Put a three strand thick rope on the front bow(loop over twice ) then run it back to the back of the boat and have about 2mtrs extra then splice on a big S/steel spring clip .This rope can be used for tying up at jetties & launching ,tying your boat to the trailer and Anchoring. With the help of another 2 metre piece of rope with a float on one end and a s/steel clip on the other you can retrieve your anchor from the back of the boat all the time ,all you have to do is clip the bow line to the end of the anchor line and the float clip as well ,drop your anchor from the back of the boat and feed it out (note I keep a 20mtr rope & a 40mtr rope in my boat depending on the depth I am fishing in ) with the float attached to it & the bow line boat will drift back and the float will slowly go to the front of the boat with the anchor  rope &  the float rope attached. TOO retrieve your anchor slowly drive your boat forward the float will pope to the surface drive up alongside your float and retrieve your float & anchor rope from the back of the boat and never having to go to the front of the boat. Float line with clip also acts as a safety thing too, if you need to get off the anchor in a hurry you can power up to the float and only unclip the bow line, leaving the float clipped to the anchor line so you can go back later to retrieve it. Lot safer this way than going to the front of the boat and you stay dry.    
 

 A few weeks back we had some pretty strong and gusty winds associated with two fronts that passed over us on two consecutrive days. A couple of days later I ventured outside and noticed my boat clears had blown out, with stitching ripped and the actual plastic split. I called my insurer (Club Marine) and explained what had happened and that whilst the clears were a bit grotty they had still been water tight and useable for maybe another 12 months. I was half expecting them to say nah, sorry they are too old and we won't cover them, but to my distinct pleasure they had no problem with me getting a new set. I guess after around 50 years of boating and about 20 years with Club Marine without a single claim, they maybe felt pity on me and agreed to cover the cost of replacements less a small excess.

So I rang around and was recommended by a fellow fishwrecked mate Rocky, to give Mel Taylor Trimmers in Wangara a go. Garry at Mel Taylors was awesome, I sent him the pics of the boat as below and he quoted a great price despite it being an insurance job. His costs were well below all the other trimmers I had quote for new clears and biminis. The next day Club Marine approved the work/quote and Garry got me into his workshop the very next day. I thought maybe a week to have it all done, but no.. he took 2 days only and whilst I could have picked the boat up yesterday (another storm) I decided to leave it in his workshop and pick it up this morning.

Very impressed with the end result and the great service. Garry is a top bloke and certainly looked after me, opening the shop up this morning so I could collect the boat.

Below are a few before and after pics, so you can see the difference. Make sure you check out the pics of the strange markings on the canopy, which I have had confirmed as being hail damage. Anyway hope this might be some help to guys thinking that perhaps their clears and bimini aren't covered by insurance. Garry says they have been inundated with insurance claims recently  mainly from the gin palace boats moored at Hillarys. Good to see the insurance companies actually look after you when you need them. Heres to another 50 years without a claim.

BEFORE SHOTS

Hail Damage

Split Seams

AFTER PICS

Front can be separated from the sides so I can take the whole front section off without having to take the sides off if I want to.

I'm looking to buy an electric anchor winch to suit a Haines Hunter 580 breeze with what I would call a small anchor well. I'm tossing up between the stressfree ng (if it will fit) and the lewmar range. Any info like if you are happy with yours, where you bought it, what you would get if you had to buy again etc would be much appreciated. I know there's some other threads on this but my main concern is having the smaller anchor well and what winch suits this problem best.

Hiyas,

I have a load that takes up less than half of the useable space in a 40', do you have anything for the other half?

If yes - then send me a message.

Ta,

till

Hi I have owned a Leeder tomcat now for 2 years and are just in the middle of rebuilding the 5.7L engine, the reason for the rebuild is due to corrosion as sea water has been getting into the engine bay. I have recently found out through a boat mechanic that this boat has had the same problem in the past....... have any other owners had this same problem? Apparently the sea water is getting through the engine hatch, it would be great to chat if anyone has and how you solved it. Also my boat is exhausted through the rear of the boat not the leg due to 5.7L and not the 3.6L and a normal exhaust will not fit in the engine bay but i plan to change this with modifications and was wondering if anyone else has done this in the past as I have been told the 3.6 was under powered but I dont know this for sure has i have always had a 5.7L in there..... If anybody could give me some advice here i would greatly appreciate it

Hi guys,

I want to mark lengths along my anchor rope so I now how much rope I have put out when laying my anchor.

