Hi all.

Just wanted to say a big thank you to Adam and crew for organising the 2012 FW comp in Exmouth. I did the easy yards and flew up on the Saturday to join Harro, wind on Dave and Mark better known as part A of the SW contingent. These guys jumped at the idea of getting a team together and i was very happy to be part of their trip to Exxy. A few things i learnt about them.

1: They know how to have fun.

2: They play hard.

3: I was the second oldest at 41 and felt every bit a grandpa.

4: Two cartons is not enough for one day.

5: Hydrating includes drinking beer at 8am.

6: They are top blokes.

7: They can laugh at themselves and each other.

8: They know how to fish.

I am sure Adam can testify to a few of these if not all and he got off lightly if you ask me. (I did too. I think the "sponsor role" saved me to tell you the truth)

I had a great time at the wind up, met a few more FW crew. I think a stand out is the picture Simo put up as a best photo candidate. There was another that came a close second. Simo, it was a resounding winner. It was a shame the afters was a bit short lived. Except for the SW boys of course. This was one of their quiet nights. A few lasting memories for me. As it has been mentioned: 5 knots will last with me forever. Even more memorable than the birth of my own kids. Dave's coral trout and the sensational big ruby's that came aboard. We also managed the biggest Golden T's i have seen

The best thing about this trip was that going to Exxy was more about a trip than the comp itself which made it an enjoyable few days.

It was a shame not to see a few more sponsors getting involved. I would love to be part of it again in 2013 and will continue to provide Adam with some prizes. Congratulations to the four winners of the Xtreme coolers. Seeing your happy faces was brilliant.

Again, a big thanks to the SW boys for entertaining me and joining to make team Xtreme. Harro the skipper, Dave, Mark, Part B: Doak's, Liam AKA kitten arms, Tim who should be a comedian and Feral. You would not think that two of these boys are important health professionals.

Boys, keep the Canon hidden.

Till next year when who knows, we might be in KTown if anyone can get accommodation. Maybe even Dunsborough!

Cheers to all the crew who made the effort. Check out the other threads for the pics.

Regards

Dave

What an idiot.

This shot from a couple of weekends ago. We were having a good session on our Whiting patch when the deckies rod took off. I took it for a KG but up came a stonking Skippy. The next fish hooked into the rod was handed to the youngest fella and after a cranking fight up came a Pinkie just undersize (Easily released) for the next 20 mins we had a ball with the Skips. Deciding to pull in the pots for the season a nice little bonus. Hadn't bothered with the pots as some helpful turd had been pulling them for us and rebaiting them. No doubt a local who can get out through the week up there when us park boys aren't around to keep an eye. Anyway a good day on the sand.

Does anyone have any latest reports on how the sound is fishing, finally have a couple days off and the HMAS GOOD DOOGS is begging to get wet! Are the Bonnys still around, any taylor, really is there anything around worth noting?

I require a new custom made perpex windscreen for my center console. Boat has been 2 years in the making as a personel custom project, and now i require a windscreen. Does any one know of any companies that do such a job?

The incredible first pictures inside the $30 million superyacht... that can be controlled by an iPad

• The Adastra was designed by Sussex-based boat designer John Shuttleworth
• It has a dining area with panoramic views, fully functional kitchen and bathroom
  
• It can be controlled by the touch of an iPad from up to 50 metres away
• It was commissioned by a billionaire businessman who already owns two islands off Indonesia
• Adastra is 42.5 metres long, 16 metres wide and weighs 52 tons

The Adastra superyacht is a floating pleasure palace that would fit as comfortably in outer space as it would on the open sea.

And as these amazing new pictures show, she is equipped to entertain a billionaire with even the highest of standards.

She is the the new pet of Hong Kong-based shipping magnate Anto Marden, whose uses for her may include - among other things - gliding between the two tropical islands he already owns off the coast of Indonesia.

Futuristic: The main deck area looks more like that on a spaceship than a boat

Designed by Sussex-based yacht designer John Shuttleworth, the Adastra is so high-tech, it can even be controlled remotely at the touch of an iPad... as long as you don't get any further away than 50 metres.

Described as ‘one of the world's most amazing super yachts’, Adastra, unveiled yesterday in China, took five years to build, is 42.5 metres long, 16 metres wide and weighs 52 tons.

Her enormous petrol tank coupled with her dynamic sailing efficiency allows the Adastra to travel up to 4,000 miles without refuelling - the same distance from London to New York.

‘It takes the power trimaran concept further than has ever been attempted before,’ Mr Shuttleworth told Boat International.

‘The challenge of turning this concept into a viable luxury yacht has taken us to further research and to develop new thinking on stability and comfort at sea for this type of craft.’

It is the result of five years of planning and construction, and rivals anything owned by yacht-lover Roman Abramovich.

