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Hey All, Looking at going out with the family in a few weeks while the weathers still warm for a picnic on a quiet river beach somewhere for the kids and so i can beach the boat easily and have a picnic and also take everyone ski tubing. Does anyone have any idea's where there are some good places, at the moment all i can think of is the small beaches on Georges River near the National Park boat ramp at Revesby, but i have heard they get pretty packed on weekends? The beach area also has to have car access so people can drive there so im not taxi'ing everyone from the boat ramp to a beach in the boat. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Cheers, Scott

Thanks, i was just hunting around on google and found a picture that shows them in an inline rubber gromet. Hopefully thats the problem, wont make that mistake again. Good excuse to rewire it all i guess.

Hey, I started installing all my new toys into my boat - new switch panel, vhf, fishfinder, bilge pump and the wiring to the switch panel etc. But stupid me connected the main wires from the battery to the switch panel first and i didnt disconnect the battery. I know i know stupid mistake... And as i started to solder the first equipment wire to the switch panel there was a slight spark, i didnt think anything of it using a 240v soldering iron on wires connected to a 12v battery, so i continued then flicked the switch on the panel and noticed there was no power light so i checked the fuse on the siwtch panel and it was fine, so i went back to the battery with a test light and the battery was fine. So i ended up ripping out the main wire from the battery to the dash and noticed that it didnt have a fuse on it either, one thing i do know is you should always have a fuse atleast 30cm from the battery incase the main wire shorts out. What doesnt make sense is, the test light worked on the battery but the wiring to the switch panel doesnt and it had no fuse, so i tried the electric tilt on the motor and that doesnt work either!! I dont get that the test light works on the battery but a non fused wire to the switch panel doesnt and now the electics on the motor dont work, does anyone have any idea what could have gone wrong? Is there a fuse on the motor or somewhere because i cant seem to find any anywhere?? Any idea's about where the fuses on a Evinrude (91 model) would be great! Cheers, Scott

Thanks, The bungs are already in, after reading so many stories about them being left out there constantly on my mind, its only a matter of time before i do it though.

I'll be using Ash from Xtreme Mobile Marine in a few weeks for a major service, i found he was helpful and reasonably prices compared to the other several places i enquired.

Thanks guys, yeah we took her for a spin today and it went very well, room is the only problem if theres more then 2 people fishing but some swivel buckets should fix the problem, and it was the best i found within my price range so its a great first boat. Now i just gotta start catching more fish then the misses - i dont know how she does it.

I just picked up my first boat, its a Haines Hunter V146R - 14.5FT with a 115HP Evinrude. Its in pretty good nick, just needs a bit of a tidy up like new carpet, bimini and get rid of the back to back seats and put in some buckets on swivels so i have more fishing room and a buff (lucky i own a detailing business) and some odd bits here and there fixed but overall shes in good condition and purrs along.

Thanks for that, I actually called the hotline the other day and i received my handbook and logbook in the mail yesterday, i have already watched the online presentation and printed off my certificate! I'm off to buy a boat on the weekend and taking it for a test drive with the owner so that will be Trip 1 for the log book, the other 2 ill get my old man to do when i get the boat. So far i have done the online boating quiz about 30 times and i have passed everytime, so im hoping the test is the same questions as it spits out on the quiz, if so it seems pretty simple.

I hadnt been fishing for atleast 6 years and me and the misses are really starting to get into it, not having a boat had restricted us to land fishing for the past few months witch i was getting bored of so i thought we would hire i tinnie and go out to brooklyn, now that i have had some fun on the tinnie im on the hunt for atleast a 16ft so we can get out on the water most weekends. We first headed over to east of Juno Point in the tinnie around 10AM and didnt have much luck there so headed over to the otherside and fished there for a while in the shade with not much luck but little nibblers, so come 1PM we headed under the railway bridge and there was quite a few boats there so we found a shady spot under the bridge between the pilons and felt some decent bites. I pulled in a baby bream then while i was winding that in the misses baited her hook for the first time with a half pilchard (probably the worst rigging ive seen) Hahaha she cast it out, and within 20 seconds shes onto a 42CM Jewie that swallowed it all, just undersize but on her small setup she got a big shock when the rod bent right over and it took off with her line, must have scared her because she basically through the rod at me and said you do it. It put up a nice little fight on her light setup. 6 Hours Fishing and only catching a few undersize fish and massive sunburn but it was all good fun and i cant wait to get back out there in my own boat.

