zmk1962

Top report Gordo, glad you got out and spending quality time with your son on the water is a major bonus. Sounds like you had heaps of fun with the rats ... ... thats discounting the "rat" you mentioned above. I've had my share of issues with charter boats. In my case I was not fishing but whale watching with the family. I'd position us a good 500m ahead of the whales path (making sure not to impede them or other vessels having a sight see) ...while waiting for the whales to surface, we had a charter operator power in within 10m of our boat, place his boat between us and the whale ... not once but 3 times. Seriously. Yes I appreciate it's their lively hood - it's also a lively hood that they chose, just like I chose boating as my recreation - but in the final analysis it cost me the same to put my boat on the water and to get there ... and I do not get any tax write off on the boat, gear or the running cost. I also don't make any money from it. So I don't buy being a charter gives them any additional privilege. A bit of respect and common courtesy is all it takes. Cheers Zoran

Thanks Grantos. This was not meant to take anything away from the elegant Lifecell solution. Hat's off to the developers for the foresight to provide a consolidated safety container. I can see why many new boat packages are coming standard with it especially on rigs where space is limited. However, If you already have all the actual safety gear (flares, V-sheet, etc) like many of us have, the Lifecell is an elegant $345 vacuum formed plastic container. Perhaps as all my safety gear reaches end of life and needs replacement I will reconsider. But by then there will also be Lifecell2.0 and alternatives suppliers for sure. Cheers Zoran

Hi @Pickles, regarding electrics, I fish a Diawa Tanacom Bull 1000 and a Diawa Tanacom 1000 , both spooled with 80lb braid (mono-colour) and 5-6m of 120lb leader. Between you and me, I cannot tell the difference between the Bull 1000 and the 1000 in terms of line capacity, drag and performance. The Bull has a lot more "bling" - nicer gold trim, gold handle lever and round handle with a nicer trim around the display, the 1000 is matt black, with a T-bar handle, identical display. Performance and specification they are identical. I have not had any problems with the Diawa's and have landed some sizeable fish as you saw in the report that Sam put up a few weeks ago "Two Raiders Meet - A day offshore on BARRYCUDA". Anyway, I used to fish with my mates Miya Epoch8 and that was an awesome electric reel but was about 3x the Diawa's in terms of cost. If you are considering going electric, I have made several posts in the Workshop regarding fitting up battery boxes for electrics, and spooling / line calibration (specific to the Diawa Tanacoms) which may be of interest. Just PM me if you have any specific questions about the Tanacoms or deep dropping or if you would like to see my set up (I'm just up Windsor rd from you). Cheers Zoran

As I said previously ..... @Scratchie he's sure got some huge catches to his name. I hear he has a marlin hanging on the wall, and then there's whiskers' brother ... hmmm I wonder if he will now mount 4 smiling spearo's ..... what do you reckon Jeff ... all on one wall .. or spread them around a bit 🤣 ???? Cheers Z

... maybe another job for SP ... aka silicon .... just sayin' ... 😎 Cheers Z

Mate after that I’m not sure if even the dogs will have you 🤣!

Top write up mate... glad you got out... and that the Permatrim has done the job ! Happy for ya. Now for some fish ... if only @Yowie started using SP's you might have a chance ... Cheers Zoran

Hey Raiders, So after reading @Scratchie's Port Stephens - Raiders to the Rescue post, it really got me thinking about my safety gear. Although I had all the safety gear onboard, it was located in the cabin and in three separate containers, also the EPIRB was fitted to the hull in the cockpit, so that was 4 things that needed to be grabbed, in addition to the lifejackets and anything else we may need if we had to abandon ship. The Lifecell solution (that Donna @mrsswordfisherman posted) certainly had a lot of appeal... but all it provided over what I had was the simplicity of 1 thing to snatch and jump. So, here's what I have come up with for barrycuda - MySafetyCell : All the existing containers and EPIRB connected together with PVC molding (angle and strip) with ss pop rivets and spliced rope. The container lids cannot be lost as they have lanyards fitted. Containers provide floatation and hold the flares and glove. The safety bag has the LED torch, mirror, air horn, whistles, V-sheet, I've added a safety knife and some rope with plastic snap hooks so the safety cell can be attached to us or the esky.... etc etc. MySafetyCell now lives in the cockpit next to the passenger seat. It now provides the simplicity of 1 thing to snatch and jump - all safety gear in one place. BTW, we have now decided we will be wearing our life jackets while travelling out wide and back, but will have them draped over the seat rests when fishing.... and just like the Port Stephens chaps, we do have a large esky (almost big enough for Maria to sail) ...that was always part of our abandon ship safety gear. Hope this gives other raiders some ideas. Cheers Zoran

