Geoff

Yarraone , Perhaps this will clarify some of your concerns, Under each heading there are 3 items Quanity , enclose waters requirements , Open water requirements Eg , the first item, Anchor with chain / line. Quanity 1 , Enclosed waters , yes. Open waters , yes Anchor with chain/line 1 Yes Yes Appropriate lifejacket 1 for each person on board the vessel Yes Yes Appropriate map or chart 1 No Yes Bailer/bucket/fire bucket 1 Yes Yes Bilge pump (B1) (B2) Yes Yes Compass 1 No Yes Distress signals Orange smoke hand-held distress signal 2 No Yes Red hand-held distress flare 2 No Yes EPIRB 1 No Yes, but only if vessel is more than 2 nautical miles from nearest shore Fire extinguisher (F1) (F2) Yes Yes Fresh drinking water 2 litres per person No Yes Marine radio 1 No Yes, but only if vessel is more than 2 nautical miles from nearest shore Paddles or oars/rowlocks (P1) Yes Yes Sound signal (airhorn/whistle/bell) 1 Yes Yes V-sheet (distress signal) 1 No Yes Waterproof torch 1 Yes Yes Key. (B1): To be provided on vessels with covered bilges or closed under-floor compartments other than airtight void spaces. For all other vessels a bailer is to be carried. (B2): s to be capable of draining each compartment (other than airtight void spaces). May require more than one bilge pump to be fitted. (F1): All vessels with an electric start motor, gas installation, fuel stove or battery. (F2): At least one. More are to be carried if potential sources of fire and the size of the vessel require it. (P1): Paddles or oars/rowlocks are to be carried on boats under 6 metres in length unless a second means of propulsion is fitted. Geoff

I would suggest the higher the better to avoid water running from the outlet back into the bilge. A few extra inches is unlikly to effect the volume flow Geoff

Mike There will be some volume drop , the amount is hard to say but would suggest nothing to worry about It is not so much the bends in place but the amount of lift , ie how far the pump needs to "Lift" the water to the outlet. I run 360gph on my boat , the lift is approx 600mm , the volume coming out is what I would consider more than acceptable Geoff

Raiders , here is a bit more news for your interest , I spoke with Marintime about a grace period , the guy was a bit vague , i.e. there is nothing specific , it depends on the mood of the officer on the day & if you have all the other specified safety equip on board. He did comment that if the Police pick you up , they play it by the book & there is a good chance a fine will be issued As I am heading for Bermi later this week & proberly fishing 2 - 3 nm off shore. Being Easter hol's there is a good chance the inspectors will be out in force so decided to bite the bullet & order a Epirb. Pick up the new unit tomorrow Geoff

500 gph means the unit will pump 500 gallons per hour , approx 2,300 lts. These pumps , pump a good volume but the pressurs is not very high , ie they are a volume pump , not a pressure pump. I'm a bit confused with all the hoses you mention , there is only one , the one that runs from the pump to the outside of the boat , either over the side or through a hole in the side or transom. The actual pick up is through the bottom of the pump Was you purchase a Rule 500. If so , was the blue base provided. To install , unclip the blue base , fix it to the floor , near the transom , at the lowest place possible. Re fit the pump , connect the hose from the pump to the outlet , connect the wireing , switch etc & you should be in business Geoff

Dicko Suggest you ring Marintime. I've always found them very helpfull They may require the boat to be " boat coded " prior to registration. Geoff

River bouy Forgot to mention this in my previous post. As others have advised , the inlet & outlet should be at the top. Assuming you go this way , there needs to be a third fitting at the bottom for the drain hole. For interest I only have 2 fittings , inlet at the top & an out let / drain hole at the bottom. The water height is controled by the height of the plastic tube ( condute ) The tube is a force fit & is easily removed to drain the tank Geoff

Can you put up a pic of the area your planning to cut out. This would be of assistance when responding. Approx , what thickness is the material your planning to cut For cutting aluminium a fine tooth blade is required . Suggest you take the jigsaw to your local hardware store. They will provide the correct blade for the job. I would definatly avoid using an angle grinder Follow Nick's advice , this is the way to go Use a jigsaw to cut the section out as long as there is nothing the blade will hit. Use a drill to create the corners then cut the straight lines Remember the old saying " Measure twice , cut once " Geoff

Tangling , I think it depends on the line used. A mate of mine uses the bag system but makes his rigs out of normal fishing line & they do tend to get slightly tangled from time to time . I use leader line & find no problems with tangling. Also there is only one rig per bag. Noodles. I used to use cork some years back & found several problems. ** If the cork (noodle) becomes wet then the rigs can become rusty , especially the tips of the hook which were stuck into the cork. Being sealed in the bag , in the plastic box this is no longer an issue ** The cork used to take up a lot more space in the tackle box than the plastic box. The box in the photo currently has 16 rigs , could easily fit another 4 or 5 if needed ** I use a variety of rigs , Flathead , Snapper , Bream , trolling etc , depending on the day . With the cork had trouble trying to remember which was which. I now write the name on each bag so easy to identify. Also , if I use / loose several rigs on an outing just check the empty bags when I get home & know which ones to replace Geoff