Any tips on how to do this ?

Cheers

So my boss is looking for an Aussie made hull around the 2005 era, cabin boat, fibreglass set up with fishing gear and will handle the seas nicely, all for about 40-ish grand (cheaper the better obviously). We were looking through and found this http://www.boatpoint.com.au/boats-for-sale/boatdetails.aspx?R=12287336 but can't find any reviews on it, if anyone could give some info on markham's and in particular the 622 profish I'd really appreciate it.

Cheers guys.

Just a quick question. I want to replace the rollers on the trailer and dont want to have to go to the ramp and launch, would rather do it at home where all my tools are. The boat is only a Quiny 475. Does anyone have any tricks to make life easier for jacking and securiting it while I change them out. Was thinking just a solid peice of timber under the transom area to just take th preassure of the rollers. Haven't done it before so thought I would ask the gurus before I have a crack. 

 Hi guys looking at upgrading my boat soon to something bigger. I'm after anyone's opinions on wellcraft boats specifically the 232,24 and 252 coastals in walk around. I have done a bit of research and have come to find these are a solid boat and a bit above the sea fox/sea pro/ pro line etc. not that there is anything wrong with those makes. If anyone has been on one of these b4 and can offer some good and bad points on them. Looking with either a big single or 2 smaller outboards. Will be used obviously for days out of Perth with the monthly rotto overnight et thrown in as well as Abrholos long weekends and exmouth island trips. 

Any information welcome and thanks in advance for your thoughts. 

Regards Sammy 

Does anyone here use a ctek charger not sure if mine has a fault
When i connect the mains to charger should the top left light be lit up or not?
Mines half lit up but when i connect to battery it goes off but I just can't remember ever seeing it half lit up b4 I connect it

Got a few chips in the gel coat that we need repaired, has anyone had this done before and can give an indication of the costs involved?

Cheers

well it was a beautiful day here in Busselton today, so decided I would go out and drop a line at one of the locally known fish havens

The water was flat as glass, so about full throttle all the way out to the area known as 4 mile, probably cause it's about 4 mile off the beach lol
As I throttled back near where there were two boats, the engine died when it got back to idle

I tried to start it again, but no way would the engine fire. It always starts first pull when cold so thought I would drop a few lines till it cooled down and give it a try again.

It was not my day, it would not start even when cold, not even a thought of it starting, so I dropped anchor.

Now, to add insult to injury, my VHF Marine radio had a flat battery and was useless, so I used my mobile and phoned a friend onshore and requested re inform the local 'search & rescue' that I was out there and may need assistance later in the day, as it was only 11am now.

Recieved a phone call from the Busso Police, and I informed the officer of the situation and advised him I may get a tow back home with one of the boats nearby when they left the area for the Marina.

He said he would phone me in an hour to check on me again 

Stuck a arm up in the air when the closest boat strated to head to the Marina and he offered to tow me back in as he had been watching me trying to restart the outboard.

The Busso Police officer phoned me when I was about half way back to the Marina, and said he would cancel the watch on me.
 

Note to self, get the Raymarine handheld VHF Marine Radio battery checked out, it sits in it's charger all the time it is at home, so battery should be charged?

NOW....

Who would have a clue as to what would stop the 30hp Johnson 2 stroke dead in it's track ??

it has plenty of fuel, so I think it must be lack of spark, but from where is spark 'stopped' ??

Do these things have 'points' like an old fashioned lawn mower 2 stroke engine ??

I've not pulled one apart, but would be reasonably competant at it as I've rebuilt many 4 st engines

I usually send the outboard away for servicing and it has not done too many hours since it's last service, maybe just 20 hrs.

Thanks in advance

(I know I should check the radio battery etc b4 I go out - I'm not as perfect as those who do)

Got the new FCV 627 out for a play today and I'm very happy with it.

Found a school of black jew with it in about 15m that I could not see with my Lowrance elite DSI which is set up next to it.

At the moment it shows a good reading at 15 knots but starts to lose clarity when I go a bit faster, I hope to get a better reading at faster speeds with a bit more adjusting.

I'm just using the basic factory settings at the moment but I'm stoked. I imagine with some tweaking of the settings it would be brilliant.