The hull of the Adastra is built from glass and Kevlar and can house nine guests and six crewmen. The deck saloon has a panoramic view while the open cockpit has sofas on both sides. The open deck running aft also has a door that hinges out to create a bathing platform.

Boat International magazine said Adastra 'could spell the future for efficient long range cruising'.

The yacht has an integrated ship monitoring system, and can even be controlled with an Apple iPad within a 50-metre range.

Adastra is powered by one Caterpillar C18 engine of 1150hp at 2300 rpm and has 2 Yanmar 110hp @ 3200 rpm outrigger engines.

Adastra's 16-metre beam features a saloon area on the main deck with a lounge area, dining table, and navigation station.

The deck at the rear of the yacht has a sofa and bar area to port and a dining area to starboard.

Great unveiling: The Adastra during its grand launch in China yesterday

Lavish: The master bedroom has all the luxury you might expect in a 5-star hotel

 

Opulent: The bathroom is complete with power shower and a flushing toilet, left,  while the galley has fresh running water, a stove and all one could want in a kitchen, left

Shiny: As the designs show, the boat has a bathing platform at the back where passengers relax as the it glides effortlessly across the open sea

The main helm station, which has seating for two, is positioned in a raised pilot house situated between the rear deck and the saloon area and forms part of the cross beam structure.

The Adastra is the latest in a long line of super yachts that compete to be the most high tech.

Last year Chelsea Football Club owner Roman Abramovich bought a £300 million superyacht with two swimming pools, two helipads, a gym, hair salon, dancefloor and submarine.

Eclipse has plenty of room to entertain friends, with 15 double bedroom cabins all equipped with their own luxury bathrooms and 6ft wide television screens. Parties on the 533ft yacht are guaranteed to stay private, as it’s fitted with an ‘anti-paparazzi shield’ that fires a laser beam of light at cameras to ruin photographs.

The 20,000 sq ft interior also houses a sauna, steam bath and whirlpool to help guests wind down.

Back end: The hull of the Adastra is built from glass and Kevlar and can house nine guests and six crewmen

Future: Boat International magazine said Adastra 'could spell the future for efficient long range cruising'

Plan: Adastra's 16-metre beam features a saloon area on the main deck with a lounge area, dining table, and navigation station

 

 

Comfy: The deck at the rear of the yacht has a sofa and bar area to port and a dining area to starboard

Blueprints: It was designed by Sussex-based yacht designer John Shuttleworth, a world-renowned boat architect

Early stages: The shape has been specially developed to cut through waves as it glides across the high seas

New build: It is the result of five years of planning and construction, and rivals anything owned by yacht-lover Roman Abramovich

Family affair: From left Orion, John, and Sky Shuttleworth - the team behind the design

 with our fast upcomming trip to coral bay we wanted to do something different. 

We booked in for a dive with the manta rays . cant wait to get amongst them. 

who else has done this before and what was it like for you

My boat / trailer combo is aprox 2500 kgs and as such required assisted breaks.

My boat trailer was supplies with a breakaway unit installed on it.

I was supplied a Voyager electronic brake controller to be installed in my vehicle.

The controller was duly fitted by on of Perth’s leading 4x4 accessory outlets.

Recently I had an accident whilst coming down a hill to a T section on a wet road. Applying my brakes simply started a skid which propelled me through T section and onto bush on other side. Fortunately no other cars or trucks were in my vicinity or the outcome could have been rather different.

I rather shakily proceeded to remove myself from bush and took car and trailer to boat dealer for inspection.

After some investigation it appears that when the brake controller was installed a power supply direct from the vehicle battery to vehicle trailer plug was omitted. This is required for the breakaway unit to function correctly.

Follow up with the installer of the brake controller indicated that from their perspective everything was ok for a trailer without a breakaway unit, and I should have indicated that I was going to us a trailer with a breakaway unit.

To their credit they installed the additional wiring at no charge to me.

This is posted merely as a warning to those who may not be savvy with trailer breaks etc to check that you actually have the correct wiring for your application or you may end up worse than just in the bush.

cheers

Hi  All, just to let you know our trip is going to plan. Arriveed Geraldton just now Sitting in WLW car park while the wife is getting a few things. Will be in Exmouth tomorrow at last! Six days to here and Carnarvon Later to day. Will keep you posted  on the fishing.

Reguards, Jim  

Hello All,

Im over in Canada for the next 5 months and thought I would chuck up a few photos of the trip so far.  We flew from Perth to Sydney on a red eye flight to arrive around 6:30am, we spent a day around Sydney and then a night at my partners friends house up near Warriewood before heading to the airport around 11am for our flight.  At the airport there was alot of Papparazzi as Paris Hilton was there flying back to LA.  We waved her goodbye with one finger and boarded our flight to Dallas at 1pm.  Interesting day as we got to see the sun set twice in the same day, once as we flew past NZ and then again at Dallas/Fort Worth.  We slept in the airport for a few hours and I wasnt feeling well due to Qantas trying to poison me with shit food, then jumped onto our flight at 7:20pm for Toronto, landing around midnight.  Fortunately Janes friend Corinne was at the airport to pick us up and drive us back to their place in Barrie(Baz), Ontario where we will be spending the next two months for Corinne and her partner Martins wedding.

