BaitDropper

Tuivasa sheck back to the warriors, just announced, Gee, there building a good roster .. Bet there would have been a few other clubs interested in signing him. Glad to see he's decided to return to the NRL, class act..

Stern savers are alternatives to drilling holes in the transom, so yes avoiding drilling holes. The epoxied pad system has been available for some time, the pad stuck on with 3m double sided tape is a new one on me. Both systems adhere a kingboard type material pad onto the transom. I was set on using the epoxy system, but saw this new system where no epoxy was used, just this 3m d/s tape. I was interested if anyone has used this. I'm sceptical any d/s tape could survive in salt water use, hanging a tranny or similar off it submerged, but it's being advertised as such.

I'm about ready to get a live bait tank re installed, didn't get around to it after the rebuild and the move, one of those " I'll get round to it " jobs. Since I had a full transom job and raised it in the rebuild, I simply can't bring myself to drilling any holes there. So, was going to use the stern savers, which are an epoxy system, but when searching, I see that they now have a 3m type adhesive tape type system available now,, I'll probably still go with the epoxy version for peace of mind, but didn't realize there was an alternative option. Has anyone used the 3m stick pad option that's available ???

Great report and a great trip out on all accounts.. It would be nice if the weather gods played ball for those of us trying to get out and enjoy a spot of fishing, but a nice feed of fresh stuff soon makes one forget the uncomfortable conditions. Congrats on you catch..

100% agree.. In all honesty, they should be copying what ever the Melbourne storm model was, because in my opinion, that Victorian option, would have been the hardest to set up of any location in Australia and get success as they have done, In a media biased AFL state, there's still not much in the way of junior leagues, or indeed a feeding ground as such to grow the sport in Melbourne, and yet, there probably one of the most successful franchises in the last 20 odd years, go figure !. Maybe I dwell to much, but I still miss the old merged teams that have long disappeared, Lets hope they never go down this path again...

Ahh, Ok, I thought I read or heard that there was a push to actually enter an NRL team from the Papua. I wonder now when you look back at things ( as was mentioned earlier ) All those mergers that happened, wests, norths, Illawarra and failed new franchises etc etc, How many now think that this was a mistake ? What if scenario... I know one thing, League seems to be always chasing their tails with the AFl marketing machine, I think overall, league has missed many a boat over the journey. Having lived for a time in Victoria, I don't mind watching the odd AFL game, but as a league lover, it sometimes feels the NRL made some terrible decisions over the last 25 odd years..

I hear what your saying, However, this has happened for some time now in a lot of other sports, in fact without NZ, most of our top sporting teams would definitely not be at the level they are now, we are too isolated from the rest of the world, Hence, the super 8's rugby competition which started in the 90's, now of course much larger. I'm definitely for the inclusion of the warriors, lets face it, most NRL teams, are littered with Kiwis and NZ born pacific islanders, some even play state of origin and even represent Aussie, the Warriors have a half dozen or so Aussies and even the coach in the team. The other reason I'm in favour, is that the northern hemisphere would have been the big winners if the warriors inclusion hadn't come about, the player drain from our region would have been huge, and only made their competition much much stronger. Now there's a pathway for in Australasians to stay in the region and mostly, the northern hemisphere only get " end of career " or younger players not up to the NRL grade, but it could have been a lot different if the Warriors weren't included... Because of the relatively short distance between NZ and Aussie, it makes sense, we need to grow rugby league here in Aussie, the new franchises they created a few years back, have long since collapsed and were a failure, this showed the need for the NRL to try and grow via the talent pool in NZ. I believe they are/were trying to get a papua new Guinian team into the league ?? I think this too, would be a brilliant idea,, We need to grow the sport, not restrict it in these modern days.. I personally don't think the name has any bearing, but hear where your coming from, I'm cool to call it the " super league " if that's what it takes, it's got a nice ring to it..

Not sure if they will win the trophy as such XD351, Well, this year, BUT their certainly showing their metal and seem to be creating a good culture over the pond. There pretty thin on the so called " Star players " but sure have shown a heap of guts this season and in all honesty, have been the best games to watch as far as classic league games go this season. My pick will be that they will make top 6 this season, and who knows what they can do past that. The NRL needed the Warriors to start manning up and getting some consistent results, it's good for league itself and good for the NRL.. Not a too badder outside bet for the final...

