Sandy and I have been talking about getting a minn kota. Problem is where to mount it and what size is needed. I can see one location that could be possible due to the front of the swifty being an odd shape. I have figured out a spot without having to remove the bough rail. It would be the space between the start of the rail and the first upright. Of course a mounting bracket and reinforcement on and under the bough deck. Any thoughts or ideas would be welcomed.

Howdy Folks,

My boat has a damn fancy Lowrance plotter/fish finder paired up with an Airmar transducer. A damn big brick of a thing that hangs off the back of the boat. 

It is a great unit and I can see the bottom in 250m so I am happy with that....but occasionally when I find a spot and back the boat up to stop momentum, it will lose bottom. Its all good and tolerable normally, but it is prooving to be a pain in the arse when we go further out...

Like when we were out in 200m of water, I reversed up just to stop momentum and it dropped bottom, so we were without any soundings for the next hours until we were back in under 30m of water.

I have turned it off and on again and it didnt re-find itself. Tirned the power off on the switch and it didnt re-find itself and have turned the batteries on and off again and it didnt sort it.

Is there a trick to re-setting it?

I know that i can just stop reversing but is there a re-set function?

 For sale 200 hp Mercury optimax only 150 hours of use, long shaft with sst prop. Excellent condition with all control cables and guages. FULLY FUNCTIONAL WITH SERVICE RECORD. Tested by master mercury technition.

The weather came good for good Friday so of course we headed out in search of new ground and some different species.  It was a bit rough heading out but it soon calmed down and the fish came on .

First drift resulted in a couple of freight trains that Sandy hooked but handed the rod over to me . Both of which I thaught were big trevs but turned out to be a couple of big chinaman.  Second drift resulted in a school mackeral and numerous small fish that all released well then I had a double of small grassies that got followed by a shark I estimated at about 12 feet, time to move on . Found a fair bit of ground to fish but mainly small ones until sandy hooked up again to another horse of a fish which ended with a 3rd chinaman.  Ended up over towards a spot we had fished before and managed a few nice grassies and then as Sandy had put her rod in the holder it doubled over with line screaming out. Without question I knew Sandy couldn't handle this one I grabbed the rod with the line peeling out and heading away from us I called it a shark but no , after a 10 minute fight in only 20 mtrs of water a big gold spot cod came to the surface, it went 830mm so we called it a day. The usual story , Sandy hooked them and I fought them so it was a tag team effort

Sandy and I would like to wish you all a happy and safe Easter. If your travelling away like thousands of others stay safe and be aware of idiots and impatient drivers out there.

Good luck to all those that will be wetting a line and enjoy time with family and friends

hi all
looking for some legal process knowledge...

~18 months ago i had a new deck "product" installed on my boat - by this i mean a product permanently installed over the fibreglass. The cost installed was over 5k. It looked great and we have taken good care of it. Recently i noticed it is starting to rapidly crumble/breakdown in a large area across the deck from port to starboard that essentially gets the most sun.
I have reached out to the installer who has promised to come and "have a look" - but after 2 weeks of repeated no-shows i went to the national distributor - surprise surprise no response from them either.

Under consumer law i am pretty sure a product should last a reasonable timeframe given its cost and purpose, regardless of manufacturers warranty - ie 3k fridge with a 12 month warranty would be expected to last longer than 12 months

I will continue to try and engage with the local installer but - in the event that is unfruitful, what avenues would i have to seek some form of recovery? any tips/advice would be welcomed
cheers

Or 'WA Men' as they are now known but how frigging awesome to be in an almost unassailable position to do the One Day and Shield treble after having no business at all hosting the Final.

I popped down the WACA Fri and our bowlers just ground Tas down with disciplined length bowling to secure the bonus point scenario and Roc came in and bowled beautifully (as he's down all season) to start picking off wickets. 43 wickets for Roc this season on mostly seam friendly tracks so he's put himself up there for an Australian contract.

Shame Connolly missed out on a dream 100 on debut in a final but this kid is a bonified big game performer. If Phillipe was thinking about heading interstate I think his decision has been made a lot easier.

Marsh and Green aside who are cemented in the Aussie Test team but this team is missing Bancroft, Kelly, Richardson and Morris from our best XI with Agar running drinks.

Most of the side are in their 20s with Whiteman, Bangers, Paris, Short being only early 30s so we have a good chance to be up there for a few years like QLD in the 90's/2000s and WA in the 80s.