After a week getting over jetlag and slowly seeing the sites and learning the ropes we have started looking for work.  Corinnes brother Shea runs a business over here called 'The Dock Guy' and he has been kind enough to give me some work with his team installing boat docks and track/carriage boat launch/retrievers around Lake Simcoe, where Barrie is.  The lake freezes over in winter so the docks are installed each year in spring and removed in the fall so they are not damaged by the ice movement. 

I have only been on the job a couple of days, and the weather has been kind, but here are some pics so far.

1, The Barrie Dreamcatcher, the arms move in the wind

2, Jane on the shores of Lake Simcoe, Downtown Barrie

3, First snow ive seen since I was four years old (I know it looks like hail, but im claiming it as late season snow)

4, A house on the shores of Lake Simcoe

5, Boatshed exterior of above house, with breakwater and dock pieces stacked in background

6, Larger view of the boatshed

7, Interior of the boatshed, we are laying tracks for the carriages that will support the boat in bunk cradles, concrete gets poured tomorrow

8, My new dream house, it has the main house, a guest house, a caretakers house, a huge workshop, two heated grotto spas overlooking the lake, one with a recycling waterfall feature and the boathouse which this photo is taken from the roof of.  The boathouse houses two 28'+ boats, one a beautiful Chris Craft, the other a ski boat and two jetskis

9, Panorama of the view from the boatshed roof

10, Boat track and winch system inside boatshed

11, Boat on bunk cradles on track

12, Second boat in shed

13, Exterior of boatshed with tracks heading into Lake Simcoe, and we will be installing galv and cedar docks after the tracks are sorted.

I havent had to work in the water yet, but the guys in the 8mm wetsuits with hoods assure me its @!#!#@#@! cold atm.

Enjoy!

Bryan

P.S I am yet to go fishing, but apparently Lake Simcoe holds bass, rainbow trout and a host of other species.  The guy renting downstairs said he might be able to take me out this weekend to some of his spots and show me the ropes as im pretty new to freshwater fishing. Stay tuned.

Eh!

If you didn't catch them check it out below - some good laughs and some great memories of the good ol days of the NBA.

Go Lakers (although I reckon OKC will take it out this year).

Hey Guys,

I know its a long shot, but would anyone have 2 side screws for lowrance hds7 gps (screw which clamps the bracket to the unit) from when they flush mounted the unit to thier dash and no longer need it.

I have lost the 2 screws

Thanks

Justin

Ive managed to talk the wife into letting me purchase a sounder for my tub. Unfortunately budget isnt high due building a house at the moment. My boat is only 4.5mtr so only really fishing max 50mtr marks. Just want something that is showing the basic ground that I need to find fish on. I already have some good spots that produce but the old sounder dosnt even show what Im sitting on. Any advice would be much appreciated.

Now if you have been to Two Rocks, you will know what I mean by Ramp Control !

Last monday I had the pleasure of using the Two Rocks boat ramp  , and also had the pleasure of listening to a guy at the boat ramp give polite suggestions on how to retrieve your boat - HIS way !!!

I must say that I have never heard anybody speak to other people the way this guy did ! He proceeded to shout, scream and shake his fist at any boatie who was using the ramp, and not obeying his direct commands.

I witnessed this expert - shout at the skipper of a rather large boat that he was not to drive his boat all the way onto the trailer ! Here lies the problem - he did not have a winch, as the his boat was set up to drive on and self lock. Never one to miss a scene, I had to listen for the next comments - and yep - just what I thought ! The skipper told him to GET ####ED !

This guy was causing more problems and slowing everybody down, and therefore adding to the angst among every skipper just wanting to get off the water !

I am very surprised this guy has not been punched out due to his rude and immature behaviour !

Was this a once off ! OR is this guy there every weekend ?? 

Well, I am mega-bored with the boat in for maintennance on my only uni break while the weathers fantastic.

I'm interested to know, are there any other aviation enthusiasists on the site? When I'm not fishing, you'll find me at the aircraft spotting area taking photos or listening to a scanner, or if I'm lucky up for a fly in a light aircraft

Maybe you're a private pilot/commercial pilot/aircraft spotter/photographer/or just love the idea of flying generally. I know theres a lot of FIFO guys on this site, and a few FIFO guys i know are pretty keen on aeroplanes (although i guess its their gateway to INCOME)

I'm interested to know how many others like me are on the site!

