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Sure is, things turned nasty within a matter of minutes, i have been out there several times during the day so i knew where the markers were and what to look for so i knew where i was in the bay, but being pitch black dark and not being able to see them cause of the swell made it a bit scary. Especially when you think your well away from the runway heading out around them and all of a sudden you shine the light and see your facing the runway only a few hundred metres away! Even the flashing navigation markers out there could not be seen. Was a hairy ride back, somewhere i wont be going at night again. Now the boat is all scratched and scuffed from getting bashed up on the jetty/boat ramp.

Hey All, Just wondering if any of you have stories of being caught in bad weather, Last night (Sunday Night) the weather looked nice and calm so i thought me and the misses would hit botany, we set out about 6.30pm and only fished along the shore line at Bright Le Sands infront of the Novetel picking up Bream, there was no wind at all and the water was very calm and flat. About 10.00pm the wind started to pick up and it started to get a little choppy then by about 10.45pm i thought we better head back as it was starting to get fairly choppy and being pitch black dark with the moon not out it was already hard enough to see the boys around the run ways. So we started to head back, i thought ill head towards the heads to go around the run ways so i dont get too close, about 5 min into it i was about 100m off a boy heading face on with the old runway and we were getting hammered by waves over the boat pushing us towards it, so i kept about 200m from the boys staying along side the run way finding one boy at a time so i knew i was going in the right direction while trying to hold the spotlight, steer and throttle the boat to keep it in control, by the time i found my way to the newer runway near the 8 knot zone into the boat ramp the waves were smashing up on top of the runway at low tide, i was at half throttle with 115hp and we were pretty much getting pushed backwards and blown all over the place. Once we got between the poles into the 8 knot zone i was soaking wet and knew we made it back and i never felt so releaved in my life. If i knew the conditions were that bad out in the bay i would have anchored up near the shore where i was and fished till the conditions cleared or until daylight. It felt like something you would see in the movies with a boat getting caught in a storm out in the ocean, something i never want to experience again. Once i got back to the ramp and pulled the boat out 2 blokes turned up in a Tinnie ready to put it in the water with the wind howling, luckily i was there to tell them to not even think about going out otherwise they'll capsize as soon as they get out of the 8 knot zone. Next time ill never under estimate the weather report and never go out in the bay at night, very glad we made it back in one piece!

Thanks guys, i ended up mounting it at the rear on the starboard side and it its about 1mtr above the nav lights.

Thanks, I rang the Maritime and they were useless, he said the light has to be seen so it has to be high (no mention of height requirement) I said how high? He said high enough to be seen around the boat. I said can it be mounted to either side at the back or does it have to be in the centre. He said it can be mounted anywhere on the boat aslong as its in the centre. I wish they had specific rules on their site like cars do with Australian Design Rules. I guess ill just mount it at the back in the centre. I can see why people mount them to the side though because on most boats there is no where to mount it in the middle at the back of the boat.

Hey all, I was just wondering the requirements of the all round white light, can i mount it to the side at the back or does it have to be in the center at the back. Reason i ask is because i got pulled up by the Maritime (during the day) and i already have the port/starboard lights mounted and he was complaining that the nav lights were a couple of degrees off and the back of the light needed to be brought out a touch. Even though it can easily been seen from the front and sides and whats a couple of degrees. But then he told me the all round white light has to be in the center at the back inline with the bow and 1 metre higher then the nav lights??? But most boats i have seen at the boat ramp they are mounted to the side at the back and even the extendable lights only go up to 590mm. I cant find information anywhere, the maritime site only mentions it has to be seen 360 degrees and non obstructed? Is this correct? Im guessing he was just on a power trip and had nothing better to do but be an idiot.

Ive been using this one lately: http://www.weatherchannel.com.au/WeatherMap It seems to be pretty accurate and has 3 hourly updates. Has a great map with all the features on one interactive page. They have a marine section coming shortly: http://www.weatherchannel.com.au/Main-Menu/More-Weather/Marine-Weather.aspx

Hey Keira, If you have a boat then Botany is a top place to fish, the ramp can get pretty packed on weekends though. Id suggest keeping an eye on the Fishing Report section of this forum to check out whats being caught and where abouts, that can give you a good idea of whats around. Cheers, Scott

Hoping for a picnic at bundeena with all the family and beaching the boat there and tubing all monday if the weather is fine, bit worried about the gale force wind warnings though over the weekend, looks like its going to be pretty choppy. Hopefully it will calm down by monday!

Ive been fishing berowra every weekend for the past few weeks, the first time we only caught 8 undersize tailor, 1 undersize flattie and 1 undersize bream. The weekend after i went out and fished for 8 hours and we didnt get a bite the whole time moving around to different spots drifting and anchored and only hooked 1 undersize tailor, the 3 of us were all using different setups and different baits. It seems pretty dead at berowra even some other boaties at the ramp said it every time i have been. Maybe give it a go at night if your really keen.

I hope it doesnt rain i had plans to go out on the boat all weekend too, the weather reports have been hopeless lately anyway up until that day so im hoping this is the case again and it will clear up over the next few days.

Thanks for the great info Antun its much appreciated. I'll make sure i get a Bridle, i didnt even think of it till i got home and thought about how im going to hook it up to the tow hooks, im pretty sure i know how to hook it up with one so thanks for the offer of pictures. And ill probably only have me and an observer in the boat to keep the weight down to gain some extra speed.

