opinion Martin and Louise are a good hard working couple and deserve any extra business they can get from the Ships change around.

Hi Snatcher My lad Matthew had 6 Bass to 4.5 pounds float fishing on a session last week

Hi Norrie Jut to let you know Guy got a PB today with a 196

--> QUOTE(Norm B @ Apr 12 2007, 07:55 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}> You can't have done too badly because I've got a picture of a 196 pounder caught on your boat Ian, he says it's a tiddler compared to the one he caught last year. Hi Norm I guess that would be GB Maris AKA The Essex boys.

Errm. Not quite all snatcher :clap2:

The fish you caught weren't old enough to be interested in spawning. If you had 18 fish to 1007 pounds and all three of you, had an a 100 plus that makes the average weight of the other 15 fish 43 pounds each. Hardly breathtaking stuff

Agghh compronde For a temporary job Norrie could tape it or electrical ties to his VHF ariel There's some big girls around at the moment Davy but the great weather looks like coming to an end, so will end up closer to home. Sunday looks like being another "Whoes the last not to drag anchor game" For those bringing your boats up, make sure you have a bloody good anchor set up or you will spend the whole day dragging because it will be wind with tide for most the day

That's a new one Scottish rhyming slang

Whats a mag mount. I was told when i first got CB that we would have to have a big stainless plate fitted and ran to earth. All we do is plug them in with ariel and they work fine.

I usually sit in on 16 as we use CB's for boat to boat communication