fishingrod

Some of those public moorings in Cowan Creek have rather thick ropes on them. If they havent been run over or damaged they usually have a ~2m long rope with a 15-20cm diameter eye (loop) spliced on the end. You can drop this over your front anchoring point if your bollard or cleat is large enough. Wind some of your own rope over the top if your worried about it "popping off" while you are asleep. It not suggested you moor from the side or stern. Those moorings are popular. You cant always get one. The tieing up isn't rocket science, you will work it out. Re the battery and lighting issue. Technically while moored or anchored you only need one white light which is visible unobstructed 360 deg all around your boat. No need to have the red and green's on unless you are underway or drifting. If your round white light happens to be a LED then it will draw very little power. Take your car battery as long as it doesnt cause any issues with central locking or remotes etc. Better than getting stuck on the water. The car alarm may not work. but at least no one can start your car. Rod

The last time I was at the Wave Rider was in Feb/March last year. The co-ords I recorded at the time were: 33 46.243 S 151 24.674 E (and I stress this was 12 months ago) Depth was around 85-90m I take it you have already found the MHL data. http://www.mhl.nsw.gov.au/www/wave_data_where.htmlx Check that your GPS format is WGS84 and that you have it set for Deg.Min (not Deg.Min.Seconds) cheers Rod ** edited to include depth info

I dont know anything about the 2nd tube that shows when the tank is full. Maybe it works as a sight tube style indicator. If you try and re-fuel at a petrol station that has a slope in the driveway, all the fuel can run to one end of the tank making it hard to fill. Same issue again if you have a towbar mounted highish or lowish on your car, the boat will be tilted. Sometimes the breather tubes can fill with fuel and air cannot escape thru them. This can occur if the breather lines have sags or low spots in them where the fuel can accumulate. If possible, the breather lines should be tied or mounted slightly slanting upwards from the main tank so the fuel can run out of them back into the main tank. You can try undoing the filling cap and then taking a deep breath and blowing back down your breather tube. This will push any fuel stuck in the breather tube into the main tank. Then you know you have clear path for the air to escape. cheers Rod

West Head is pretty reliable of a morning for Yakkas. (ive never tried there in the middle of the day) Occasionally you will get Garfish and Slimies. Some people squid there too. The live bait spot is kinda on the ENE corner of West Head. Just outside the "pill boxes" in about 5-8m of water which is probably 25-40m out from the shore. cheers Rod

There may be 2 relays that control your electric tilt/trim. One relay gives you up and the other relay gives you down. One relay may have failed. You should be able to swap the relays around to prove the theory. Might be worth changing both if they are the same age. In the last 2 outboards I've had they were automotive style relays similar to what you use for spot lights or air horns etc on a car. Worth about $10 from a any chain automotive store, maybe a bit more if you buy it from a marine mechanics joint. cheers Rod

All good info here so far. I certainly agree that getting the existing owner sort out the regos for you will make it a lot easier for you. Slightly off topic, there is a (new?) feature on the RTA website for free rego checks and also $18 Vehicle History checks. This is somewhat seperate to the REVs websites. http://www.rta.nsw.gov.au/myrta/freeregocheck.html http://www.rta.nsw.gov.au/myrta/vehiclehistory.html cheers Rod

As previously stated a lot of weather forecast providers use "data" from the BOM, however I have a feeling that a number of weather providers have their own expert "analysts". They may inteprate the data slighty differently and thus give differing forecasts ? Personally I use the BOM, Seabreeze and more recently discovered the Buoy Weather site. Their free forecast isnt too bad (based just south of Port Hacking) http://www.buoyweather.com/wxnav6.jsp?program=nww3BW1&grb=nww3&region=NSW&latitude=-34&longitude=151.5&zone=10&units=m Also check the Wave Rider sites. If its a 3m southerly swell when you go to bed and they are forecasting a 1-1.5m NE-E swell in the morning I start to have my doubts. http://www.mhl.nsw.gov.au/www/real_quick.htmlx http://wavewindtide.sydneyports.com.au/wave/weather_original.asp cheers Rod

Welcome to FR mate. What part of the Hawkesbury are you going to be on ? The river is over 115km long excluding Cowan Creek, Berowra Waters, Pittwater etc cheers Rod

I think that "home made live bait tank" was for sale. (not sure if its still available) The advert is here: http://www.fishraider.com.au/Invision/index.php?showtopic=51012 Might save you making one !

