zmk1962

Outstanding - that’s a very mixed bag. Well done. Glad to see such a variety of fish on the bite. cheers Zoran

That’s the way to do it. Love everything about this report. Enjoy. cheers Zoran

Hey Raiders, Especially folks in Victoria and Tasmania ... not sure if this is on your Raider radar ... but you may want to have your say. Submissions close August 11. https://www.marineconservation.org.au/actions/stop-nopsema-seismic-blasting/ Cheers Zoran

Good catch Ian and Rebel .... start with whoever Serviced the motor .... !!!! ... all the rest is great background info .... Cheers Z

I haven't owned a Johnno since 1988, but I can share the following based on my experience with VRO on a Merc. As others have said it looks like 2 stroke oil - pretty easy to check - is the oil in your oil reservoir green??? . Striking a rock with the prop would not cause this type of oil leak. Yes this situation would definitely put oil on the water - it has happened to me twice with the VRO on my Merc. The Merc had a 10L oil reservoir inside the boat and a small (about 500ml) oil reservoir on top of the motor. Oil was pumped from the large reservoir to the small one and then fed into the fuel injection system (mixed with fuel) ... in your case the carb. If the oil system was not airtight the system would continue pumping oil (thinking that the oil was being used and more was needed). In the Merc's case, after a service, the mechanic left the screw cap on the small oil reservoir insufficiently tightened ... and on my first water run the VRO system flooded the engine cowling with 2stroke oil ... dripping oil everywhere and leaving a huge slick up Apple Tree bay. A phone call from the water and some on water cowl juggling sorted that. After that, I always checked the screw caps were TIGHT ! ... which led to the second leak ... I must have overtightened the small reservoir screw cap - it developed a hairline crack - and the VRO system happily pumped oil everywhere again. So as others have said ... clean everything up, check all your caps are nipped tight, follow all the oil tubes checking for cracks and that all connections are airtight. Start the motor on muffs with the cowl off and you will soon be able to see the source of the leak. It can be ... as per above. Cheers Zoran

… but then he might dirty the boat … 😱😱😱

That's a lot of shiny, glinty, bling Fab. The fish will be dazzled. Has that boat ever seen salt water? Cheers Zoran

Whales are just majestic - great way to spend a day on the water in my books. Nice to know the Bonnies are still around. Thanks for posting. cheers Zoran

Well done LF! That’s a great first … one you’ll not forget. cheers Z

Now that’s a great report! … excellent stuff Sam. I’m sure you’re as happy inside as your kids are. You only get to spend time with them at that age once … wise decision. Welcome back. cheers Zoran

Can you zoom out a bit more in the photo and perhaps put up a side shot and a picture of the supplied bowsprit as well. Seems like you already have a decent sized bowsprit with a roller. It may be possible to mount the drum winch supplied bowsprit behind your existing roller without cutting the rails or compromising any functionality. That may work if you have a flat bottom type bowsprit supplied. Alternatively, if you look at the drum winch bow sprits like the ones from Lonestar or Stressfree, these bowsprits have a bar above the roller to hold the anchor in place and prevent it being flicked into the boat. So you definitely want to install something like that. In your case, it may be easier to use your existing bow roller, and simply fit a bar across the bow rails to prevent the anchor flicking... then install a roller between the bow sprit and the drum to prevent the anchor and chain slapping against the hull .... a roller like this: Once I see more pictures I may have more ideas. Just shaving 15mm off each of the rails will weaken them significantly. I don’t think you’d be happy with the outcome. cheers Z

Nice work Chris. I would have smoked the bonnie fillets. Those Xmas trees work eh. I have a bunch in varying colours and a few Jets (basically same metal head with drilled holes) that leave a bubble trail. They’re delivered the goods at times. cheers Zoran

Yes picture please, also please advise what your hull is made from ... ally, FG, poly ??? Hull construction makes a big difference in how this situation could be approached. Cheers Zoran

Yes ... there are some seriously impressive rigs there - Wayno and I kept say ... "yup ... I can afford the fuel to start that one !" Cheers Z

