mrsswordfisherman

Yes looking forward to it too

Weather today is poor but it looks like it will be clear tomorrow Please make sure that you read about WHAT TO BRING tomorrow we will be starting at around 8am report to mrsswordie aka Donna to register your attendance BBQ will be on with bacon and egg rolls and a hot cuppa if early come help us set up bring money to buy a fishraider hat/beanie etc if you intend to fish make sure your fishing licence is in order lunch break we will have a sausage sizzle, feel free to bring your own packed lunch if you want Send personal message if you need any help on finding us on the day - iphone is at the ready Stewy and I look forward to hosting the day and meeting everyone

oh my goodness he will never forget that day and what a top Dad you are What a great story and tell Hayden he is welcome to join fishraider anytime

STANDBY OVER THE NEXT 24 HRS FOR UPDATES OF THE EVENT CHECK IN ON SAT IN CASE WE HAVE TO CANCEL DUE TO BAD WEATHER ETC

Shame but family comes first Mark - enjoy your weekend

I can block you from seeing these "useless, irrelevant, non -fishing reports" if you like. You can have access to everything except fishing reports if you like. Shut the door on your way out................

thanks you ryder very good of you to offer

A very good deed from you and he will feel very special that someone did that for him! mrsswordfisherman

A lot of govt sites will send you SMS alerts too these days. Don't forget to track your medical details like when a checkup is due.

You can use calendar alerts on phones and computers to help you as well. There are lots of apps that will help - try Expiry Tracker You can put in and item/ licence/product and it will send things to your phone You can get a list and print them all out even!

A big Happy Birthday to swordfisherman who is 55 today Lets have a great day today xxx

Just don't change the flight to go from Kuopio to Joensuu heh heh You are a good saver Jani!

