Sigma

Hi Rick, Swansea Heads mate. The pic on facebook , you could see the heads just behind it....probably 50mtrs away. Even the person who posted said that the warmer currents are so close in that it was rare to see Marlin that close to shore... Cheers Dave edit: Lol....just saw the rest replies. It was the facebook one in the channel.

Hi campr, I know what you mean about pop rivets. The boat had the original plastic holders that were pop riveted in by the manufacturer Quintrex. I have now installed the stainless steel rod holders and bolted them down with 316 grade s/s bolts and nylon lock nuts as shown here... Also, I have drilled another hole towards the stern of the boat and installed another rod holder for my downrigger. I have re-strengthened it with a piece of 20mm chopping board underneath too. All nice and solid now... All I now need is a nice day to go out and test the new downrigger....

Well done Aardvarking... pretty big selection there! I had the same plan as you cause my Xmas is tomorrow as well. I had the boat ready to go this morning at 3am....... and my mate pulls out in the last minute. Oh well, seafood salad the Mrs made still looks good.

Hi raging, You can buy chopping blocks up to 25mm (from memory) from a catering suppliers place. I bought mine (20mm)that I found on the net, from Smeaton Grange (near Narellan) which I needed for my transducer and structure scan on the back of the boat. As I had a massive piece, I ended up giving the Mrs half of it to use in the kitchen and I still had left overs for a backing/strengthening plate when I installed my stainless steel rod holders for my downrigger. I think that I paid $27 (could be wrong) for a big piece.....but it really is quality comparing to what the shops sell. Cheers Dave

Hi raging, I think its a bit too hard to evaluate that. How old is the battery? If its not that old, could be that the CTek did help. Best way to test it out is to bring the battery with you next time and swap it over then use it and see how you go. This will give you a true indication and I would be interested to see the outcome as I, and a lot of others on this site have CTeks.

I read on facebook today that they got a blue at Swansea Heads....very unusual.

Well done Sam....awesome catch and a great feed as well....can't complain about that.

Poor blokes! Did they run over a black cat or something?

Well done Scratchie. Couple of nice Kings any size is better than any hangover!

Well done Sam. He's lucky you came around when you did otherwise that boat would have been on the bottom by the time he tried to start the engine. Should have asked him if it was a Marine Mechanic or a backyard Lawn Mower mechanic? By the sounds of it, its the latter. If a marine mechanic checked it out, he would have noticed the broken hose and no bung.

Happy New Year to all the Mods and my fellow Raiders....all the best for 2018. Tight Lines to all Cheers Dave

Ummm, I think you will find that the last post was more than 5yrs ago...

Nice report mate and it's sad to hear these kinds of stories, especially around this time of year. To say that I'm surprised, not really. Way too many cowboys and idiots trying to show off on our waterways whether its by boat or jet ski. Unfortunately, It happens on the roads, and it also happens on the water. Unlike cars, boats don't have brakes and you are at the mercy of mother nature in most cases. I'm not saying that these blokes were any of these things as it could have been a freak accident but I have seen so many morons out there trying to show off with their boats, I'm surprised that there are not more incidents. I pray for their families and I hope the injured person pulls through. Really sad to hear this.....

So Jon.....you got bananas because you had no bananas...lol

Check this out omally. The king of the workshop (Fab1?) helped me out when I was doing mine and there is a lot of useful info on sizes, types, model numbers, etc..... that I found really helpful. Hope it helps....

I did my discs, pads and bearings as well as changed the steel cable a little while ago and bought Timken bearings from Supercheap. They do have some other el-cheapo brand but Timken wasn't that much more.

Thanks for putting it up AntonyWardle.... Cheers

Wow Jon, you really know how to use a camera to its full potential.....beautiful pics. Where are you holidaying?

OUCH!! That would have hurt. Any damage to the inboard/outboard?

Hey Shakey, Can you remember what the boat cover set you back? Is the cover of good quality?

" Same thing happened to me. I went back to the story and was going to put the whole story up on here but I couldn't do it without subscribing....bugger!

Hello Raiders, Just read an article from the Daily Telegraph from a couple of weeks back that has raised my eyebrow on my favorite target fish....the Kingfish. According to this article by Al McGlashan, the same Kings are repeatedly being caught, hence my concern that we might not have that many quality Kings about. Please have a read of this and let us know what you think.....are we "over fishing" the Kings? https://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/news/nsw/big-kingfish-are-too-good-to-catch-just-once-or-even-twice/news-story/3d073ff6213f9e7679a3798239999a45 Cheers

Merry Xmas to you Frank and all fellow raiders. Hope you all have a wonderful break and catch a lot of fish. Tight Lines and all the best Cheers Dave

Hello fellow Raiders again, Just thought I would put this out there to all who might want to install rod holders on their Ally boat. As I was waiting for someone to help out and give some advice, I thought to myself, how can I find out if the 63mm hole is too big. So, I thought, I need to find something that is the same thickness as the boat 4-5mm. It clicked, .......a piece of cardboard should do the trick So, got some cardboard and drilled the hole. Inserted the angled rod holder aaaaaannd................ it's PERFECT. Plenty of play to turn it around how you want it and the three screw holes are not exposed to the big hole. There you go my fellow Raiders..answered my own question and shared it with anyone who might need this info in the future. I knew there was a smarter me somewhere there..... Cheers Dave.

Thanks OMally. I know about the two different metals thing and I do have the stuff in a tube if it needs it. I used a number of stainless steel nuts and bolts about 5yrs ago and put this stuff on and it's perfect. Cheers Dave