Hey Guys, Im taking the family ski tubing over the long weekend and i just bought the Tube and Tube Rope (17M) but im abit unsure of how i should hook it up. 17 Metres seems abit long?? and my boat has a ski tow hook on each side of the transom and if i hook it to one side then the tube will probably sit in the wake and to the side of the boat? And if i double the rope over so each loop end goes to each ski hook on the transom it seems to short (8.5 Metres) and it has a big V and i dont think the tube would slide out as much. Should i get a Transrom Bridle and double the ski rope over to this (so it would be a "Y") then it will be about 10 Metres long and then the ski rope will be in the center? Any help would be appreciated. Cheers

Try using a foam applicator pad, you can get them from super cheap (Meguiars), and use light circular motions with the compound but fast. If its still causing problems then you will need a less abrassive polish.

How'd you go mate, we had a shocker at berowra. Not even a bite all day, the misses got a small tailor and that was it. Last weekend it went off thought and we got about 10 tailor, 1 bream and a flattie. I'll have to get to Botany during the week while its quiet.

A container submerged in the water? Like ones that have fallen off a ship and you cant see it in the water?

Hey Antun, Your not far from me, im at erskine park. I was going to hit Botany in the morning but i cant be bothered dealing with a packed ramp like Botany on weekends so i think ill just try my luck at Berowra. Good Luck! I'll probably wish i went to Botany.

Have you used Thinners or a white spirit? thats what is commonly used to remove tar, or an acid cleaner will remove it with some rubbing, hydrochloric or hydrofloric. As for where you can get it from im not sure cause i buy in bulk from a supplier so thinners would be the best option, it will be tough to remove so expect it to take some time. Its still a bit hard to give the right advice without seeing it though, you caused the blemish in the gelcoat because the compound was too harsh and too much rubbing, chances are you only hazed the gelcoat so it can be fixed. Were you using a rag? You should really use a foam applicator pad as rags/towels are way too harsh especially with a compound. The problem with polishing to remove marks like that is that you end up polishing to much around the actual mark and damaging the paint before the mark even thinks of coming off. The best course of action is chemical cleaning to remove it like thinners and scrubbing it, then remove any fine scratches with the compound/polish. Paint transfers or marks transferred from another surface are always harder to remove then scratches or scuffs.

Hey Chris, Im a detailer so i have come across all types of problems, is the black mark transferred from the pole, or is it an actual scrap on the paint? Polishing by hand wont do much even with cutting compound, gelcoat is tough so it would be best to use a machine polish to remove any marks. Chemicals wont do much to remove it unless it breaks the rubber down which wont happen. If that fails then you can get whats called a Caramel Wheel on the end of a drill which is used to remove sign writing but be careful not to ruin the paint. A picture would be helpful though so i can see exactly what it looks like

2 Stroke, the guy that had it before me told me it needed the leaded replacement??? But going by my limited knowledge a 2 stroke doesnt have valves and the oil does the lubricating anyway. I should have thought of it earlier, dont know if this is the problem though. I'll try running it without it this weekend with some decent fuel and ill put some decent oil in it then he had in it and see if i have the same issue.

If your anything like me, take the misses. She will catch all the jewfish and im still yet to catch one.

No, but i took it out the day before it done this which was also after the service was done and it didnt do it.

Hi All, I took my boat out on the weekend and had some troubles with it, It started first go at the ramp and went normally in the 4knot zone for 10min then i opened it up all the way for about 5-10 min then did some fishing, but everytime i moved spots (about 6 times) and started it up i had to start it with the choke even though it had been running for a while and i thought it would have been warm and it was only off for 30min at a time, and when i started it up with the choke id let it warm up for a minute, put the choke down and sometimes it would die, the times it didnt die id put the choke down and quickly put it in forward to keep the revs up doing about 4 knots then id go to accelerate more and it would die like it was cold or something? It done this all day, nearly everytime it took me about 3 goes before i could accelerate more without it dying, but the funny thing was once i got it going a decent speed i could slow down and take off hard again and it would take off fine, it was only the initial accelerating when i started it everytime that would make it die. I thought it may have been from going hard for a while then turning it off and the plugs had fouled up or something but i let it idle for a few min before turning it off, i didnt have this trouble the day before though when i took it out with the same plugs, only thing different was the fuel used and maybe i put a tad too much lead supplement but dont know if that could be the problem? Its about a 92 model (navy colour) Evinrude 115HP, the plugs are NGK R i think, they were put in a week ago when it had a service. Any suggestions? Cheers

Dont bother going through a course, it will cost you $200-400, even the Maritime told me not to go through them, the test is that simple. I got mine yesterday, a week ago i didnt even know my starboard and port, or what cardinal markers are, it was all mind boggling to me, now i know the rules back to front and think its a piece of cake. Here's what i did: I downloaded my certificate ($12) from - https://online.maritime.nsw.gov.au/OnlineBSC/ Rang the Maritime and they sent me out the Logbook and Handbook (FREE) - You are required to do THREE trips with someone that has had their licence for 3 years or more. I then did the quiz a few times a night - http://www.maritime.nsw.gov.au/boattest.html Then i went to the Maritime and sat the test which is exactly the same as the quiz online but on paper, they tell you its not the same and is worded differently but it was worded the same. All up it costed me $12 for the Certificate, $29 for the Test, so $41!! Then the licence fee for however many years you want (3 yrs - $103). ALOT cheaper then paying $200-400 for a course then the licence fee ontop of that still. Im not saying the courses arnt worth it but i had no boating knowledge and just from going out with someone and doing the quiz i have remembered all the rules, if i went to a course and tried to cram it all in my head in one day and they basically gave me the answers i probably wouldnt remember anything and spent more money then i had to.

Thanks for the tip!

I was actually just looking around there, the bundeena bay and simpson bay area and dropping the boat in at Gunnamatta or Dolans Bay and darting across the bay, i think thats the best option.