That's a weird conclusion .. the colour of your iris has nothing to do with the light passing through the cornea / pupil / lens to the retina and macula at the back of the eye ... if anything, some people are colour blind or partially colour blind - red and green in particular - for those people maybe using a coloured lens helped eliminate or enhance some of the problem colours allowing them to see better definition. Many people don't know they are colour blind. My nephew didn't know it all thru school and was often told he was a poor listener or lazy in learning colour names and using the correct colours .. he found he was colour blind when he tried to join the army ! And yes, sounder screens and smartphone screens are problematic ... because the combination of LCD screen and LED backlights create a light which is largely "polarised" (ie waves are in one direction) ... and so polarized sunglasses will filter that light out when its not aligned with their filter ... rotate the glasses and you will see the screen becoming brighter and darker etc ... a real PITA because I like to use Polarised and UV treated glasses on the boat ... great for navigating through harbour traffic by cutting glare and providing protection but sh*t when I try to look at the nav !!! Cheers Zoran

Polarised and UV protection are two different things and give you different benefits - and you can have Polarised and UV protection on the same lens - polycarb or glass. UV protection - sunlight is a spectrum of light rays at different frequencies. The Ultra Violet (UV) frequency is the most harmful to our eyes and long term exposure will lead to cataracts etc. So a UV filter applied to a lens is designed to block that harmful UV spectrum of light. Polarisation - in a nutshell is a filter that only allows the light spectrum aligned with the filter to pass through. So imagine you are looking through a set of vertical parallel bars - you can only see between the bars and the bars block some of the vision. With polarised lenses the filter bars are so close together to work on light waves, and to keep it simple imagine they only allow the light waves that are vertical to pass through... that means the light waves that are travelling at any other angle are blocked. So when light reflects, that light is bouncing off a surface (object or the water) at many different angles ... a polarised lens cuts out any light that is not aligned with the filter, so it reduces much of that glare ... letting you see more ... hence a useful but different purpose to UV protection. An interesting fact, if you take two polarised lenses and lay them on each other, you can see through (both lenses are letting the vertical light through), if you rotate one 90deg - they go black - as the vertical light shining through the first is now blocked out by the second lens (lying at 90deg) - they have effectively blocked all light waves. @noelm you are describing a similar effect with your "spotty" windscreen comment. The windscreen is a laminate, as light shines through the layers, some of the lightwaves come through at a different angle and hence those areas of the windscreen appear darker as some of the light is blocked. If you rotate your glasses side to side while looking at the screen you'll see those spots darken and lighten and others appear and disappear. To me whether you go polycarb lense or glass lense is all about durability and clarity - glass will always be clearer, and last longer (unless dropped!). Hope that sheds some light ! Cheers Zoran

All good Derek, I understand your position if that's how you feel. BTW, I too despise the fast food kiosks especially when I all want to buy from them is a double shot espresso .. seriously the kiosk is programmed to provide you the most convoluted path through their entire menu ... banking on the logic that "surely you don't want JUST a coffee" and you may just buy something else if we show you everything and ask you to decline each item - NOPE - two screens of that and I'm outa there ... drove to the next town !!! But as much as smartphones are a two edged sword, their use is pervasive, from banking, public transport, to staying in touch with my remote family ... I've just accepted smartphones are here to stay. Also from a boating perspective, there's DECKEE, the weather apps, and then onboard the boat - Navionics which is my fall back navigation tool, and even with all the Garmin/Fusion stuff - the only way to activate and update all the new electronics in my boat is via the ActiveCaptain smartphone app connected to the boat's wifi. No smartphone - no smart boating ! BTW, I had a great day at the show today - just got back. My regular crew Maria was busy post our Melbourne trip, so Wayno was happy to fill the last minute vacancy. Lots of rigs and gear to cast eyes over, apart from the gawk factor of the floating displays at the marina the rest of the show is all on one level this year so it was easier to do a few loops and revisit stands. I also got to meet Mike (DECKEE) personally and chat about where that's heading which was pretty cool. The one other bit of kit that really caught my interest was the water desalination set up at one of the stands - very much reduced in size and price for an 80L/hr set up from the systems I had seen previously (but still just a tad too big for a rig like mine) - nevertheless it triggered a really good discussion between the owner of the business and Wayno (control systems background) and myself (Chem Eng background) about what would a 5-10L/hr set up look like. Who knows where this will lead to but I will be staying in touch with that co ... The fresh water bloke had the best sales line I have heard in a while. Picture this - a well to do couple walk up to his stand, and ask him what does this do - his answer: "unlimited fresh water onboard to wash you hair with luv" .... 😂 Cheers Zoran

