zmk1962

I finally had a chance to install the new 15:1 winch and try it with the Ryobi 18V drill on the last outing from Roseville - so I thought I'd update this post. Happy to report that it worked ! I set the Ryobi drill in low gear with the highest torque setting, and attached to the 15:1 cog using a 22mm socket. The ratchet on the winch was loud but the drill winched up the boat the full length of the trailer. Start to finish. Below is a picture of the winch I installed, but I replaced the strap with dyneema 7T rope as I have found the rope to be much less hassle (no twist etc). The drill is my oldest Ryobi - actually the bearings are pretty shot - so it's disposable, it now permanently lives in my boat trailer bits carry bin along with all the other winch handles, shackles, locks etc. I just have to remember to pack the battery each trip. So for those that are contemplating fitting an electric winch this could be an option. Cheers Zoran

Oh dear alright. Poor boat ! Deserved better.

Hi @noelm, I agree we need a better energy solution, and if we had infinite energy then an abundance of cheap clean water can also become a reality. However, I do have major concerns with nuclear - it comes at a heavy price when things go wrong - eg Chernobyl, Fukishima, even NY had a scare with their nuke reactor on Three Mile Island - the impact of a radioactive leak is around for 100-200,000yrs and even if in Oz we locate the power plant out in the desert a leak there would enter the precious ground water system. I run a solar system without batteries (there's a write up on an earlier FR post) and I am well aware of the impact of cloud etc, but frankly I could not be happier with my system. I am basically off the grid all day and exporting energy into the grid. I do consume about 200w/hr (>15c/hr) in the evenings with the laptops, LED lights and TV running, and an additional 13c/hr for the times the offpeak hot water cuts in. I can't justify a battery system to solve those overnight costs but look at the total load I have taken off the grid during the day which is the peak business and industry consumption time (and I'm saving about $3500pa in power costs). Solar can be a step in the right direction. The more interesting aspect I have learnt from looking at my solar reports is that every 48kwh I generate saves the EQUIVALENT amount of CO2 that one tree removes from the air. Play with that equation a bit and it implies that if we burnt coal for our power, but planted a tree for every 48kwh produced we would be carbon neutral. Ofcourse the mining operation and restoration of mine sites need to be taken into consideration as well. But, given Oz has 1/3 of the worlds brown coal supply, wouldn't it be a great GREEN industry for the power companies and the government to get together and start planting renewable tree plantations (which themselves could be a revenue generator as we all need timber for building, paper, etc) to offset the coal generated CO2. We'd also be creating green jobs in the forestry / management industry. Other eastern European countries that don't actually have the landmass or resources we have are already getting onto these types of ideas, they pay something like 10% of their coal generated power cost to 3rd world countries like Gabon to actually maintain and protect their rainforests (as a CO2 offset) rather then chop them down to be sold as timber. I think we just need to be smarter with the technology we have and the resources we have rather then throw the dice with nuclear. Cheers Zoran PS - I was in Dural Bunnings the other day, and noticed a large LED display on the wall above the checkouts highlighting that Bunnings had installed Solar on many of the warehouse roofs - they were projecting that on that day they had generated 62Mwh of electricity, enough to power 32,000 standard homes ... thats a big load of the grid, which means the fossil generation plants can probably be sized for the average - not the peak load.

Thanks Sam, hope your passenger came out of it ok as well! Expect the unexpected is what I say. cheers Z

My heart is with you on this one @the skipper. They may be public spaces but we are told most of the upkeep for boat ramps and facilities is paid for by our fishing license revenue- I think that should be grounds enough for security to take a different view. Maybe have a chat to council- after all they are benefiting from the revenue as well. cheers Zoran

Thanks @61 crusher I’ve been checking out online catalogs for the major places. cheers Z

Thanks @61 crusher ... didn’t realize I was missed ! Not sure if any saddle was involved but M and I were skiing ⛷ (that’s our other passion) so maybe the tumbles on the snow prepared her for the ejection seat experience. Hahaha 😂 cheers Z

Agree. We can all do a bit more and the government needs to get more strategic and less opportunistic. I actually have a roofer coming over today to extend a gutter so that I can collect rainwater from another section of the roof which will almost double my collection area. cheers Zoran

On a similar note, Maria (wife) decided to make a Thai curry with the blue eye cod heads we caught last Tuesday. I was surprised how good it was and how much good meat we’d wasted previously. The frames went to a fish stock. No wastage from us going forward. cheers Zoran