Below is an excellent piece of work written by member GreyNurse. Thank you Martin for the contribution Horsepower conversion explained ......or not If you are planning to, or have bought a kayak for fishing, it’s inevitable that at some stage you will want to purchase an electric motor. Most people are familiar with outboards being rated in horsepower, but are not so sure what a 24 or 40 lb thrust electric motor will give them by way of performance. I’ve seen a few posts now where people ask to convert horsepower (HP) to pounds of thrust (lb thrust) in relation to comparing outboard motors on boats to electric motors on kayaks. The question often comes up under the topic heading “Which motor” or “Which battery” or something of that nature. I know. I posted a similar question when I was in the process of deciding on a battery for my motor. Converting HP to lbs thrust is difficult and a somewhat pointless exercise. The reason being that HP is the power available (from an internal combustion engine), as opposed to lb thrust which is the power supplied (typically from a battery driven motor). Many things affect a simple conversion, such as battery voltage, the yak’s hull shape, the hull displacement, which directly related to how much non buoyant weight is in the yak, and the force against which the yak is opposed (read speed, wind and current). Even propeller size and pitch can affect the figures. However, manufacturers try to anticipate an average for each size of motor they make, so you can get the best motor for the size of your boat or kayak. Most, if not all battery powered motors for kayaks are designed to run off a 12volt battery. For those who must know, the best that I could estimate is that a 12v 24lb thrust motor running off a fully charged battery, pushing a 3 meter long, 80 cm wide SOT kayak with approximately 100kilos of weight (includes the weight of the yak, pilot and gear), is roughly equivalent to about 1/5 to 1/6 HP. That’s not as bad as it sounds. But don’t expect more than 7 kph top speed in still water and still air, which is about the same as a Hobie peddle drive. The difference, of course, is that you’ll have a bit more energy at the end of the day using a motor. Battery Performance In reality, what it’s all about is how much run time you can expect from your motor to cover the maximum distance. This will depend mainly on the capacity of the battery. If the motor draws 20amps at top speed, then a 60ah battery should last for 3 hrs in a perfect world. But as I’ve alluded to above, factors such as shape, weight, wind and tide can slow you down. The more those factors slow you down, the more time you need to get from A to B, therefore the less distance you can travel before the battery is depleted. The type of battery is important as well. People new to using a motor will think a car battery is required. While it will power the motor, it’s not the best choice, as car batteries are intended for fast current draws when starting the vehicle’s engine, then being continually charged by the alternator. They are also often a wet cell (flooded lead acid) design, meaning that they can leak acid. The better choice is a deep cycle gel cell, or AGM (Absorbent Glass Mat) battery. These batteries use a jellied glass matt to absorb and hold the acid. They are designed for continuous current draw and charge much more quickly than flooded lead acid batteries. They are lighter than the flooded lead acid car batteries and can be orientated at odd angles to suit your particular installation without fear of acid spillage. The one caveat with these batteries is that they do not tolerate being repeatedly completely run down. This practice will dramatically shorten the overall life of the battery. They will last years, however, if you can recharge them before much more than 30% current drain. As a guide, below are the cycle performance figures for both types of batteries. Depth of Discharge Starter Battery Deep-cycle Battery 100% 12–15 cycles 150–200 cycles 50% 100–120 cycles 400–500 cycles 30% 130–150 cycles 1,000 and more cycles Extending Battery Usage So what can you do to improve your lot and maximise your time on the water under power? The purchase of the kayak is a highly individual decision based on a whole range of factors I won’t go into here. But obviously, shape is a consideration. Fortunately, kayaks by their very nature of purpose are designed to be quite hydrodynamic. Just some are more so than others. I will say no more than that. The choice is up to you. Be realistic about the ground you want to cover. Make a plan before you go out and don’t be distracted by that interesting bit of water across the other side of the waterway that you didn’t plan on exploring that trip. It’ll still be there for next time. Launch as near to your chosen destination as possible. Kayaks have the advantage of not needing a boat ramp to launch and retrieve. Any bit of beach with a nearby place to park the car is a distinct advantage over having to launch a boat at the often overcrowded ramp. Use the tides and wind to assist you. Try to launch downstream on an incoming tide and upstream on an outgoing tide, making the return journey after the tide has turned. The wind is not so predictable, but checking the weather forecasts may help you decide the day you go out. It all comes back to making that plan. Sometimes you may get stuck with a slight headwind regardless. That’s OK if the wind is light. However, if it’s too windy (15-25kmh) it may be better to leave your outing for another day. Unfortunately that’s one of the downsides of kayaking. Use a slower speed setting on the motor. If you have the tide in your favour, you can drop the speed setting and enjoy the scenery along the way, pulling fewer amps from the battery and extending the battery life for that trip. Paddle as much as your fitness and willingness will allow before turning to the motor. Even when under power you can still paddle if your yak tracks well. Every little bit saves amps. Travel as light as possible. For a start, factor in the weight of the yak as well as weighing everything, including the motor and yourself. Now, do you really need a heavier 60ah battery when you could manage with a lighter, say, 26ah battery? Leave the anchor at home, or buy a plastic anchor. Only take as much fishing gear as you absolutely need. Be ruthless. Your yak has a rated load capacity which was probably stated in the specs. You don’t want to exceed that in any case. But don’t skimp on safety. There is equipment you must have on board. It’s worth sacrificing some weight for the assurance of a planned return. This may seem petty and too obvious, but remember to tighten the bung if you have one. Dragging tens of kilos of water around in the hull will not do the battery any good to say the least. Not to mention getting to shore before sinking, then having to unload everything and draining the hull, just to be able to continue. Talk about a buzz kill! Recharge your battery religiously after each outing. Use an “intelligent” charger, rather than a car battery charger. Intelligent chargers automatically monitor battery condition and, if left on after the battery is fully charged, will “top up” the battery’s charge as required, then drop back into a monitor and stand by mode. Having applied these tactics to my own kayaking experiences, I’ve managed to almost halve the drain on my battery, doubling my time on the water under power as a result. My 26ah battery that powers my 24lb thrust motor lasts me hours, despite the advice I received from well meaning people telling me I “must” have at least a 60ah battery. As long as I charge it when I get home, I’ve never had the battery run flat on me. If you do decide to use a larger capacity battery and employ the above points, there’s no reason you couldn’t make a whole day of it. Happy yakking GreyNurse

Stewy spoke to the Snr Const at The Marine Area Command at Balmain - SEE BELOW The Maritime Boating Handbook states the following in relation to Diving activities; 'The diver's flag - white and blue no less than 400mm x 400mm in size and rigid - must be shown when people are engaged in diving or snorkelling actvities from a vessel. It is to be flown in a vertical position 1m above the superstructure and visible through 360 degrees. If this flag is flown off a float/bouy, it must be at least 2m above the water level. It is recommended that this flag be shown when diving/snorkelling from shore'. Therefore a diver is committing an offence if they fail to display a dive flag when being dropped from a vessel. In the instance where divers are so close to vessels that they impede their safe navigation, they may be committing an offence under S17 of the Marine Safety Regulation. He advised that if the situation arises again then the matter be reported to the Water Police or Maritime at the time so they can investigate the matter. Call on 1800 658 784 to report the incident.