The last time I was at the boat show door there were two kiosks, and each had a queue of well over 50 people. I was glad I had pre purchased my tickets and walked straight in. You know there is nothing stopping you buying a ticket at the door … online on your phone … and you won’t even have to stand in a queue! cheers Z

…. And No Net fishing. cheers Zoran

Hahaha .. I guess that would work. Mine is about 5ft with a mass of curly hair... goes by the nickname "havachat" ... by the time we launch she is friends with half the ramp 😂 ... works as well. Cheers Zoran

Well done Lads ... you're going to have some serious fun in that set up exploring the estuaries. Love it. Look forward to the posts. Cheers Zoran

Hahaha ... 🧐 ... yes yes yes .... I second that. It does speed up extraction so that you can return to fishing sooner. Cheers Z

I've launched a few times at Bayview. It is a nice boat launch facility. Sheltered with well maintained ramps and pontoons. Good parking. There is a fee to use the ramp or park in there - around $22 from memory. It's just a major PITA to get to from my place in the Hills towing a large rig. Cheers Z

We are all in the same boat mate ... pardon the pun. Ramps are getting busier and will continue to get so. Launching/retrieving is always one of the harder boating activities (thats why we have boat ramp vultures) and doing it solo presents additional unique challenges. We put a lot of time and $ into our rig ... so leaving it alone at the ramp while you park or get the trailer is always going to be a concern. There's no way around it but to get a fishing buddy to stay with the rig... or better still that can manage the rig or the trailer/car. Never rush at the boat ramp ... have your list and work through it. I find that I am best when I work through my list in a methodical order - and in the same order each time - so it becomes a routine - like muscle memory. Less mistakes happen doing it the same order and same way each time. ... and you'll look like a calm pro ... rather then a headless chook newbie. Fewer people bother pros. I did note that you start your motor before you launch. I would highly recommend that you do not do that especially if the lower leg is dry. An engine idles around 600rpm, at start it revs a lot higher. No matter how quick you are, you'll get a few hundred revs ... and that means a lot of rubbing of the dry rubber impellers against the the water pump walls. It will shorten the life of your water pump. Apart from that chill ... be the pro that you are. Tight lines. Cheers Zoran

Guys honestly I do not get what the negative comments are about. I just went back and checked and the first personalised email I received about the boat show was dated 04.04.2023. That's 4 months ahead of the event when they sent me a personal email. The event has been online and advertised ! .... I may have received my email invite because I attended the last one and they had my email ... but nevertheless they were reaching out and publicising the event 4 months ahead. All these events run on consumer participation. During the COVID years we were all complaining about the impact on our life and the cancellation of the boat show etc etc etc ... and yet here we are post COVID and I see a lot of comments bagging out the event when the retailers are doing their best to get us out of our chairs into these venues. Yes, the tickets are online only (so is just about every other event in Sydney), and guess what ... there is even an App you can download, with all the exhibitors and locations listed so you can plan your visit to the event ahead of time. Its online ... just like DECKEE. Some may complain about this but I see it as a lower cost, lower waste way to make available what we need to know. Hopefully so we can have more events. Personally, even though I have my "forever" boat I decided to go and purchased my tickets a while back ... infact there was a 2 for one online special which I took advantage of. Despite all the online stores, youtube and virtual reviews.... I find there is a lot of value in seeing, holding, touching and discussing the new tech ... and unless you want everything to end up online it takes our participation to keep these types of events going. I'm in Melbourne at the moment visiting my daughters .... but I will be back to check out the Sydney show either Thursday or Friday. Cheers Zoran PS - just my 2c worth.