Hey Jason, thanks so much - we'll have to sort out a pickup/transfer of goods ... the price of donating sash weights to barrycuda is that you have to go deep dropping ... so be careful if that's not what you wish for 🤙 . I have never used lead for deep dropping so don't have a mold. I think most folks just fill up a coke or V can . From memory @wrxhoon1 mentioned he has used lead weights maybe he can comment. Cheers Zoran

+1 Let's hope the show goes on for everyone's sake .... for work, for recreation, .... and not to mention special leccy prices !!! 🙄 Cheers Zoran

Hey Raiders, This topic has come up a couple of times, and I have written on this previously in different posts - so I thought I'd consolidate the discussion here. Ok in deep dropping, we are fishing waters around 500m deep with essentially paternoster rigs. So if you can drop vertically you will have 500m of line out, a few degrees off vertical and you easily start to have 550 - 600 - 700m of line out. Bite sensitivity drops and the chance of snagging increases. From my experience the ideal weights for my rigs are around 2kg and cylindrical - so that they don't spin too much on the drop and retrieve. Also the more dense the material the smaller the sinker so it imparts less drag in current and drift. Lead is an ideal material but it's expensive. For me, the next best is to use window sash weights which are typically cast iron - usually recovered from demolition and reno building sites. ... and it's excellent if you have a buddy in the building game that's also a fisherman ( Thanks Dieter @61 crusher) Sash weight come in different weights, lengths and diameters. I cut them down to approx 2kg, tie a loop at one end from fencing or coat hanger wire for quick attachment to a snap swivel, and then spray them with a rust inhibitor (retards the flaking rust and keeps the boat cleaner). I also tack weld the off cuts together ... and salvage a few more sinkers... If I can't get my hands on sash weights, I fabricate sinkers from reo -bars. I have heard of people using house bricks, or filling cans with concrete, but although they would eventually get you to the bottom, I think they would not be dense enough to give you a vertical drop and would also contribute to drag. Rectangular or odd shapes would also spin and contribute to line tangles. Here's a screen grab from underwater footage of Browns Mnt which shows a brick on the bottom..ffwd to 7:34. And the full video Cheers Zoran

HI Jeff, thanks so much for thinking of me. I can tack weld a couple of pieces together to make up the weight. Can you PM or text me a picture ? There are a couple of more considerations that I have posted previously - infact, I'll create a topic in workshop to consolidate them. Cheers and THANKS ... Zoran EDIT: The workshop topic:

Yup ... but if the boat was torn apart, you'd think we'd see some foam floating around? If the weld just cracked open, water would enter but the foam would still be trapped in there. Any craft built from 2006 onward complying with BIA standards would float with top of gunnels level with surface. As I posted earlier, Formosa claims to be compliant. ... so hmmmm very very sketchy. It's really a question for Formosa to answer now. But hats off the crew were super prepared - and bigger hat of to our @Scratchie he's sure got some huge catches to his name. I hear he has a marlin hanging on the wall, and then there's whiskers' brother ... hmmm I wonder if he will now mount 4 smiling spearo's ..... what do you reckon Jeff ... all on one wall .. or spread them around a bit 🤣 Cheers Zoran

yeah, gets a bit like that, but it wasn't anywhere near BOAT cost ( Bring On Another Thousand ) .... safety is paramount for me ... I also went for the fitted foam filled type, given they last well over 10yrs and I have storage space on the boat. It's probs the least expensive boat investment. Honestly to get compliant is not that expensive, at present the 3 letter store beginning with boating has the yellow foam filled block type priced at 2 for $30. I chucked 4 of those into the under bunk storage - that covers 4 adults of any size if required (and if not used its additional hull floatation 🤣) To get compliant and comfortable, is a bit more pricey but not that much. The other 3 letter store beginning with road, had these for $59.99. But these need to be fitted so I ended up with 2 Small, 2 Medium, 2 Large for my family.... That fitted plus the yellow brick ones covers every combination of crew I could think of. Cheers Zoran

Thanks so much Frank ... It's hard to judge the thickness from the picture but once I see it I'll be able to judge what I need for my project(s). Yes, I'm negative and have no symptoms and face masks are a necessity for sure these days. Cheers ... Z PS - looking forward to the PM.