Gonna pop back down today to watch a team winning before I head to Optus for what I feel is going to be a bloodbath.

Hey brains trust,

As part of my current refurb project have stripped all decals/striping etc off the boat to polish so need to replce the Rego numbers. 

DoT info states the Nubers need to be 150mm, black plain font with a 7mm white surround and vertical with no slant. 

Now I reckon 2 in every 3 boats I see don't meet this, so my question is, does anyone know if this is something your likely to get pinged for not meeting standard? 

I'd rather match my rego number to the name font.  

Cheers Mac

Currently watching a show called "Stories of catching sharks"

Thaught others may enjoy watching

Hi guys, looking at installing cruise control to my 2012 Landcruiser 76, anyone here put cruise control in their 70 series?, I have found a couple online but not sure which one to go with

Cheers Yewie

 Footy is back and everything is back to how it should be.

Good to see Grundy getting a few touches against his old side

 Per the title, we are somewhat in the early stages of planning a trip to the islands anywhere in March to end of May that will be entirely weather dependant. 

The soft plan would be to drive up Thursday, head out Friday, come back within 2-3 days entirely dependent on the weather. 

My wife is a bit anxious and really only wants to go with someone else with us though none of our mates do this kind of things so I am wondering if anyone around here has soft plans for a trip and would be happy for us to tag along to within sight of the islands then we will go and do our own thing?

The boat is capable and with 300l of fuel, we should have more than enough range (around 200nm which gives us fuel in the tank), its just the openness whilst half way across that gets her...

Is there anything we must know, other than contacting fisheries?

If anyone is willing to share some moorings that i could get a 7.2 m plate boat into, it would be appreciated. We need 400mm to float....
 

 New boat finally arrived! Sold the reefy back in august so have been mostly land locked since then! Hanging out to get out for a fish. 3 weeks and will be in shark bay, so bit of a rush to run it in!! 
Took it out in the chop on Sunday and eats it up. Bit bigger than I'm used to, but handles great. Love the caribbeans!

 Want to buy, a 2008 Nissan Navara D25 crankshaft or short motor or  a complete engine.

I purchased the licenced ute very  cheap with a seized motor and when pulled  down found the crankshaft was cracked which is a bit of a bastard as it had only done 155 thousand Km

So if anyone has one or knows of one please let me know. Thanks   John

This just popped up on the news.

Stake Hill aggravated home burglary: Naked man shot in wardrobe after alleged home invasion | PerthNow

I have little doubt there will be consequences short or long term for the home owner.

Interesting to me as last friday night at my house, at midnight on a friday following a few noisy partys in my suburb there was a commotion on the street and a 16yr old kid came sprinting to our front door and inside.

He was panting and on the phone to the police and said some kids were fighting around the corner and had been chasing him with a knife.

I had already spoken to the cops as there had been another incident probably related about 20 min before.

Both calls gave my address.

1/2 hr later the kids sister picked him up.

The police never turned up at, passed by or anything astonishingly but it raised the question to me of what if those kids chased him into my house with knives?

There have been numerous incidences in WA and interstate of people defending themselves with a firearm and then having to go to court to defend that or get their firearms returned.

I'd be astonished if the incident below didnt proceed similar, first with his firearms being seized. 

 I guess some of you blokes got the text?

I've got a rifle I could hand in, I'll just use the cash and buy another one.

Anyone else partaking?

 Hi All

Just checking out a new trailer for general home use but with ability to use for Steep / Dirk Hartog etc). Been looking for galvanised braked 7x4 or 7x 5 single axle with landcruiser stud pattern to match the 100 series . 

There are heaps of trailer sellers out there but am always wary about quality and strength etc to be able to handle trips away . Wont be carrying massive loads ( say 750kg mark) .

Have checkied out online reviews but seeing if anyone has had any first hand experiences or recommendations ( be it where to but or keep away !)  . Will be keeping it so am happy to pay reasonable amount as long as it doesnt crap itself as soon as it hits some rough roads etc.

Cheers

Mike 

 Hi Guys,

Just chasing any info from those who have gone through the process.

I am currently looking at a boat that is located in Melbourne. I will be wanting to get a pre purchase inspection completed, does anyone have any recomendations for who/what company is good to use (it is an older 6.0m fiberglass tub too).