The sounder pic is as I've drifted of the school but you get the idea.

Cheers Nath

 Just wondering if anyone has a powered trailer mover. I have looked online and there are a few in the us and one here in Perth that costs $1800 which is a bit steep. Maybe someone has built there own. Am just looking at making moving my trailer in and out of the carport a whole lot easier than it is at the moment, there is no way to reverse it in as have a tight drive in a block of townhouses with no room to move to park trailer where I need it. 

 I'm relatively new to boating (3 months in) and was wondering if there is a change towards rougher boating conditions in Summer? I've heard of people talking about screaming easterlies and coming home in heavy chop in the afternoons. I've been monitoring a few sites like seabreeze, willyweather and BOM and all are showing pretty average boating conditions wind wise. Sorry if this seems like a dumb question but I just thought I'd speak to a few of the more experienced boaties on here and find out. Cheers guys!

Hi Lads,

Chasing some advice on upgrading my sounder/fish finder.  My current setup is about 10 years old - a Navman GPS chartplotter (works great), and a Humminbird Wide128 sounder (not so much).  

So Im looking to upgrade the sounder, and have a few questions.

1. Given my chartplotter/GPS works well, am I better off going for a sounder only unit?  I have the Navionics app as a backup GPS also.

2. Im looking currently at the HDS-5X Gen2.  Thoughts?

3. Im guessing I'm going to need to replace the transducer - seems to be a lot of talk about the 1KW options here.  Is this the best way to go?

4.  Any recommendations on somone to install?

Thanks,

Lavs

I know there is a recent thread on this subject but everytime i open it, my internet freezes.  so here is another one.

has anyone bought and used this product and if so, your throughts?

http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/12V-4-5M-30-SMD-SLIM-WHITE-LED-WATERPROOF-BOAT-CARAVAN-STRIP-LIGHTING-4-5-WATT-/280946506048?pt=Caravan_Parts_Accessories&hash=bin4169b77940

Thanks

Surgeons getting carryed away with cutting tools.Transplant gone well ,cosmetic surgon to do his thing now.                                             

Doctors report ,stable but costly.

Anyone had any experience with putting a 4 blade stainless prop on their Trophy? Mine is a 4.3 MPI V6 and has a 14.25 x 19p ally prop on it but it is sluggish as hell getting up on the plane and even more so if I have 4 people on board.... I have been talking to a few boating mates and all their reactions were- go the 4 blade prop.... as they aren't cheap I was going to keep an eye out for a second hand one but I have read conflicting write ups on which one to use ie drop to 18p to account for the 4th blade... I know the best thing to do would be go to a dealer but if I can get one second hand then it would be a bit cheeky asking them for the information and not buying it there so if anyone here has already done it I would be greatfull if you could tell me which prop you used and if you found it to make a big difference...

Thanks in advance... 

Am purchaing a new rig with Sens a Brake system fitted. It's not working at present and am wondering if I should resurect or replace. I've heard lost of good and bad about this system and would appreciate views on what's been found to be good braking systems. Boat and trailer is 2t.Thanks.

At the keep Aus fishing rally the other day , and someone (maybe on here) turned up towing a big glasscraft.

The hull shape was way different to anything else I've seen in the way the forefoot was really vertical , like a displacement hull.

Just looked like it would eat up a rough day no probs.

Looked a little further into it and some reports of them being quite bad in a following sea for broaching?

Anyone been on one? And if so , what did you think.

been getting some varied advice on the best way to go for a 1kw transducer...

the 2 options i have it short listed to are an in hull wet box type transducer and a through hull 20 degree transducer

the shipwright im going to use reccomends the through hull but when i speak to the dealers they are trying to talk me into the wet box in hull style. they both seem absolutely confident about there option being the best way to go....

the arguments so far consist of....

im told by my shipwright the wet box in hull transducer loses 15 - 20% power by having to shoot through the fibreglass hull and the possibility of any small air bubbles in the existing glasswork can cause issues....however the dealer assures me this isnt a concern and they work extremely well regardless...

the through hull transducer im told by the dealer can be a concern - obviously having broken the integrity of the hull by drilling a hole for it to go through...

( this is a 24 foot fibreglass trailer boat )

most of the time ill be fishing fairly shallow for demersals however i do want the capability to go deep 300+ when i get the itch...

opinions as always appreciated 

have attached photos of either option.... the through hull potrudes 6mm and the raymarine website says it is strong enough to sit on trailer rollers etc without hurting it....