👍 nice. Thanks for the heads up. cheers Zoran

Thanks @Smobaby I’ll check out the Reelax chairs. I personally prefer to stand while underway - just find that my knees are the best shock absorbers and I basically lean back against the seat and use it as a brace. The crew usually does the same - so I’m not after a fancy full on helm seat style. Also i have found the side arm rests on the old bucket seats were always in the way restricting access to the side pockets. I’m actually thinking of getting narrower seats with no sides or arm rests. The seats get most use when we’re at rest waiting for a bite on a slow day. It was quite unusual for M to be sitting down - and to have her feet up on the dash !!! Thanks @Rebel it was great to be able to get out on the water. cheers Z

Great result and write up Baz ... looks like the troubled waters are behind you and it’s smooth sailing ahead ! I just came of a dry spell having been off the water since September and can vouch it’s hard to beat the feeling of that first run to your fav spot and the first crank of the reel handle. cheers Zoran

Hey Raiders, A quick post to signal I'm back !! Returned to Oz just before the weekend after a few weeks travelling ... hence the long silence since the last post. I knew the boat was fully fuelled and we had salted pillies and frozen squid in the freezer. So checked the weather report as soon as the wheels touched down and spotted Tuesday was a go for a trip to Brown's - Maria was quick to agree - so we had our fishing trip sorted before we were off the plane ! Keen to wet a line - just a tad. Plan was to launch from Roseville, race out to Brown's and deep drop to see if the Blue eye had started their run, and then troll around for pelagics if we hit our oogly limit. The winds would start to pick up around 11am so that was our cut off to start the trip back. Spent Monday checking the boat, running the motors and packing the Tanacoms and the Trolling gear. Found thermostats had seized on the 200 so raced to McGraths Hill to pick up a set - installed that, motors purring, all good. Just a niggling problem with the RH windscreen washer tank leaking water - hmmm not critical - fix that sometime during the week. 6.00am at Roseville and on the water. Only 2 other boats launching - a pro and a local. A big trailer was already parked there otherwise the car park was empty. Lots of rowers in middle harbour made for a slow trip to the spit, but then the trip out was glassy as - sitting on 45- 55km/h with just a few rough patches. 7.30am at Brown's. Three boats there. Positioned ourselves on the North mark, and set up the deep drops. Observed our drift - current North to South (4-5km/h), water blue 21.8C. Spent the next 5hrs covering Browns with drifts. The action was slow. Good news, we scored a Blue-eye each so were quite chuffed with that (the container length is 60cm). We had two rigs bitten off on the retrieve at around 150-200m, and Maria's blue eye tangled with my line on the retrieve - so quite some time lost re-rigging. With the strong current it meant we spent a lot of time repositioning for drifts. All in all we never broke out the trolling gear. Having overstayed the 11am cut off the trip back was going to be a bumpy one with the winds and cross chop as forecast . Averaged 30-35km/h and there were definitely lots of bone jarring potholes on the way back. Infact so many that Maria literally fell out of her seat ! Well, the bolts pulled through the seat base - she was launched with the seat intact around her and crashed down into the rear deck area. Could have been bad, but fortunately she is fit and flexible and apart from some bruises all she has to show for it is a big grin - and the fact she caught the bigger blue eye ! ...as for me... another thing to fix. Guess its time to replace both seats. Cheers Zoran

Hey Raiders, Not sure if everyone is following this - happy to report that community action has STOPPED seismic testing off shore between Newcastle and Sydney. Now here's the clanger - as of 3rd February 2020, seismic testing has commenced in Lake Macquarie !!!! Yes apparently Centennial Coal has approval to conduct prospecting in Lake Mac - most people even politicians do not know about this as the original approval was granted in 1977 and renewed in 2013. If seismic testing was stopped offshore due to the harm it causes to aquatic life how can we allow this in an enclosed waterway - a lake system - imagine the longterm damage to that system ! As fishos we respect our environment and abide by the laws that protect hatcheries. Fishing is a legacy I want to leave for my kids and grand kids. Other countries have banned seismic testing altogether to protect their aquatic environments from the harm caused by this practice. I hope we can do the same. Here's a link to that petition: https://www.al.org.au/ban-seismic-testing/ If you are not aware of what seismic testing here's a summary - WHAT IS SEISMIC TESTING? Seismic testing is used to find oil and gas reserves under the ocean floor. The process involves blasting the seafloor with high-powered airguns and measuring the echos. The airgun noise penetrates deep into the ocean floor and relays data about what is under the surface. HOW LOUD ARE THE AIRGUNS? Each airgun blast is 259 decibels – strong enough to kill a human. They are roughly 100,000 times more intense than a jet engine. The ships tow multiple airguns at a time. These blasts occur every 10 seconds, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, for months. The noise travels incredibly well through water and can be heard up to 4,000km away. To put that in perspective, it’s like hearing the Sydney fireworks in Perth. Read more here: https://www.al.org.au/seismic-testing/ Cheers Zoran PS - Donna, please remove this post if it does not meet FR regs. I just feel it's important for folks to be aware what science is now showing has been causing some of those beached dolphin and whale events, fish kills, etc. ... and I love the NSW waterways and oceans with a PASSION !