Byron The clause about safety equip is to ensuse that all on board , not just the skipper , know where the gear is in case of an emergancy PLB are personal "Epirbs" , ie the unit is carried on the indivadal not actually in the boat as part of the overall safety equipment. Having a PLB is perhaps considered better than an Epirb as it is the person requiring rescue not the boat. The main issue at this time is the Aust Std requires a battery life of 48 hours after actavation . PLB only have 24 hours. There are some other aspects , not all PLB's float which is rather important. There is a web site that covers Epirbs / PLB. It's not part of the MSB site. will see if I can relocate it Geoff Geoff

Richard I not land based so not able to offer much advice. There is a guy on FR , "Simmo" He does a lot of land based on the Nth side inc Clifton Gardens. Suggest a PM , he should be able to assist. Geoff

Richard If your making up spare rigs here is something that may be of interest for storage Inexpensive , easy to store & easy to find with the name written on each plastic bag Geoff

Richard I'm sure you will receive some good feed back from your enquiry. The other place to look is Google. Type , Fishing Rigs into the Google search inquiry. There are quite a few options to choose from inc bream rigs Geoff

Byron Similar to rosterman , but I use nylon cord , it comes in a variety of thicknesses & it is very flexible There are lots of different clips available from boating stores. I use large snap swivels. There inexpensive & appear to do the job but must admit have never lost a rod over the side to test them out Geoff

Sorry , I had the dates wrong , should be March , not May as shown in my origional post There has been a lot dicussion & information floating around the web in the past week since the new reg's came into effect last Monday. Thought a summary of the main items that are most likely to effect day to day boaters , as I understand them , may be of interest. Epirb. All boats regardless of length traveling more than 2 nm off shore require a Epirb. A PLB is not an approved alternative. Any boat with a 5.5hp or greater needs to be registered New fines are in place & vary from 1 - 5 points. Each point = $110.00 Boat Wash Boats that create a wash in a no wash zone , the fine is 3 points , $330.00 Safety Equip. All passengers , crew etc need to be aware of the safety equip location , thats everything , not just the life jackets. There are fines if the people other than the Skipper are not aware of the S.E. location Pls add any other items I may have missed Geoff

On the other side of the coin , " is the motor capable." Are you confident the motor is currently , & will remain reliable? Geoff

Tks guy's Great information. I suspected combo's may be a challange to opperate. Will pass the information on Geoff

A friend is considering purchasing a chart plotter , one which includes maps. The combo's look interesting as they have both potters & depth finder in one Other than the issue of flicking from one screen to the other , ( I know some have split screens but they are big $$$$) are there any other issues with combos to consider or why it is better to have 2 seperate units Tks Geoff

I must be missing something here , I cannot see any reference to Epirbs or that the 8m length has been removed Perhaps someone can show me the clause & legisation section that has actually been changed Geoff

Searched Marintime site , also unable to find any reference to the change. Assuming for the moment it is correct , signing off on the 27th & expect everyone to have an Epirb either on board or on order by the 30th is totally unrealistic. Hopefully common sence will prevail & a warning period of several months introduced Geoff

Greg Fishing around the Tomaree headland is worth a try. The water flows through rather quickly so around half an hour each side of the top or bottom of the tide is best To obtain the latest info , suggest a trip to the local tackle stores . There are 2 in Nelson Bay , one near the Information center but parking can be difficult , the other is in town opposite the supermarket. There is another in the servo next to the Salamanda shopping center. I'v generally found this one to be the best. If I recall correctly they also have maps. Talking of maps , be aware that areas of PS are a marine park so suggest you pick up a map from the tackle store as the fines can be rather expensive. Others have asked similar questions in the past regarding fishing the PS bay. Suggest you use the "Search" function , some of the information may be usefull Geoff

Correct , still on the drawing board. I'm sure there will be lots of info come & time made available if or when the new legisitation is passed Geoff

Great shot , looks like the graph of the stockmarket , ASX 200 heading south Geoff

In respect to quality , the light in the pic came with the boat which is now about 2 years old. Perhaps that provides some indication Geoff. PS It appears your PM box is full & will not accept any further mail. Perhaps some mails can be dumped.

Check the height of the cavatition plat in relation to the bottom of the transom. The top of the plate should be either in line with the bottom of the transom or perhaps a few mm below Geoff