Oh yeah the circus is in town. A boat full of clowns attempting to catch hairtail is a very scary thought! I will have to get a special award for your crew mrsswordfisherman

So where are you seeing the tick?

Yeah well that would have been an intelligent response..... I suppose. It is keeping me amused on my train ride home. I have subscribed to this thread so the notification is jumping a cross my game that I am playing. By the way there is a thumbs up emoticon you can use if you are into it

Heheh there are areas already that are locked down in various ways. We are well aware of spammers that post rubbish just get get post counts up.we normally delete them all and reduce it back. I have many tools in the admin panel to do all sorts of things Back to the issue it is a good idea and something that will help our members. I will test it out on the weekend. Keep adding ideas PS Anyone who types LOL as a post might be flagged a a spammer heh heh

Great collaboration guys. I can easily set it up. Where shall the pinned post sit? Who do you want to see it, all members or on post count. Only members who have contributed to our community should see it?

Ryder thanks for the suggestion. If you have a smartphone you can download an app called Tapatalk. You can post and send pictures using it from your phone. This is a very good way to do instant communication to other members. It is easier then opening fr in a browser. Some members have notifications set on their phones when posts are made and will be aware when information is posted. Members need to look in their settings and notifications on their fr account to set things up. Forgive me if you already use it. Give us a message if you need help.

Welcome Jim to fishraider. Glad you find our community a friendly one. You and the family are welcome at our socials too if you want to join in.

There is that functionality. There is a full reputation system as well. You can share posts on facebook. It has been posed to members in the past about whether they would like it. Some say it cuts down on content because it makes people lazy they just press a like and do not post. It also restricts the search function. Would you like to post and have no written content just a number of likes? Comments?

Headed up to Port Stephens this weekend for some well earned r and r. We stayed at the Shoal Bay Resort and spa and had a nice apartment right on the beach. On Friday night we had a lovely seafood buffet included in our accom package. Over a wine with dinner we discussed our plan for the next day. Many of you may remember that I had a cardiac arrest exactly 4 years ago and if swordie was not accomplished at giving effective CPR I would not be here! So this was a sort of 4th birthday celebration We were lucky enough to find out that Reef Magic had Saturday available for a charter. We asked a few friends to join us but they all had other commitments. We also hoped to catch up with Scratchie but he didn't have any time free to see us so we went alone. My main aim was to complete a hat trick of marlins and catch a blue to go with my blacks and stripes. Swordie had brought along his 9wt saltwater flyrod hoping to catch a dollie and create a new fishraider record, as you do. We woke up early and the resort people had a box with our breakfast and some fruit and juice, great service. Headed out on a beautiful day with excellent conditions in anticipation of scoring a big blue or black marlin. Stopped at the live bait grounds and grabbed a tank full of small slimies and zoomed around the little island and picked up 4 nice sized skip bait bonnies. We headed out towards the 350 fathom line but on the way out the blue water temp jumped from 21 to 25 degrees so we commenced trolling. Now for the wait and we trolled and trolled and waited and waited. Radio reports told of 4 hook ups on big blue marlin not far from our location. We saw a huge free jumper but alas it wasn't our day and not for the lack of trying. Mike and Damo tried every trick in the book even skip baiting the fresh bonito with no lookers. We pulled the pin at around 4pm and headed back to the FAD'S and fish traps hoping to get swordie his dollie on fly. At the outer FAD the current was raging almost pulling the buoy under the water and difficult to fly fish with the wind and current. So we decided to try the fish traps in closer. After a few tries swordie finally gets a hit and misses it grrrrrrrrrrr @%$$@%^&. A few more casts and he was on and caught a nice 60cm dollie and although no monster it was a new fishraider record for the species on fly and a first for Stewy. I had a go and also caught one on fly and several others live slimies and what a buzz it was. A pleasant day was had by us. It was beautiful out on the sea and we were entertained by pods of dolphins beside us and Damo took a fabulous Go Pro video of them from the bow sprit where they were surfing the waves. Lunch was delicious and thanks to Captain Mike and Damian for looking after us so well. Here is the moment of glory

what is it that you would want to see in an app? is there some aspect that is not out there?

No I am sure you enjoy the day