Cheers

thinking of taking this course while in coral bay something we have both wanted to do for a very long time.  our question is what can we do  on this ticket .

The PADI Scuba Diver course is the first level of certification and can be completed in 2 days.  Includes course material, equipment hire, 2 boat dives on the Ningaloo Reef Marine Park and a certification card.

Minimum numbers required 2 (Minimum age 14yrs)

Why are all the shocker supporters so damn quiet at the moment? It's making my ears ring.

howdy all

i heard a rumour that the offroad area on thomas rd has been closed again, can anyone confirm this, as i want to take my kids out for a ride in our jeep for a bit of fun.

                                                                                                        cheers

                                                                                                        dakka

Just wondering if anybody knows who makes fuel tanks for boats either aluminum or stainless. Got to get it done as our tank is starting to degrade.

I need an electric braking unit wired into my Prado, can anyone recommend a good mobile auto electrician that doesn't charge the earth?

I've got the unit, just need it connected up.

Cheers

 Just recently got an AOS bushmans apex swag but I keep getting slaughtered by mozzies, how do you keep them out of an apex style swag?

 Curious as to how many will be in Coral Bay at the end of April til early May.

i know of a few. would be good to catch up for a drink and a chat

 hi all,

need an electric oven fitted as well as a gas cook top and an extension made to the gas bbq. if youre interested shoot me an email and will talk more.

cheers old salt

 a while ago Sandy somehow got the camera onto rapid shot where she just held the button down and away it went taking heaps of pics. somehow it was turned off and now i want to get it back up and running but i cant see anything in the book about it.

it is great for the u/water shots as the fish just wont hold still long enough and with us heading to coral bay in just over 2 weeks i would like to get it working the same

any help please

why is that chris judd is the only player in the AFL that is allowed to do a 360 in a tackle and not get penalised. have the umpires been fooled by expecting him to always release the ball

yes iam a west coast fan and i honestly believe judd leaving has worked in our favour :)

yeah yeah not fishing related but                               get over it

 I know this is not fishing related but i am annoyed right now.

Just got off the damn phone to centrelink which is now automated and you speak to a damn machine. had to go through the shite 5 times. they kept putting me through to a service operator because they couldnt understand what i was saying.of cause at 7pm there is no one there. what a waste of time let alone the 5 calls i had to make till they got it right. '

Anyone else get pissed off with this stuff. i hate it. 

Got a call from one of our base stations at 0730 this morning that a shark cat had tipped over half way to Koks island, got under way and passed a pro boat belonging to the cat's owners mate. We were about 1/2 a mile from them when they picked up a message from another boat outside the gap that another cat had been snottered by a wave as they went through.

Seeing as the upturned cats crew were in safe hands and extra help was only 20 minutes away we changed course to the SW and sped off towards the gap 12 nm away. With the swell running between 4-5 metres and a run out tide the waves were standing up and breaking all the way across when big sets came through. A quick  sprint through and we were along side the 22 ft cat that looked like someone had slaughtered a cow in the cockpit, there was that much blood. The other boat that had rendered assistance asked if we needed any more help and after having a word with the two  injured chaps we said for them to head off fishing and thanks for their help.

After getting both blokes on the rescue boat and attaching the tow rope reasonably short we headed back to the gap and hoped for a quiet spell for us to get through. All was going great guns and we were about 80 metres from the middle rock when the second wave back started breaking all the way across. Marvellous how quickly your plans change from 15 knts with a boat in tow to 25 knots and around the other side of the rock than planned.'Wasn't too worried about the boat in tow as long as we were safe thats all that mattered.

A groan from the passengers seat had us slowing right down to soften the ride for our injured passengers. For the run across the bay  at 10-12 knots with a 1-1.5 metre sea and 15-20 knot southerly. With two ambulances waiting for us at the ramp one of the blokes said it was the longest two hours of his life and no wonder, after being xrayed he was found to have 6 broken ribs and a fractured sternum and his mate received 10 stitches in a cut to his head and some more in one of his heels.

Caught up with the skipper of the pro boat and they had to drop the tow because some of the survivors were becoming distressed and run them in. They anchored the upturned cat and marked its position, giving us the coordinates to send out warnings to shipping. Just before we put the boat back in its pen we spoke to another boat who had just come through that way and he said that they hadn't seen it so its probably sunk and gone for good.

Glad to get home, its been a long stressful day.

Just wondering if anyone is down the Margaret River/Augusta Way tomorrow, get some pics of what the coast looks like. I havent ever seen a swell that is predicted to be +7.5m down there before. Might make for some good pictures for the Amatuer Camera Crew.

http://wind.willyweather.com.au/wa/great-southern/cosy-corner-beach.html

Anyone used these reels? I've just bought the HS-80 for for my 8' Scheinder glass. looking for feedback.