Progress has been slow, to say the least fitting up the new Hydraulic steering, the rain is now playing it's part.. The Hydrive kit, certainly looks the goods, can't wait to finish off the fitting up and get it tested.. Guys, the old steering I removed was a Baystar, it would be, 15-18 years old at a guess. It needs a full seal kit, it was leaking fluid. Once removed, the helm assembly, has a large hex nut on the back that most of the leak was coming from, which is a simple O ring, BUT, I would recommend a full seal kit replacement. The up shot is, if anyone wants it, for parts or repair, she's free to a good home ( I hate chucking anything). If no-one is interested, I may get a seal kit and do it myself, but time is my issue.. The bullhorn unit itself, is in good condition, but again, I would be swapping out all the connections and throwing a full seal kit right through the system. Shout out if anyone is interested...

Well, with the influx of holiday makers for the easter break and bad weather over the next 2 days, it's the ideal time to get this new Hydraulic steering system fitted.

Hydrive it is... Being only a 140 Suk, the comkit-1 works for my set up, ( for up to 200hp engines).. Amazing the different deals available at the minute, will let the suppliers come back to me with there best deal, while I strip the old steering out...

After a complete rebuild of my boat, the one item I never changed out, was the old SeaStar Hydraulic steering, which at a guess I would say would be about 17/18 years old. Yep, you guessed it, I soon noticed weeping at the back of the head unit, I cleaned and re tightened everything, re bleed the system, but after 3-4 trips out, I can feel that everything isn't as it should be, the steering is quite jerky, not as smooth as it should be and although I haven't noticed any more fluid leaks, the fluid level is dropping,, Maybe it's leaking into the helm casing inside, Dunno. I looked at getting a complete seal kit for the system, including the back bull horn set up, but in all honesty, for the prices they want for them, starts to make you wonder whether it's better to just replace the whole unit and have another 17-18 years without worry. Now, I'm always one for buying " Quality made " local products, but a mate popped over on the weekend and said he replaced his Hydraulic steering 4-5 years back, and recommended the brand he used,, turns out that it was one of the " overseas " brands, of which he had no idea at the time. There seems to be a lot of Baystar-SeaStar knock off brands on the market at the minute, Exact copies and near half the price of the main stream brands. Has anyone ventured over to these "products" and installed them in there boats ? With something as important as quality hydraulic steering, especially when used in a boat regularly crossing bars and heading out wide, I certainly won't be experimenting with sub standard equipment, but from what I have been reading or researching so far, mainly from state side, where some of these units have been stripped down and inspected, they seem to be reporting that there of a par with what there copying. interested if anyone one else has gone down this path.. Other than that, what other brands have been used, with good results on more main stream brands could anyone recommend.

Yep, Great report, Looked like a good session out..

Wow, Stunning photo's there Gareth..

This wee fella, has an affinity with my boat, mainly to give himself a good scratching. It's got to a stage that if the boats out, give him 30 minutes and he appears. We have a resident family clan that obviously lives near by, there not fed or incouraged in any way, just left to do there own thing, my shed also becomes a happy hang out spot unless the roller door is down when I'm not about, but this bloke has worked out where to give him self a good scratch down !! We've been here just over 12 months now, he/she has being doing this for all of that time.. I have learnt to make sure the engine is up, as the prop and skeg are his favourite targeted spot..

Wow,, Just Wow !! I won't preach or comment about the lack of wearing any safety gear, or whether it was all worth the risk/effort..... I will freely admit to having done some extremely stupid things on Bars many years back, Glad I learn't my lesson, or rather gained some experience.. Wild video..

They make a pretty good Latte as well Donna ! 😊

I'm a good 20 minutes from my place to Greenwell point, which in my opinion is the best launch facilities and access to head out wide. With the weather how it's been over the last 12 months, Or just my timing, I always found the days I wanted to go out wide for a fish, was always blowing. So I launched a fair bit at Nowra just to get the boat out for a run ( or rather me out for a run), I've not tired at all of just cruising on the Shoalhaven for an afternoon's boating, regularly doing the run from the bridge at Nowra thru to Greenwell point. I haven't really targeted fishing the river at all really, so far I've only enjoyed the views. It's been a great place to take visitors out for a run, of late which we have had a fair few of them, most have been non fisho's, but really enjoyed the river itself. It really is a fantastic waterway !