I am also looking at my options for transport, just weighing up the cost of driving and picking up myself or trucking transport. Just wondering if anyone has any information that I should know with getting it over here to WA. What transport company was used, ease of pick up/drop off, any other details I should be thinking of.

Let us kow what experiences you guys have had.

Cheers,

Nathan.

Howdy Crew,

I've got a few dramas with a builder, I need to explore all options and contract termination might be the only way forward. 

I've started a build with a builder and we were mates prior, we agreed he was going to have a set fee and then all cost were going to be on me.

He did up a contract but it wasn't signed.

To get finance I required a fixed price contract, the builder assisted me with this and a fixed price contract was written and signed by both parties, Finance was approved.

He was running the build as per our verbal agreement and invoicing when he would recieve invoices from trades and he would forward the originals to me and I'd pay him.

Wall framing is complete and the roof carpentry has been completed.

I have been sent and paid for 6 invoices to this point.

The builder and I have had a falling out, childish crap that is not worth going into but he still has his nose out of joint.

I have tried to patch things up to no avail. 

He has now referred back to the fixed price contract and re-sent the invoices 1-6 as I was in front 36k and is trying now get his hands on the 36k as per the FP contract.

I dug my heels in and said I am not repaying for work I have already paid for, things have got uglier from there.

He has since threatened me that he'll get me arrested for fraud, he's been extremely abusive and recently threatened to break my jaw.

This is all in writing in email or text. He gets on the booze in the arvos and gets his rant on.

This bs has been going for two weeks now and no works have been completed since.

I am/was willing to try and keep things moving ( at least until lock up ), the last thing I really want to do is end up in court with high lawyer cost and a build that drags on for months when winter is on its way.

I want to know if anyone has terminated a contract based on abuse/threat of violence or has advice that may help me get this bloody mess sorted out!!

I appreciate your help in this crappy situation,

Cheers - TB

 9 years with the same insurance mob, put the 100 series yearly insurance up$700. What a joke. Called them up got the ahh things have gone up we'll give you a discount $100??? Told them I'm out. Found the same policy $1150.00. So much for loyalty and looking after your customers. 

West Coast off to a positive start winning their first pre-season scratch match yesterday lol

G day All,

Thought I’d throw up my boat refurb for those who might be considering similar with an older boat or those that have done it before and can offer some advice.
It’s a 79 Guardian 5.7m WA built boat, I purchased it 8 years ago with an old busted Johno on it, over time its grown on me…easy to launch solo, gets me out 25nm plus and handles the shit conditions well for its size, have done overnight rotto stays on it also.

Wish I had something bigger and faster with more luxury but this is it unless I win lotto. So with the windscreen cracking again, been repaired so many times, the floor and transom solid enough but all wet due to a heap of holes and damage over the years it’s just a matter of time before it turns bad, and as the wife says…there’s no life insurance if they don’t find ya body.

So the decision was made to strip this down, total budget refurb completing as much as I can myself and re-utilizing as much of the existing gear as possible with a few changes to be made.
1 – Under deck fuel tank 120 - 130 litres
2 – Re-design the transom, remove the seats, create a small bit of extra space, include storage for batteries, oil and other bits.
3 – New windscreen, raise the roof 4”
4 - New seats, considering the suspension pedestals although this is outside the budget objective...
5 – New lick of paint 2pk….by hand with roller.

Other bits needed, strengthen the cabin, this you need to walk around for anchor deploy, retrieval etc. which I do a lot off, So a forward hatch door is being considered.
Since the start of the strip down it’s been google, utube and FB pages reading and learning as much as I can on the different ways to tackle this, and yes there is multiple ways people repair there transoms etc. Will cover this a bit more in PT2.

First thing needed was a shed, cant be grinding dust and shit everywhere in the front yard apparently, so first job was to clean my mums shed so I could move me Tory from my shed to hers for storage, I then had to re-organise my work benches so the boat could fit, very tight fit but it fits.
Carpet, wiring and all the auxiliaries came out pretty quick and easy, got the daughter to hold the spanners as most of the fasteners were rusted and would spin, motor came off easy, put this on a few years back myself…not hard at all. First item to buy was a multi tool, already had a Ozito battery so picked this up for $64 dollars, extra $30 for the carbide tool. This cut in around the cabin timber like butter, this will all get cleaned up and re-used so didn’t want to take to it with a hammer.