Gday fellas,

I have just recently finished importing a 2005 Trophy pro 2502 walk around from America. I have converted everything to Aussie standards so everything is licensed, everything is running perfect and she is absolutely beautiful. Handles rough weather like a dream, cruises at 35 knots with ease, everything that you would want in a boat....... Apart from 1 thing..... It is way bigger than I expected.

I looked around at 25 foot boats in Perth before I baught it and the ones I checked out didnt seem anywhere nearly as big as the Trophy... The trips that I was planning to Exmouth, Kalbarri ect will take me a hell of alot longer to get there and alot more in fuel $$ towing the big rig. So now I am stuck in 2 minds whether to keep her and put up with the slow tow speeds and big fuel bill or trade her in on a smaller (probibly alluminium) 23 footer that I can tow easier. I have already been offered $65k trade in price on a new boat so thats a good start. You dont often hear about someone complaining that their boat is too big! haha

Anyway there is probibly not much point to this post but I did want to let everyone who is thinking about importing a boat know that it is pretty easy and safe to do and I would have no hesitation in doing it again! However it is important that you do your research and have some extra money put aside because there are little costs here and there that you dont budget for that you have to pay. Its only $100 here $100 there but it adds up!!

Also if anyone wants to buy a 25 foot trophy let me know!!

Cheers guys!

Hi, Looking at upgrading in the near future, i have been looking at couple of f/g centre console 24-25ft in length. Really like the 25ft trophy cc but it's beam width is putting me off I'd prefer the beam to be under 2.5m for towing, if you have one or been in a 24-25ft cc I would like to hear your opinion good or bad. ride quality and build etc Regards Justin

hi 

looking to get a wet box transducer installed in my fibreglass boat, can anyone reccomend and good shipwright to get this done

would hate to spend big money on this whizz bang electronics and not have it set up right.

ideally around hillarys, balcatta, wanneroo would be fantastic

cheers

hey guys im chasing somewon to re wire my 4.7m glass swiftcraft runabout

list of stuff to be wired in( unsure if i will need a dual batterie system?)

nav light

ancor light

new hds gen 2 sounder/chartplotter,

switch panel

acc adaptor

deck lights

if anywon knows somewon good oh there is anywon on here who can help please send me a message

thanks guys

I have a Bryant bowrider with a 5.7 Volvo Penta and Duo drive which I want to get serviced and checked prior to summer. I live south of the river and am lookng for recommendations for a good mechanic with suitable knowledge. I have used my local boat shop for a couple of minor issues, and they seem freindly enough but I thought I would just ask for any opinions before I book in anywhere.

I was just having a conversation with a marine mechanic about why the old mans 09/10 200hp verado's batteries went flat the other week, when he started telling me about how "all new bigger motors are supposed to have a designated "starting battery", and that you are supposed to be switching batteries every time you start or cut off the motor". apparantly it is standard with all bigger motors, and that the motors are not supposed to be directly wired to an isolation switch, and would not be under warranty if they were.

has anyone heard of this???

its the first i have ever heard of it, and im not convinced it is true. if it were, it would mean i would have to change/switch batteries after every drift, which would be upwards of 50 times a day, on any standard drifting day.

I did question it, telling him its just not at all practical and that i dont know of any boat or person that does so, but his response was "yeah no-one knows how to use their batteries properly". i told him my '10 115 suzuki is not wired like that, and he replied saying its only the bigger motors that require it. i spoke of my mates 250 verado, which is by recolection not wired as he described, and he says it is wrong as well.

what do youse reckon???? does it sound right????

Hi Crew

I want to run a few antenna's on my boat I have 27meg, AM/Fm radio and am looking to get a VHF in the future.  At the moment I am running my radio and 27meg off the same antenna via a splitter box and find the reception to be average when both are plugged in.

As a solution and so I dont have 3 antennas I was thinking of keeping the 27 meg on its own antenna and when I get a VHF intall its own antenna and use one of these stealth antennas for my am/fm radio

http://www.nofrillscaraudio.com.au/axis-ma1-marine-stealth-antenna

Has anybody had any experience with these?  They are cheap enough just to buy one and see what happens but I thought I would ask first

cheers