Geoff

There have been a No. of interesting interviews on the radio over the past few days on the various aspects regarding the plant. These interviews were done with technical personal , not the pollies Here are a few of the comments I recall ** It takes 2 lts of sea water to produce 1lt of drinkable water. ** The salt is removed by passing the water through a series of filters. ** The drinking water is so pure they need to add back in a small amount of salt to bring it back up to the standard of current water from the dams ** The suction is very low & the only thing that get sucked in with the water is the occusional jelly fish ** The salinity will be pumped out into the ocean , not B.B. ** The salinity returns to normal salt water levels within approx 70mt of the outlet ** It does take energy to run the plant but so to does it require energy to run dams & the existing system. It is claimed the difference between the two is not all that great. ** The desal plant in Perth has been very sucussful & plans are underway to build a second plant *********************************************** Personally , I would have preffered to see the money go into home rain water tanks but if this is a guarenteed water supply for Sydney then OK I notice no one has commented or complaind about the oil refinery sucking water out of the bay & pumping hot water back in Geoff

It worked for me also. Retired last year , bought a new boat a year or so back so I can go fishing when ever I like Geoff

Here is an interesting exercise https://www.colonialfirststate.com.au/first....asp?gotFlash=1 Geoff

Dave Check out this site http://www.fido.gov.au/advice Also , http://fishraider.com.au/Invision/index.ph...c=15365&hl= Geoff

Agree with the others , Financial Adviser is the way to go. The trick is to find a good one who charges reasonable rates. As a guide there is normally a fee for preparing a plan then there are ongoing fees for maintaining your file. F.A. also receive a trailing comission from the fund manager if the money is invested in things like Managed Funds. This is standard industry practice. Have the F.A. clearly explain their fees & commissions. As a guide , a plan can cost $750 - $1000 & ongoing annual fee of .7% of the investment value. Check the web , I recall seeing a site some time back covering "How to select a F.A." Determine your objectivies , goals & preffered investment returns , shout term / long term. This will be an important aspect when dicussing with the F.A. Geoff

Admin / Mod's Having a look at the section on Boat Ramps the list is continuing to grow which is great. The problem is , if looking for a ramp in say , the Georges river , then there is a fair bit of scrolling required & for those not familar with an area may miss a ramp . Is it possible to place at the top of page one an index which perhaps could look something like , Georges River Oatley , Page 1 Sylvaina , Page 2 etc , etc Botany Bay Cooks River, Page 1 Kurnell , Page 1 etc Other areas could be Nth Coast , South Coast , Dams , Hawksbury just to name a few Just a thought to assist Raiders to more easily find the ramp that suits their outing. Geoff

Ausieraider I run a 2S & happy with the overall performance & in particular the running cost as I normally do not travel too far. If considering frequent long distances , Peak , Browns etc then fuel cost becoms more important so 4s or E-Tec should be considered. Shop around & compare purchase price & ongoing running cost , in particular fuel usage & service cost for 2S / 4S / E-Tec. This should narrow down the field. In respect to 2 V's 1 motor , 2 provides a comfort factor if one motor fails but keep in mind the weight factor on the transom , in particular when at rest & a couple of guy standing down the back. The other aspect , twin motors are a bit useless if all the running gear ,eg , electrics , fuel etc is single. To go to the extream (some may suggest over the top) , if running twins then there should be seperate fuel tanks which are filled at different servo's . I think the chances these days of getting a load of dirty fuel is remote so seperate fuel filters , ie one for each motor should suffice. I guess the question is , how far should the twin set up go beyond the actual motor to cover a possible problem when 20 miles off the coast Geoff

Keenas All have offered good advice. From my experience , most of which came through trial & error , the most important aspect is the depth of the trailer in the water. If too high when retreiving then the boat goes up with the bow high in the air then comes down with a bang as the balence transfers on the rear pivot point. If too low then the boat will go on a lot easier but tend to drift around & possibly become miss alinged . When placing my trailer in the water there is now a specific point (one of the rear rollers) that needs to be just under the water. When that roller is covered then the amount of water over the trailer & the angle is near perfect. On occusions , depending on the angle of the ramp , some depth allowance may be required , eg steeper ramps the trailer may need to be back a little further so there is a bit more water foward of the wheels. When approaching the trailer alingement is the other key to sucess. Lighthouse2k is spot on with his comments on this aspect. Geoff

Headed up to PS last week for a bit of fishing & Like others we copped our fair share of the storms & as such the boat stayed on the trailer for the 5 days The actual bay area is normally smooth but with a huge swell coming through the heads & running up the bay here is something you don't see too often Geoff

ilk Unable to help on the corosion question , perhaps Huey can assist. The other aspect is to have the bottom painted with anti fowling . A friend of mine left his unpainted alum boat in the water for a month or so to find the barnacles & weed took an immediate fancy to the surface & it took him a day of scraping & washing to remove the growth Geoff

Tks for the replies , will head down to the local marine dealer & see if these are available Geoff

Planning to do a bit of maintance on the outboard which includes greasing the steering arm , linkages & prop shaft etc. Have used in the past Valvoline Val Plex EP Grease. Appears to work OK . Is this the most appropiate grease or should I be using something else Tks Geoff

