thursday off penarth

[keana]

I always seem to have a story to tell about my fishing trips. Pity they`re mostly about my boat going wrong.
Dropped my boat off the trailer into the drink at 16.45 hoping to get the 17.00 lock. turned the key and `CLICK` again. Took the cover off and did what the guy in the marine place said but still no joy. Pulled the cord and started first time. So I ummed and ared about going out with just the pull cord. Thought i`ll just see if the aux starts ok. Pulled the cord...brooom. Decision made. Off I went but by now i`d missed the 1700 lock and was chugging towards 1730. Into the lock,gates shut, seemed to take forever to empty (I was in a rush now because i`m late for fishing). Gates opened, pulled the cord and off I went. I let the 24ft Beneteau go first as he was faster than me (I thought). Just got to the outer Wrack buoy and I left him in my 21knot wake. I zoomed off down to the Ranny bay, which was a change of plan because the weathermen had got it wrong again. It was supposed to be a 10mph NW but it was more like 25mph NW. One hour before low tide and about an hour late, I dropped anchor in a hole 39-40 ft deep just by the ranny spit. Baited up with Freshly dug ragworm and frozen squid and cast my uptider......uptide lol. Still baiting up my downtider the tip of my uptider crashed towards the sea some five or six times. Picked it up and reeled into it only for it to spit the hook about halfway to the boat. A good fish missed and only been fishing about 3 minutes.
Over the next 2 hours 4 strap congers came to the boat (none of `em came into the boat by the way) the biggest about 6lb. Trouble was, they all took my pennel hooks right down so I spent most of my time tying traces after having to cut them all free. Quarter past 8 and all quiet for the last half hour decided to pack up and head for the quarter to nine lock. Pulled the engine cord..and again...and again, sounds like it will go on the next one.......snap, the fcucking cord snapped. Pardon my language but thats how I felt at the time. I sat on the transom seat with my head in my hands thinking what next ???...I`m at anchor on the Ranny spit, engines knackered, its starting to get dark. Right..plan B. Pulled the cord on the aux about twenty times before realising I hadnt turned the fuel on. Turned the fuel on , it started and I breathed the biggest sigh of relief. Pulled in the anchor and off I went. I was making good headway at 5 -51/2 knots. Radioed the barrage and asked if they would hold the lock as I wouldnt be that late. Turned out to be about 10 minutes late but they held the lock for me.....thank you, thank you..my luck has started to change. Almost dark now as i`m halfway across the bay, turned on my nav lights and the engine stopped.....run out of effin fuel. I know the tank was full as i`d filled it before I left the house. Didnt carry any spare 2 stroke as I wasnt going far. Right still got 5 galls in the main tank so I thought disconnect it from the main engine squeeze the priming bulb and away to go.....only to find there`s a ball bearing inside that needs to be dislodged to allow fuel to pass. Right, half light, a choppy sea and well pi**ed off, I jammed a screwdriver into the thing pumped the bulb and covered myself itn 2 stroke. At least it works so held it over the filler and pumped away. Managed to get about half a pint into the tank and about three gallons into Cardiff Bay. Hope theres nobody from the harbour Authority reading this lol).
And that was it really. 2 hours of quite good fishing spoilt by a crappy old engine. Just as you think everything is sorted, something else goes wrong. Wish I had the funds to buy another but unfortunately I dont. So I`m left with the dilemma. Do I get it fixed again and take my chances or do I ditch it all and get my beach gear out again???? I`ll have to talk nicely to the missus and see if she`ll let me have an advance on my pension...I`ve seen a nice Warrior 165 fully fitted ....hmmmm nice wifey...please wifey lol.

[Charter Skipper]

.....While you had petrol all over everything you should have looked for a match !!.....

The joys of boating are never ending,trouble is the bigger the boat gets ,the bigger the bills get !!!......and the higher your blood pressure gets.

[Kaptin Kod]

Sorry to hear about your troubles mate, but at least you made it back in safety. I can only agree with you about crappy old engines as I suffered with the same sort of problems last year with mine. quite a few times we were praying for it to start and even had to get a tow in from one of the charters (embarassing to say the least).

You need to have a good think whether the engine is worth throwing money at or bite the bullet and get shot before it lets you down in an emergency.

Glad you managed a few fish, were out in the morning 7:30 lock, hopefully we'll find some decent fish.

KK

[keana]

I would just love something a little bit bigger, a bit newer and a bit more reliable Mike.

Anyway, knowing my luck the match would have been wet...arf, arf.

[keana]

Originally Posted by Kaptin Kod

Sorry to hear about your troubles mate, but at least you made it back in safety. I can only agree with you about crappy old engines as I suffered with the same sort of problems last year with mine. quite a few times we were praying for it to start and even had to get a tow in from one of the charters (embarassing to say the least).

You need to have a good think whether the engine is worth throwing money at or bite the bullet and get shot before it lets you down in an emergency.

Glad you managed a few fish, were out in the morning 7:30 lock, hopefully we'll find some decent fish.

KK

Thanks for the sympathy mate. I`ll have to have a think about what to do.
Good luck in the morning though.

[pingu]

love the report

but god boats sound a nightmare

[Charter Skipper]

Originally Posted by keana

I would just love something a little bit bigger, a bit newer and a bit more reliable Mike.

Anyway, knowing my luck the match would have been wet...arf, arf.

Know what you mean,sometimes you can get the niggling voice in the back of your head ,and thats not good,mind you new stuff goes wrong too.Its a no win situation i think,with boats comes stress and hopefully some fish.

[BaggieRich]

Good report Andy, shame about the trip but at least you got back okay...



Rich

[keana]

Originally Posted by Charter Skipper

Know what you mean,sometimes you can get the niggling voice in the back of your head ,and thats not good,mind you new stuff goes wrong too.Its a no win situation i think,with boats comes stress and hopefully some fish.

At the moment I have this voice in the SIDE of my head saying "NO YOUR NOT HAVING A NEW BOAT,FORGET IT, NAG,NAG".

I just dread having to call the coast guard for a tow or even to call on another boat to help out and have them say "god mate I would never have put to sea in that bucket" (or words to that effect). Whereas in fact it is a very good piece of kit considering its age, just not very reliable at the moment. I`m sure I could make it reliable but i`m just not sure whether its worth spending the money on it.

[keana]

Originally Posted by BaggieRich

Good report Andy, shame about the trip but at least you got back okay...



Rich

Nice one Rich.