slowjigger

NSW commercial fishermen don't generally have quotas, just limits on their number, where they fish, what gear they use etc. Also 92% of seafood sold in NSW is imported. And remember the rec licence paid for the State's 30 rec fishing havens.

The helm usually goes due to gears breaking due to extra pressure from a stiff or frozen steering. Another point is that if your tilt tube is rusty this could be the reason for your reoccurring problems.

Very occasionally they can leak but you won't get this sort of thing happening - ie seizing up after 2 years. Also much less effort required to operate as well as needing very little maintenance.

I heard white lithium grease is the best to use. I think that's the only kind Teleflex recommends. Or you could get hydraulic steering which is a lot more reliable.

I hope it's alarmed? I keep most of mine in the house, especially the likes of Trinidads, Tiagras, ambassaduers etc !

The currents are strong there which makes live baiting impractical and live bait is also hard to catch. The former was mentioned in the video and they switched to spinning. It's a long walk from the car park and one section is particularly off putting with a several hundred meters of hill side to fall down if you lost your footing.

Well that seems a bit contradictory as casting is not usually a priority for live baiting. A lever drag is fine as you only need to lob a live bait out a few meters and then let it drift out. You even mentioned out casting spin reels.

The ABU 9000C was popular with rock fishermen making long casts for snapper.

The Squall's have live spindles/ floating spools which is a good feature for long casting distance. The 2 small ones have magnetic anti backlash control and are good models for beach fishing. The larger ones would be good for high speed spinning with heavy metal lures. I like overheads off the beach and they are ideal for this as you are using heavy leads. They are quite satisfying to use as you are involved in the casting and it takes a bit of skill. They hold a lot of line for a small size, don't take up much room in your haversack and have some mechanical advantages when fighting fish. My Alvey's and beach threadlines just sit in the cupboard these days.

Another tip is that the wood is usually in two layers. Making an overlapping join will add strength, as will the alloy plates if they go across the join.

Well the engineering reason is that it adds quite a bit of strength. This applies just as much to a repaired glass boat transom when you are leaving the original fiberglass in place.

Actually my Polycraft has an aluminium plate inside the transom (from the factory). It doesn't mean the boat is unsound because it has added reinforcement. Also I don't see any reason why replacing it from the outside won't be just as strong - many professional repairers do it and back their work.

The plates are just there to beef up the fiberglass in the way I described. The real strength comes from the wood and you have replaced the rotten section. 4K to replace from the inside might be more than an old hull is worth, ie is overcapitalising. The middle road would be to replace it all from the outside which would cost about 1K to pay someone to do it. It's important to use epoxy resins with this method as they are more adhesive than polyester resins (same goes for dropping in a section).

West Systems are a brand of epoxy resins. I think you are thinking of 'Seacast'. You pour it in the top, replacing all the wood. The tricky part is removing all the wood while leaving the fiberglass in place.

You can replace a section by cutting the top off and digging out the rotten wood. You dry the remaining timber out and then treat it with a penetrating epoxy resin. Then you drop a new section of ply in using epoxy resin to glue it to the fiberglass. You add aluminium plates to both sides to strengthen up the fiberglass which may have been weakened. It will only cost a few hundred dollars this way and seems quite strong enough. There is a website called 'Rotdoctor' which describes this method, using their epoxy resins.

It can be a lot cheaper/ simpler repairing it from the outside - though not feasible if it has a complex shape.

There are ones available for horizontal surfaces. I forget the brand name but they are a fairly expensive high quality stainless steel model. It shouldn't be difficult to fit as long as you have access to the inside to tighten the bolts. It may be a bit hard to deploy and operate looking at your transom set up.

I have an outboard support bar that links the motor to the trailer. The motor always sits upright and it reduces strain on the transom. I thought Polycraft mandates or at least recommends them.

Could be a vapour lock in the fuel line. It tends to show up towards the end of the trip. Heat sinks into the fuel line when the engine is stopped after a decent run. The fuel vaporises in the line and the carbies are deprived. It often manifests as stalling when put in gear. It can be tricky to fix, but I would first check if the fuel line is close to the engine block. You might be able to reposition it a bit. Also there are heat shielding tapes available which can help insulate it.