sandgrownen

The drouge idea came to me because it had come up when I sent for information on my Great Grandads invlovment in a RNLI rescue as part of the Blackpool Lifeboat. As you can see they used to use a drouge, even a bucket! This was sent to me by the RNLI and I thought I would add this by way of interest The Lifeboat Journal “2nd August 1880” BLACKPOOL - On the 26th February, at 7.30 A.M., the coxswain of the Life-boat was informed that a vessel had just been seen on the Salthouse Bank with a signal of distress flying, The wind was blowing a gale from the N.W., and the sea was very heavy at the time. He at once went down the pier, and, finding the report to be correct, the Robert William Life-boat was got out immediately, and placed in position for launching. It was found that only seven of the crew had arrived, and the coxswain then selected three landsmen whom he knew could pull pretty well, and as no time was to be lost, the boat was launched, even now undermanned, her proper complement being ten oarsmen in addition to the two coxswains and a bowman. She proceeded under sail as near to the wreck as was possible, shipping heavy seas nearly the whole of the time, The oars were then got out, and after two hours' very hard pulling, she got alongside. Great danger was incurred in approaching the vessel, as her spars were adrift and working about. The Lifeboat was therefore hauled to within ten yards or so of the rigging, and a line was passed on board, by means of which the crew were dragged one by one through the sea and into the boat; they were in a most exhausted condition, and almost unable to assist themselves. Having safely got the 4 men into the boat, the grapnel line was cut, the" anchor weighed, and her head put for the shore, which was about four miles away. Being close on to the bank, she was obliged to run over it, the sea being terrific, but the drogue was got out and put in charge of the bowman, the sub-coxswain not being on board. One great sea broke right over the boat's stern, filling her completely, and driving her like an arrow for about a quarter of a mile. At last, despite all efforts, she broached to and was thrown on her beam ends, one man being washed overboard, and the remainder hurled to the side of the boat. The crew, however, by directions of the coxswain, quickly sprang to the weather side, which manoeuvre brought her almost to an even keel, and prevented a capsize. Her head was once more got before the sea, and the man who had been thrown overboard and had held on to the life-lines, was pulled into the boat, They, however, still had a critical time, for when the boat had been struck by this heavy sea the bowman had been knocked over, and had lost his hold of the drogue line, and the drogue was consequently lost, The coxswain then got out the bucket, and having attached lines to it, extemporised a drogue. At 12 o'clock at noon the Lifeboat safely landed at St Ann's, and was rapturously received by an immense crowd, the vessel proved to be the schooner Bessie Jones, of Fleetwood, bound from Glasgow to Liverpool with Steel railway metals, one of the shipwrecked crew (the cook) had unfortunately been washed overboard from the vessel and drowned before the Lifeboat arrived. The Silver Medal of the Institution was voted to Mr, ROBERT BICKERSTAFFE, the coxswain of the Lifeboat, in acknowledgment of his genera] gallant exertions in the boat, and particularly for his good services on this occasion. A double reward was also granted to the crew of the Lifeboat, in addition to the local presentation of a special Silver Medal commemorative of the occasion, accompanied by a sum of money, amounting to nearly 5l., which was paid into the Post Office Savings Bank to the account of each man.

For anyone who is looking for info on the feeding habit of different species of sea fish and in the Dorset are in particular I thought this was full of useful information http://www.mikeladle.com/osa.html Cheers Chris

I was looking around for images of a drogue I could make and came across this http://seriesdrogue.com/vs/ ( If you think you have ever had problems coming in through surf check out the guy at the bottom coming under the Golden Gate Bridge) It got me thinking of using a drouge from the stern while coming through surf to a sandy beach. The only problem I could see would be when you beach. The wave that has brought you in would grab the drouge on its way out. So you need to be out of the Yak quick and drag it up the beach. It would need some serious testing with no tackle to see if it would work? Cheers Chris