Hahaha. I feel another Baz song coming on - I can hear my wife ... tappin on the window. Bringing back sweet memories... I can hear my wife ——- bahaha cheers Z

Just pure emotion ! Fantastic job Baz. Thank you. Z

Oh dear... hope you are all ok now ! I forgot to ask one qualifying question, is the fuel in the tank E10 ? If so get rid of it. The ethanol would definitely have separated and oxidised to acetic acid. If its just unleaded, then given there's 70L in an 80L tank and the boat is probably stored tilted back, you most likely don't have a lot of fuel surface exposed to air (so not much loss of octane due to volatile evaporation). If your breather tube had a bit of fuel in there then this fuel would have acted as a plug, moving with the vapour expansion and effectively sealing the tank. I'd still do as I recommended initially. Siphon out 20-40L (2 x 20L Jerry cans or your portable tank if its near empty). Top up the main tank with 98. I'd change the fuel filter as it will remove any water condensate that may have occurred. I often have 80-100L lying around in my 250L tank for months and that's what I have done for 20+yrs with no issues. You can progressively mix in the 20-40L that you have siphoned out (keep topping up with 98 or 95). Or like me, if I have siphoned out fuel, I have topped up the daughters Micra, and Hyundai, the wife's Subaru, or the Landcruiser, lanmower, whipper snipper etc. It gets used up and mixed with fresh fuel a lot quicker in cars. Cheers Zoran

Lots of prior discussion on this if you search the forums. What type of motor are you running- 2stroke carbie model or newer 4stroke or direct injection model? Also you have 80L but how big is your tank? I run a 200hp EFI 2stroke. If it was mine I’d mix 50:50 with fresh premium unleaded 98RON, whack on a new water separating fuel filter and use it. You typically need 91RON for an outboard. The fresh 98 would raise your octane and the filter will get rid of the gunk. Cheers Zoran

Great stuff ..... shows you gotta be out there to get them ... I can confirm no kings in the driveway at Castle Hill again ! Cheers Zoran

Regardless ... its hard to spoil a feed of fried flatties !!! Good Job ! Cheers Zoran

Great Video Jon!! Very succinct and factual. The video is geared toward the 3.5T top end road warrior towing fraternity - but it is a fantastic reminder to stay within the regulations and that just blindly buying big is NOT the answer. Buy what you need for your intended purpose. As a past engineer I just had to run the calcs for my set up. Frankly, I don't do a lot of long distance trips. I fit into category 2 dsicussed in the last few minutes of the video - towing a boat to the ramp and back - so it's mostly city towing where I find having the vehicle mass match the tow load, combined with AWD traction, helps greatly with control (read stopping) in the Sydney traffic conditions. When we have taken the rig to say Jervis Bay, we used the spare ATM capacity and loaded the boat for any additional items rather then loading the car. But more to the point you are making - anyone considering "the best 6m offshore boat" really needs to seriously consider the towing part of the equation. Cheers Zoran

Alvey 600 C5 mounted on Silstar Power Tip PT-1202BWH ... my go-to beach outfit. Alvey Yabby Pump 30" length indestructible ...and up until recently an Alvey ReefKing 18" pure power ... (sold to a good home) Cheers Zoran

Well that's just the problem ... usually you can't out run a storm like that. If I remember the rules of thumb correctly, if you are between 5 and 6 feet tall, you can see the horizon at around 10-15km away. So if you can recognise a storm on the horizon and its travelling at 100km/hr - you have around 10min before its on you. In 2013 I was at Browns Mnt (40km out from Sydney heads) on flat seas and clear skies with a forecast of 5kts NE winds and 1m swell, we trolled back in to 12mile (20km out) and hit a squall. The winds were not as bad as that video, but the seas were 3-4m and with no set direction. It took 4.5hrs to cover the last 20km back to the heads. Marine rescue and VHF radio was going crazy. Sh*t can happen fast offshore. Cheers Zoran

Cannon That photo was dated 2006 ... still working perfectly. I use 200lb braid. Cheers Zoran

... you are way more experienced than me Jon especially way out wide ... but rather then removing stuff I actually went the other way .... after I saw this video clip of a similar sized haines to mine riding out the "perfect storm" I concluded that if they had a standard marine canvas bimini it would have most likely been ripped off - resulting in significant loss of visibility - who knows what the outcome would have been ... it was this clip that actually pushed me over the line to install a hard top and then full length plate glass screens for good measure. Cheers Zoran