Gday Dicko Ive got one of those "cheap" service manual CDs of a auction site. Mine was about $10-15. It is sorta detailed, but very general. It does have some step by step instructions but its not dedicated to a certain HP motor. It covers many HP over several model years. I just got it for general reference incase I want to tinker with something one day. (EG on Xmas holidays if I have a breakdown and I want to have a fiddle myself if the mechanics are shut) I reckon if you are not that familiar with marine mechanicals then you should get a more dedicated manual for your exact motor. They are usually a lot more specific, even down the colours of each wire in the wiring looms etc. I'll PM you my opinion on professional 12 month servicing and some other DIY checks and hints cheers Rod

Ive launched at Terrigal a few times, but they were pretty calm days. The ramp is straight into the ocean but located in a fairly protected cove (haven). With a moderate wind fron the NW-N-NE it could get a little interesting. I dont have a huge amount of experience there. There is some info on the ramp here: http://www.fishraider.com.au/Invision/index.php?showtopic=46692 At low tide (such as when the photos were taken) the ramp tends to flatten out, meaning that depending on your boat/trailer combination you may need to reverse quite far down. Your car could get a little wet from surge. Last time I was there the concrete was quite sandy at low tide. At high tide there is only a little bit of beach exposed. A area called Texas in 90-110m of water(?) & 15 miles out(?) seems to be a popular jigging spot. http://www.fishraider.com.au/Invision/index.php?showtopic=49006 Good luck with the trip. cheers Rod

I know that this is over your budget, but Stacer make a 5.29m Northern Fisher Centre Console. These are a pretty basic centre console. http://www.stacer.com.au/StacerArticles/BoatTests/100716/Stacer529NorthernFisher.aspx I have a friend considering one and he's lead me to believe that you can get the hull & alloy trailer for less than $16K brand new. Im not sure what fit out this would include (such as steering, nav lights and bilge pump etc etc) cheers Rod

A quick question mate, were they weighing any boats and trailers there ? There are a lot of boats on trailers around that should have brakes, but dont. Ive read some other forums where the QLD'ers talk about the "stings" the authorities set up at the ramp. But I havent that heard much about them happening down here in Sydney much. cheers Rod

Congratulations on the purchase wen 100hp 4stroke isnt a huge amount of power for a 5.6m alloy but it should be adaquate within reason. Im pretty sure the F100's normally came with factory stainless props. Theres a few standard questions that will be asked. Why do you want to change the prop? Is it damaged, the wrong size or not suited to the type of activities you do? People often seek to change prop if they want better out-of-the-hole performance, such as when water sking. Or if the existing prop doesnt allow the motor to reach its proper rev range. I think that motor should reach 5500-5800rpm flat out (WOT). Someone else may be able to confirm the factory spec for that motor. On occasions a prop change (or recupping/tuning) can improve poor handling by improving lift, reducing cavitation etc etc. If you have poor performance or handling, it could also be caused by bad weight distribution or a motor mounted/trimmed at the wrong height. EDIT: I just notice that Huey replied while I was still typing and ive probably repeated some of what hes already said cheers Rod

There was: 5m FishMaster cuddy. Alloy hull with fibreglass cuddy (if you have seen some of the Malcolm Douglas films he used one of these a fair bit in the early 80's) 5m SeaRaider(?) half cabin. Alloy hull with fibreglass cabin. (these are very rare) 5m Fish Finder centre console. Alloy hull. (I used to own one of these with twin 40hp Yamahas. It was a lovely boat !) 5m CruiseAbout runabout. Alloy hull with fibreglass deck. (that Payatz owned) cheers Rod

Hi Nick Welcome to the site. Ive never heard of a Cruise Craft aluminium boat. Cruise Crafts are normally fibreglass/GRP. Make sure the seller isnt leading you astray ! cheers Rod

Gday Welst As the others have said there shouldnt be a deliberate earth from the neg on the battery to the hull. There will usually be a connection of some kind as the engine has a negitive earth on its block and mounting bracket, which in turn is bolted to the hull. If you were really fussy you could put a simple on-off switch on neg battery terminal. Isolate the battery from the hull as best you can and continue to run your trickle charger. Connect it direct to the battery terminals. For your antenna and other bolt on bits there is a product called "Duralac" which can be used when mounting dissimilar metals on a alloy hull. Easy to get from most boating chnadlerys. Google it and you will find heaps of info. Its about $20-30 for a tube the size of a big toothpaste tube. Its a honey/golden syrup like consistancy out of the tube, but dries harder. cheers Rod

There is a lot of excited people here ! You guys better have your say and VOTE: http://www.maritime.nsw.gov.au/hys/marine_rescue_funding.html cheers for now Rod

What part ? The Hawkesbury is a very long river ! Are you on a boat or waterfront property ? (have a look at what your neighbours run) There is a translator in the Buddi (spelling?) National Park thats near Cape 3 Points/East Reef. It covers Gosford and may give coverage on the Hawkesbury closer towards Broken Bay. You may even get signals from Newcastle transmitters which I thik are at Mt Sugarloaf, just west of the F3 freeway. I was lead to believe that at one stage there was some kind of passive repeater system installed for the people around Spencer. (unconfirmed) Try running non-digital if you cant get digital pictures. A slightly snowy or noisy analogue picture might be better than a digital signal that keeps cutting out. You can also get multi-pathing and reflections. EG: if you face your antenna towards a mountain north of you, you can get reflections from transmitters in Sydney from the south. There could be some ghoasting though. Most of the Sydney (Artarmon/GoreHill) transmitters run a horizontal polarization. Some of the regional sites may run different or mixed polarizations. You can get free to air satellite receivers that use a small dish and cover most city channels + a couple more. They are not that dear for a system. (under $1K ?) I have very little first hand experience with TV in the Hawkesbury and can only comment on the technicallities. Good luck with it ! Rod