YakDiver Cheers for the info. What I take from your replay is that the unit itself is worth buying but the I will have to fork out on the base software. thaks again Chris

I am off to the US of A in the summer and have been on the WALMART website and their Garmin GPS are seriously cheap. I was thinking about one of these http://www.walmart.com/catalog/product.do?...#Specifications Garmin eTrex Vista Cx for $229.98 but Will I be stuck with the base map or is all of the software changeable? Is this a good unit for Kayak fishing and all round use? Is it over kill? Has anyone got one of these models and what is your experience of it? Cheers Chris

Trev if you apply on-line the license is free http://www.ofcom.org.uk/radiocomms/ifi/lic.../maritime/fees/ http://www.ofcom.org.uk/licensing/olc/ Cheers Chris

All I have just had a bit of a result. I phoned Esthwaite Trout fishery in the Lakes and asked if I could launch a fishing kayak. No problem was the answer. Is the colour a problem? Nah. was the answer. How much to launch? £10 for the day Regards Chris

Has anyone asked if they can launch their yak on a put & take Trout fishery? I'm thinking of Esthwaite Water or Stocks reservoir that size of water. I'm wondering if colour of kayak would be an issue. Cheers Chris

All I used plasticine wrapped around a lead core for Salmon worm fishing. This worked well and allowed me to pull free more often as the out plasticine caught but would not jam once you tried to pull it free. I have also thought of using the plastic tube worm controllers as a weight these get stuck less often. Has anyone tried these? Chris

Rob I take my hat off to you I went to Whitby for the bank holiday got out on the 25th May from Sandsend car park. Trolled a Yo Zuri crystal along the cliffs caught a blue mooring line or old piece of fishing gear. trolled behind the surf from Sandsend to Upgang gully. Tried backing in and turned over in the surf. Went 1000 yards off Upgang with luminous Hokki rig in a strong current on the ebb. Not a sniff. The Whitby lads were saying that the boats were catching Cod by the stone. Had a great time it was worth it just to get out on the yak BUT fish would be nice. I will have to put more effort in off Blackpool and learn the marks All the best and I hope the success continues. Chris

Thanks for the info glennk Whats the sea state around around Whitby is it always choppy or do the cliffs give some shelter? Also what is beach access like between Upgang and Sandend? Sorry for being a pain in the neck but talk of Cod, Bass & Mackerel are building up a thirst. Cheers Chris

Why paddle when you can do this http://www.fishingkites.co.nz/articles/articlefour.htm

I have an Elite 4.5 and a Malibu 2 XL and I have made some A frames to fit on my Paddy Hopkirk bar They look alarming on the top of the car Skoda Superb but it works fine. Chris

All Thanks again for the help. Keith I see from another post that you are looking for an Elite 4.5. I will be around Whitby over the Bank Holiday and will be on the Kayak subject to Girlfriend led activities. But if you see a Mango Elite 4.5 give me a shout and you can give it a go. I've been off Blackpool in mine and it handles sea swells OK but I am short in the leg and around 12.5 stone so someone who is of a bigger frame would give better advice on stability. I got the 4.5 Elite because off Blackpool there is a strong current north on the flood tide, which takes me up in front of the sea wall. I have found however that this is no problem in the 4.5 and with a bit more effort I can get back to the Squires Gate launch point. I use a buoy & anchor to anchor up then I can slip the line easily then come back around to it and tie up again. I also have an anchor trolley setup on the kayak to orientate the yak into the current. The 4.5 tracks well but I've made a Rudder that I am going to fit soon Hope this help Chris

Thanks for the info Volusian Like you said the web site has most of the info I need. This was an interesting article about starting out. http://www.whitbyseaanglers.co.uk/north-ea...yak-fishing.php Do you know what the currents run like and how strong, on the ebb and flood around Sandsend & Upgang? South east & North west I would think? Reading the latest posts they seem to be catching a lot of small Bass. Thanks again Chris