Frizzy , your correct , just pulled the movie & played the intro , it is The Final Countdown . Apoligies to FishDrought but I was close I think the F-14 would have the upperhand What I would like to know is how Commander Richard Owens , alias Mr Tideman ( in the back of the Black Caddy) was on the dock to farwell the ship when Owens was already on the board the ship Geoff

Agree , Kelleys Hero's , a great movie. Here a a couple more A Few Good Men with Tom Cruise & Jack Nickleson. Not quite a war movie but close to it. " Do you want the truth , you can't handle the truth." A great one liner , or is that two Father Goose with Cary Grant. Comedy about a reluctant coast watcher set in the Pacific during WW II The Final Conflict. This will test out a few raiders . For those who may not have seen it , Stared Kirk Douglas. Made a few years back , a story of a modern day air craft carrier , passes through a time worp & comes out 2 days prior to the attack on Pearl Harbour. Has a very interesting end , no , they did not save Pearl Harbour The last but by no means least , The Longest Day Geoff

Would agree with B.B. , Here is an areial view , just no protection Geoff

Plan on giving the Bay & close off shore a run on Thursday . Weather is looking great Any other Raiders heading in that direction. Will be a bit of a late start , hope to be leaving Cooks around 9.30am Geoff

Scout Not sure why the prop needs to come off , the Permatrim bolts on top of the cavation plate so there should be ample space. Normally prop's are retained with a large nut & split pin. Remove the pin then the nut, Some have spacers under the nut , remember which way they are fitted prior to removal. The prop should then slide off the shaft. It is preferable to fit a new split pin rather than using the old one when reinstalling Geoff

Two ducks Perhaps you have checked out the the section on boat ramps , Both Oatley & K.Bay are included. Paul's link picks up at post No. 21. The Oatley post is the one prior , No 20. K.Bay is post No. 8 Robeebee. " have you had good luck on an incoming tide ?". Mainly fish the area from a boat , pick up a few from time to time. The incomming preference is the water flow has less movement due to the protection of the point hence lines tend not to be dragged back onto the rocks. Geoff

The most popular spot is at the northern end of the bridge. When heading south there is a small road that branches off to the left a few hundred meters before the bridge. This takes you down to the car park & fishing location. The main thing to keep in mind is the tide as it can move rather quickly in this area draging lines back into the retaining wall. Suggest you pick a time that is either close to the top or bottom of the tide if planing to fish out into the main stream or fish the eastern side on the run out . Access to the western side for the run in can be crowded. Another spot to consider is Bald Face Point at the end of Stuart St Blakehurst. There is car parking but it is a bit of a hike in & out. The water moves very quickly past the point & generally find it is best fished on the run in tide Geoff.

I was about to put up a seperate post then noticed the one from Tom so have added my thanks to Sean as a reply. Friends , Peter & Neil were looking for some new rods & reels. As it turned out we were not able to arrange a common day this week so went to Watto's on Tuesday with Peter & Neil today. Sean was , as always , very helpful spending time showing the guy's the various options for the type of fishing intended. End result , 4 rods , 4 reels & an assortment of other bits & pieces all at very competitive prices Tks Sean , we will be back Geoff

Was the foil you had fitted the "wing" style. Have heard similiar stories with this type of foil Geoff

Agree with Huey , if you intend to put one on then spend the money & fit a Permatrim. They will give you lift but not sure on the stability. 4 people in a 4mt boat is a lot of weight & takes it to the limit. Weight balance is very important especially if you cross the wake of another boat at an angle. Is the rear of the boat flat or near flat at the base of the transom or have a noticable "V" . If V then these are less stable when both underway or at rest. A foil is unlikly to fix this problem Do you have any photos of the boat Geoff

I recall some years back Tohatsu used to rate their motors at at the prop where as all others rated th HP at the flywheel. If that is still the case the Tohatsu may well be 20HP at the flywheel. Check the engin specs , in particular the capasity to see if they are the same or is one larger than the other. If the same then the Yammie could be a rebadged Tohatsu. At the end of the day , it may not matter as both are good motors but as billfisher mentioned the Tohatsu may be a bit less expensive. Shop around , it is not uncommon to find a dealer who is running a special on this size motor Geoff

Sparkles Actually the ocean was very calm I think it is the camera angle picking up just the surf. Here is one from a different angle Geoff

Headed Nth last week to North Beach (Mylestom). Mylestom is a small coastal village approx 20 km south of Coffs Harbour located near the mouth of the Bellingen River. I arrived on Tuesday , the others a few days earlier. They were preparing to go beach fishing , I decided to pass. Dumb decision. A few hours later they returned with this catch. No shortage of Tailor on the menu for the next few days. The weather was not too flash over the next few days but we did manage to get out to give the river a go. Bellingen River was part of the buy out now many years ago & fish stock have improved considerably , unfortunately , other than a small Jew & some throw back bream they did not want to play. We fished the beach on 2 other occasions with some success , 2 nice flatties & a few more Tailor. Having access to the beach via 4WD makes it a whole lot easier , no gear to cart & a sand free environment to work from In between trips there was no shortage of "drink" the best normally being kept to the last evening. This trip was no exception Geoff