Pasting a Youtube link is what I have used previously, but have you tried pasting the instagram link here? Should work the same. BTW, great read .. looking forward to the video or pictures ! Cheers Zoran

So further to the discussion in Donna's post on New Australian Standards coming into force for Lifejackets, and what to do with the older non-compliant jackets. I mentioned in that post "I plan to semi-permanently mount them out of the way up high underneath the back transom above the battery boxes. I have 4 rod holders poking into that area, onto which I will securely fasten ss o-rings with hose clamps. Then I will string rope between the rod holders to create a suspended platform onto which I'll secure the expired lifejackets. Voila, additional (8 x 87nm) 696 nm hull buoyancy should barrycuda get swamped!" Here's the progress shots and end result. Job done and they are more useful there than as landfill. Cheers Zoran

Thanks Noel, yup easy enough to make but I was trying to accelerate my projects by having something I could cut to size and fit rather than manufacture from scratch. I have several things on the back burner, theres figuring out the leccy mount base, then at some stage I am going to have to replace the vinyl covered side panels in the cockpit as the backing plywood is deteriorating and I am also considering reworking the seat and back rest. Ready made fg panels would accelerate these projects. As an example, 5mm fg sheet is flexible. For the side panels I was considering laminating two 5mm sheets back to back (that gives me a 10mm thick panel with two nice faces) then edging the top with 10mm PVC moulding. It would be rot proof and durable and a quick job - basically cut to shape, smooth, laminate, fit and edge. I was also planning to rework the side panel shape to a simple long panel along the deck, removing that cutout, and opening up the access to the gaff, boat hook etc. Anyway, seems like there are no retailers so I might as well bite the bullet and experiment with glassing some 8mm ply. Frank @frankS and Jerry @wrxhoon1 if you no longer require the fg mat I'll graciously accept it. Just PM me as to when/where to pick it up. Also Jerry thanks so much for the heads up on the ally plate that's a good price and I'll keep that in mind, I previously bought from Ulrich but they insist on you taking a full 2400x1200 sheet, Capral sounds much better. Cheers Zoran

Thanks Rebel. I gave them a call but they make everything custom - so a 1500x600x10mm panel came out at $700 which is a bit rich for my project. I’ll keep searching. cheers Zoran

With me it’s 5am meet at the ramp. Don’t really worry what time is wake up time... but 5 at ramp cheers Z

Glad to hear they are doing well .... they were VERY lucky ! Cheers Zoran

One final comment on this topic from me .... So being curious I compared the obsolete AS1512 PFD1 jacket (left) to a new compliant AS4758.1 L100 jacket (right), expecting little change .... Both provide >100nm float ... so identical floatation, BUT the older jacket had thicker floatation at the back, the newer standard had most of it at the font and two very thin panels at the back. With most of the buoyancy on the front, the newer jacket will definitely turn you faster and and be more likely to keep you floating on your back with your face out of the water. Cheers Zoran

Maria had exactly the same initial reaction KC ... but I reminded her that this did not come about overnight, it was a 10yr moratorium that ended. So even if you had just bought a AS1512 jacket when AS4758 was announced, you'd have still got 10yrs out of it.... and we already had ours since 1996 ! Regarding disposal, I had a bit of a think and have come up with a great solution for mine ... I will not be disposing of mine. Lifjackets were designed to float ... so I'll strip all the buckles and straps, but leave the closed cell foam in the canvas covers and then repurpose them as additional hull buoyancy! I plan to semi-permanently mount them out of the way up high underneath the back transom above the battery boxes. I have 4 rod holders poking into that area, onto which I will securely fasten ss o-rings with hose clamps. Then I will string rope between the rod holders to create a suspended platform onto which I'll secure the expired lifejackets. Voila, additional (8 x 87nm) 696 nm hull buoyancy should barrycuda get swamped! Cheers Zoran PS - I'f I had more, I'd be shoving them under the gunnels all around the boat !

I think they would not be allowed as you may inadvertently grab the wrong one. it’s part of the logic that was used regarding exflares. I have 10 old life jackets to dispose. cheers Zoran

Thanks Donna ! ... I have gone for the foam filled AS4758 compliant ones. Cheers Zoran