The roller door height meant the boat had to come of the trailer first, so always got a bit of steel laying around being an old plate basher, so knocked up some basic trolly frames and bought some caster wheels from bunnings, boat and trailer were just over a tonne, with everything removed including the motor I estimated the boat to be 500kg approx..

The rear access is tight…but we got it down, only destroyed one down pipe..blamed the daughter for that..paid her the agree $15 for the hour, was thinking to get a few mates around but thought fk it cant be that hard.

Getting it off was a bit agricultural but it worked, just used the ratchet straps that usually hold the boat on the trailer, came of easy…back and forth between the front and back straps.

She fits….just.

Carbide blade for the 5” grinder cutting through the floor, the timber was soaked, had a few holes in the floor over the years slowly filling the old girl up, the timber came up easy….claw hammer.

The stringers were glassed but nothing sealed, some of this less than ideal with some cracking evident. It did get a hard time, sometimes 4-6 dive bottles plus gear etc etc..bang bang bang! As some of us do..

These came out quick and easy also, multi tool…some of the stringers were wet on the bottom, but no rot, left these out to dry, the timber is still solid, so these will get cleaned up and re-used also. The stringer and new layout will change anyway to make way for the fuel tank..new main stringers running long ways not across.

The transom…fk, even with a few wet patches it took 3 hours plus to remove..strong is an understatement, seeing and knowing this now I might have reconsidered, there was no flex in it but knew water was getting in, but still they are strong and unless you can see flex or cracking in your transom glass I recon there’s a lot of life left, just keep it dry as possible, stop all points of water ingress.

The grinding…yeah its taken 10hrs to get to this point, internal only, this with a 7” Zec disc 24 grit and a shit load of 5” 36 grit discs, most days squeezing in 1 – 2 hours max, pic there shows a half full garbage bag, filled two full just from the grinding. Protection consists of shorts and long sleeve shirt with the disposable’s overalls over the top…when finished I remove the disposable and jump straight in the pool…good rinse off including the cloths, usually soaking wet after each session so it’s a great way to cool off. Then inside for a soapy shower….then some nights a third shower before bed. Itchy a little but not too too bad to be honest.

So that’s it, off for quotes today on the new glass, resin and marine ply needed to get the floor and transom back in…will cover that in Pt 2 which could be a month or two away.

Finally got a good days weather . Well better than it has been. Hit the water a bit late with not much biting at first. Sandy got a small ranken but it swallowed the hook so dinner it was . About 10:30 the fish came on the bite after searching a fair bit of ground. First up the trevs came on then gat some nice grassies.  Released about 6 other trevs and about 8 grassies.  Managed to get a just size red  ut decided to let it live . All up a great day and a few fish for the freezer

 Might be a silly question but have to ask if anyone has come across this before. 

I have put in a query to fisheries see what they come back with......

I want to take my hot smoker up north this year , smoke up some Spanish Mackerel etc  and vacuum pack it. Something to do on a down day.

Does that form part of my possession limit? I'm thinking it probably does but it seems a grey area to me as it's processed etc. 

Cheers for any feed back

Managed to get out for a fish today . Not ideal conditions but best it's been for a few months. Sandy nailed her first golden trev and it was a beauty .

Is anyone keen in joining a Fishwrecked AFL Fantasy league if I create one? We'd need a minimum of 4 people by the looks of it.

wowser - check out this thing (although doesnt look much like a goldfish to me)

https://www.perthnow.com.au/lifestyle/fishing/worlds-longest-goldfish-caught-in-joondalups-blue-lake-by-aquatic-biologist-dr-dulana-herath-c-13486896

Went down for a quick fish this morning on the incoming tide.  We managed to get 5 with a few more that didn't quite hook up with the bites just missing the hook.  Landed a 5 foot shovel as well that made me fight for every bit of line back on the spool.

Certainly won't be going hungry while these are still around

 Well done to MM, the Bison.....

He's a bloody legend and hard to deny him but.....

I would've given it to Cummins IMO, the bloke has been amazing....

The ashes were taken out of his hands with a ball change but apart from that he's been a bloody good captain, held his bat plenty of times ( 12 against bangladesh ) and been a partnership breaker time and time again with the ball....

Was not recieved well early with the langer carry on but it sounds like JL was pretty full on, bold move making him C but hes done bloody well imo...

Hi Guys. was thinking abut getting some rock tamers to protect the boat on the trips away.

anyone have any experience using these, and have you found them any good? not cheap, but if they work, i would conisder them.

cheers!

goat.