This thread seems a bit quiet ..... i'll bump it along. First boat our family got when I was a toddler: 1 - 12 foot red Monark runabout with a 25-28hp Mariner. 2 - 12 foot red Sea-Al runabout with a 28hp Suzuki. 3 - 4.3m NovaProject V146 half cabin with 40hp Mariner which we later upgraded to a brand new 65 Suzuki We sold that as Dad had a operation and didnt think he would fully recover from. Good news is that he did recover and we started boating again a couple of years later: 4 - 15 foot orange imported fibreglass runabout thing with a 40hp Yamaha 5 - 5m Quintrex FishFinder centre console with twin 40hp Yamahas 6 - 506 Cruise Craft Regal Half cabin with a 120hp Evinrude Dad reckons hes too old for boating now, so I've had to buy my own boat which is a: 7 - Allison 189 Fisherman with 115hp Merc and is my current rig cheers Rod

Keep trying mate. Go to the Lock Smiths that have their own proper shop, rather than the smaller kiosks in the shopping centres. I had heaps of Yamaha keys cut for our work boats by a LockSmith at Rydalmere (cnr Victoria Rd and Pennant Street) They moved or closed down a couple of years ago. I dont remember what their name was sorry. They we only $5-10 per key and normally had the right blanks in stock. I ordered a set of genuine Mercury keys about 3 years ago from my outboard service bloke. It was only about $35 for a pack of 3. They didnt have the fancy plastic surround. I just needed to tell them the key number stamped on the original. cheers Rod

The bearings do not need tapping out. They should fall out of the hub if it is held horizontally. The "cups" are installed into the hub and these will need tapping or hammering out. You can reuse the old bearings as long as they do not look worn and the old grease looked and smelt clean (not burnt or milky which means it has had moisture in it) My mechanic recently told me to mainly inspect the cups when looking for wear marks. Look at the bearings too, but the wear may be harder to spot. The bearings and cups and matched pairs. Do not mix up them up. If you put new bearings in, you need to put in new cups. If you choose to reuse the old bearings then I suggest installing new marine seals. I paid about $15 bucks for a pair of Timken brand marine seals. The marine seas have a thin metal disc that slips on the inside in the hub. The normal non marine seals are just rubber. If you have access to a bearing packer or grease press it makes it much easier to get new grease into the bearings. It takes about 1-2 mins per bearing. I did it slowly by hand for many years and was still never completely satisfied that I had enough grease in them. There are new oil bath hub systems around that I dont have experience with. Reading various forums, most people that have them are very happy. I considered them but went with old fashioned grease which has never let me down in over 20 years. cheers Rod

Have a look in THE WORKSHOP forum on here. One of the guys has posted a 3 part series of articles on how to change a bearing with good step by step photos. Its called Trailer Disk Brakes and Wheel Bearings. As he has started in that post, everyone has slightly different ways to do it. The circ-clip with a nipple is probably the bearing buddy as you have suggested. If you dont have bearing buddys there would normally be a plain metal dust cap. My Brooker trailer has Ford bearings and a Holden HT wheel pattern, so the bearing you already have may still be the right ones. If you slightly jack up the trailer and lift the wheel off the ground, you should be able to remove the bearing buddy, then the split pin, then the nut, then a washer. This will give you access to the outer bearing. There is no need to remove the wheel. You should be able to read a part number off the outer bearing without removing it. Check that part number on google and check if its a ford or holden bearing. Apparently some trailers run a combination off bearing types (mixed ford/holden/landcruiser?) to get max carrying capacity, but chances are yours will be all the same type. cheers Rod

If Stephen gives the number for the Brooker factory you may have trouble getting thru. It took me a couple of goes over a few days to get someone to pick up and answer the phone, but they were very helpful when I got to speak to someone. Brooker trailers have been around for at least 20 years so there will be many variations around. Ive personally never seen a trailer with circ-clips. Ive got a 4 year old Brooker 16/17 HDT. dual axle with 13" wheels. I changed my bearings 3 weeks ago. The axles are 60mm round, but when choosing bearings and seals the Brooker factory recently told me to get parts to suit a 45mm square axle. My bearings are Ford (S/L - slim line) Small Inner LM 12749 /10 Large Outer L68149 /10 My stud patten is Holden HT with 5x 7/16" threads. I got new galvanised disc hub kits complete with marine seals, asian bearings, cones, dust cap, studs & 5 nuts for $80-100 retail each. Galvanised hubs for the non braked axle are about $40-$50 retail ea (also with marine seals, asian bearings, cones, dust cap, studs & 5 nuts. These kits are good as you dont have to hammer and press the bearing cups in and out of the old hub, however they give you the asian bearings that some people have mixed opinions about. A pack of asian bearings with cups and marine seals to service one wheel is about $15-25. Expect to pay $25-35 for the non asian bearings. Brake pads are $25-35 per pair (to service one wheel) If this info isnt applicable to you just disregard it, but it might help someone doing a search on here on day cheers Rod

Have a look in the Swap and Sell section on here mate. Someones just put a near new battery up for sale at a fair price. Rod