Loftyd

I bought Navman kit from the States a couple of years ago, and did get caught for import duties (worked out about the same as VAT), but it was still vastly cheaper than the UK - altho' the exchange rate was better at the time. I did get a problem a few months later (with the backlight facility) and the worldwide warranty was honoured by the UK distributor without any fuss. A mate of mine had a similar problem which was also dealt with OK. I'd echo the comment that you should check the warranty status and conditions though. Also I think the taxman is tightening up on "gifts" so I'd plan on paying any tax and treating it as a bonus if you escape. At the time I got my chartplotter I also got a C-Map cartridge at a much lower price as well, but I think the manufacturer has wised up to this one and made it more difficult to buy a UK chart at a decent price in the States. For the record, I got my kit from www.onlinemarine.com and they were no trouble at all. Doug

Hi Noah, I've done this sort of thing quite a lot, and can generally find the wreck with a bit of effort, but not in every case. First point is to ignore any wreck marked as PA or PD - in these cases the symbol on the chart can be literally miles away from the actual wreck. Secondly, if you're taking the position from a paper chart, be very fussy when you're measuring it - measure to the dead centre of the wreck symbol, especially on a small scale chart. Thirdly you need to match the chart datum to the GPS datum, as someone already mentioned. The chart datum is marked on the chart (most of mine are OSGB rather than WGS84), and you should alter the GPS to match this. Alternatively you can use this link http://users.pandora.be/tree/wreck/north-s...d50-osgb36.html to convert your position from OSGB to WGS (make sure the options are set to show input and output figures in decimals rather than degrees). Even after doing this you'll be lucky if you sail right over the top of a heap of rusty metal, and you'll probably have to start searching around the position. If your GPS has a plotting feature this is pretty easy, and just a little time consuming. I try and run a sort of box search up to 2-300 yards away from the position, with tracks perhaps 50 yards apart. Maybe 4 times out of 5 I can find the wreck by doing this. Dive books are often a good way of picking up wreck positions, but it can be difficult to establish how good any positions given actually are. In the absence of any other information I usually assume they are WGS84. Hope this helps, Doug

I'm Edinburgh based, and I'd agree that Dunbar is your best bet. Best fishing is probably June to September, although it'll be picking up nicely during May. Slipway cost is about £8 per launch, with a season ticket around £55 or so. I normally fish on the drift within half a mile of the shore, mainly between West Barns lighthouse and Torness, and you're talking 40-70 feet of water. Species mainly mackerel, codling, ling, pollock, coalfish and wrasse with other odds and sods as well. Bait-wise I use lug, rag, mussel and mackerel. Rag is good for pollock, and the mussel for wrasse. Mackerel best for ling, whilst cod'll munch any of these. In practice, during the summer, I'm happy going out without bait and simply picking up mackerel for bait. Anytime from June onwards I'll tend to leave a set of feathers/flasher style lures fishing by themselves in mid-water to get a supply of mackerel. Pollock and cod will often have a go at 4-6" long x quarter inch belly strip of mackerel fished anything up to 20 feet off the bottom. That said, my basic rig is a two hook muppet rig fished as hard on the bottom as possible. Usually try to fish mackerel strip on the bottom hook for ling/cod (usually use 50-60lb line to combat teeth damage) and maybe another bait on the top hook to try for other species as well as cod. A leadhead with jellyworm will also work well at times, especially for cod/pollock. Don't expect huge fish - most are under 4lbs, and I've only seen one over 10lbs, but you can get good numbers. There are plenty of other options, but this should get you started. Regards, Doug

Glasgowdan, I used to fish quite a few of the places you're talking about with a 14 foot open dinghy and 8hp engine, Luce Bay included. Trying the Mull of Galloway or Burrow Head would be pushing your luck in my view - a little bit of wind against tide could get pretty scary in a small boat without the ability to get clear quickly enough. Other spots such as Luce Bay itself or Port Logan wouldn't bother me overmuch on a decent day (and ditto for anywhere on the east coast), but the sheer force of tide round these headlands gives you little room for error. If you do fish from Isle of Whithorn then staying well clear of Burrow Head might be a good idea. I'm not sure if you've any experience of a small boat (can't tell from your post, and don't mean this to come over wrongly!) but if not then I'd start off just about anywhere else other than Isle of Whithorn/Mull of Galloway. Regards, Doug

I've tried them a fair bit in the west coast sea lochs over the last couple of years, mainly for spurdogs in deep water. Not convinced they make too much difference over standard rigs, or ones with luminous beads or muppets, but they certainly don't put the fish off.

Fished the yard at Kishorn for a few hours last October. All we got was a few mackerel, but it was absolutely miserable weather and blowing a full gale at the time so not too surprising perhaps. Access was easy enough, although I think there were vague "no access" signs about. We just drove through and nobody turned a hair. I have to say that it's a pretty depressing old industrial site - loads of concrete and rusting metal, but there was reasonably deep water about. We were boat fishing mainly, so that was the only spot we tried from the shore (we did get some small pollock and codling to about 4lbs from very close in to the avalanche shelter if thats any help).

Noticed this on Veal's website and thought it might be of some interest - 300m of Fireline for £12.50. I ordered some and it looks kosher enough and about half the usual UK price. (No, I don't work for Veals, etc., etc.) Web Link