Is there any multiple choice (licence test) like the testing at the rta or nsw maritime? Or do they just speak about boating and you do the practical? How much was the course?

I just got off the phone to them and you can renew it within 5 years without sitting the test, you have to pay the renewal fee + $30 reinstatement fee. The woman did say dont waste your money on those boating college's or one day courses because they are a waste of money and im better off doing the safety course - log book - licence test option which would only end up costing $40 or so, rather then $400 or whatever those all in one day courses charge to get the licence.

http://www.maritime.nsw.gov.au/sbh/licence.html - Scroll down to the picture of the boat at the bottom of the page, to the left of it says "If your licence is not renewed within five years of its expiry date you will need to complete the entire licence process." Now that i read it again it says if its not renewed within 5 yeas you must do the entire licence process, i wonder though if its less then 5 years if have to you do part of the licence process or just renew it? I'll ring them up now and find out!

Thanks for the tips! My old man has a boat licence so maybe ill just get him to fill the logbook out when i get a boat and we go out. He let he's licence expire 2 years ago, he had the licence for over 20 years and at that time there was no test involved but he never had a boat and had only let it expire 2 years ago Haha, but luckily you can renew it within 5 years of expiring without doing the test again so ill get him to renew it, always good too have someone else with a licence when you go out.

Thats the one i was unsure about, so if i did go to a boat training day i dont need to sit the test at the rta/nsw maritime, you basically just do the theory and practical with them?

Hey, Im looking at getting my boat licence (NSW) and i have been looking around on the net but im a little confused as to the requirements as im reading all these different things everywhere so can someoen confirm that this is correct. I need to undertake the online Boat Safety Course + a Logbook with someone that has a valid licence for more then 3 years then sit the test at the NSW Maritime. OR Complete a Theory + Practical Test at a Boat Training place and then sit the test at the NSW Maritime? Is this right? Cheers, Scott

Came back empty handed once again! I got there around 8.30pm and it was packed as usual so i hung around for 30min waiting for a spot and sussing it out but no luck so i shot up to The Spit which was also packed, (i hate fishing when its crowded) so i went down under the harbour bridge for an hour and had no bites, same as other people there. So i thought stuff it ill just go back to Clifton Gardens by that time it was about 10.30 and a dozen people were leaving, some had some decent size catches in their buckets so i thought i may have some luck. Spent a good 3 hours there and barely got a bite, was using Fresh Prawns, Pilchards and Squid, seen there was barely anything i put a small hook on my partners line so she could atleast catch something small for fun and she pulled in a tiny fish but it dropped off when she pulled it out of the water, same deal for everyone else there from what i saw besides the 2 old woman and a group of asians with 3 bucket loads of tiny fish that they just caught by hand dropping some line in the water with bait, it jacks me off so much when i see people with bucket loads of tiny undersized fish. Usually the ones that cant speak much english. Hopefully it doesnt rain tomorrow morning as i have a job down that way early in the morning so i might sink a line about 6am as the tide comes in.

Is it packed there during the week at night? Im thinking of heading down there now, being Aust Day i bet that area was packed with picnic / fisherman so im hoping by the time i get there everyone will have packed up and gone home. Last Saturday night i went down there and as i drove into the car park i saw the wharf was completely packed it looked ridiculous, everyone was shoulder to shoulder so i didnt even bother getting out i just moved onto The Spit Bridge, which was too windy and too much boat traffic and i had a bucketload of bait and it was only early in the night so i thought id go over to brooklyn under the F3 and there was no wind at all but i got nothing but the usual - catfish like everyone else there. I'll report back and let everyone know how it goes.