Interesting topic, for sure. My wife has been egging me for a few years now to give a cruise a go, but I'm yet to cave in to her. We've been Aussie bound for 2-3 years now, but prior to all the Crud virus etc, we regularly travelled. The last venture was Spain. Now unlike a lot of people I know, some do those whirl wind, 20 countries in a 2 week package, skimming very briefly over the countries they visit and really only get to see the " very " touristy offerings. We spent near 4 weeks in Spain, had only two 4 day organised tours, which to my delight, were only sharing the experience with 4-6 others, of which, we are still in contact with near all of them. For us, we like to do our own thing, sure, it takes some organising prior to going, but in my opinion, well worth the effort. Here in, I believe lies the decision to do so,, I figure while I'm fit and able and still want to explore, I'll continue doing exactly this, until either health or mental capability stops us from doing so. It's probably the fear of the unknown for me, taking a cruise versus organising a holiday ourselves, and I fully understand the simplicity of taking a cruise, the benifits of not needing to organise a thing. just relax and have everything provided and supplied, simply kick back and participate in what you want, or do not want too. Who knows whether or not I'll ever decide to take the cruise option, certainly think it's a great option for some, but for me, to be restricted to a ship, would drive me insane.. Great topic, been an interesting read,

Fantastic report, Thankyou..

I should have taken some photo's... my bad.

I personally, would be going back to the dealer and asking the question. Was it up to date with the servicing ?? Have you had a quote or looked at it and see what's involved ???

That it does Fab.. It's been a tad patchy over the last few weeks, but if persistent, there's always something on offer. I've only been in the area for about 12 months or so, still impressed on what it has to offer..

Not exactly about boats, as such, BUT, after tinkering with my old hydraulic steering, trying to salvage another season out of her, decided to launch under the bridge at Nowra and take the wife for a nice cruise along to Greenwell point. If anyone hasn't been on the river, I can honestly say your missing the opportunity to see a fantastic, if under utilized, waterways. Had a superb day out, tied up at Greenwell point, pointed out that someone would need to stay with the boat, So off she went down to the local shop and returned with a very nice coffee to go. Plenty of Fisho's coming in after a morning out, from both in the river itself and those going out wide, happy to chat about their outing.. Headed back towards Nowra, then decided to head up stream past the bridge, absolutely beautiful part of the river, for quite a few Km's, completely different landscape. Passed the odd lunitic skier along the way, but there wasn't to many of them to ruin the day. Pulled the rod out once, only for 15 minutes or so, saw plenty of baitfish jumping madly, figured something was chasing them up,, didn't get lucky, and just carried on back to the ramp. I will endeavour to try and do some serious fishing on the shoalhaven eventually, by all accounts, and with some local advice, but sometimes it's great to leave the rods at home and just cruise around and have a good look. So for anyone looking to take their kids, or wife out for a great day on the river, maybe target some flathead or Bass, or even have a crack at the resident Due's, I would highly recommend in doing so...

LOL,,, Speaking of the ATO.. After recently moving up from Voctoria to the south coast, I got a call from a guy claiming to be from the ATO.. Wasn't having the best of days, so gave him a decent serve,, He calmly continued again, saying we don't normally phone people, but every attempt to contact me for the last 6-8 months was un successful, I remember giving him another good serve, where he calmly said, are you near a computer ?? I said yeah sure !! he directed me to the ATO site, can't exactly remember what it was, He then asked me to look at the contact number of the ATO, he said please ring this and ask for an extension number when I got thru.. After about an hour, and confirming the number I was ringing, was indeed the ATO, I rang it, got thru to someone, gave them the extension number he gave me,, Well, egg on my face, he was from the ATO LOL... I apologized profusely. Turns out, my accountant, hadn't changed my address and redirected everything to him, SO, the ATO were seriously trying to track me down, even after attempts to get in touch with me at my old Victorian address, which is currently un inhabited due to a big renovation.... Got it sorted in the end, my accountant got a fair rocketing, from myself and the ATO I believe, BUT, murphies law, in all honesty, I ended up being glad the poor bloke stayed on the line after giving him a serve, sometimes, ya just never know..