Hweebe

Sad too see the Cons are weighing quite heavily against the Pros for you. I'm still very new to my fishing journey but for sure early on when i picked up my first boat my expectations why sky high. My assumption was that a boat would open up new areas and I'd be bagging out left right and centre. More often then not it would be donuts or less catches then what i would achieve land based over the years for a lot more time / expense. What i realised is that land based fishing was also hard work at the start but as time (alot of it) /experience went by you started to learned which spots, species, tides, seasons to target fish. I'm going through this learning process with boat fishing which i think the learning curve is even steeper. For me I've set my expectations in line with this learning process (my thought process is this will be decades of learning) and its more about time on the water (fish or no fish) with my family and friends. It's never my "mission" to go out and catch a feed as I consider this the bonus. Sure i'll have a target species / area for the day and a bit of a plan but you could almost say boating is the main activity with a side of fishing, catching being desert Depression - tell me more this, was it directly from not catching fish or were there also other factors at play before your diagnosis?

I call that karma for all the salary cap rorting they were found guilty of including the 2006-2010 seasons. Had they won the premiership it would have been stripped anyway.

Pat Carrigan - rubbed out for the rest of the regular season - in a tackle that turned ugly

How about some bananas then?

LOL had to mine it for sures hahahaha - typo edited

That tinnie will get you around to some decent spots for a flick at the flatties, will be good being able to be walk around barefoot on the seadeck.

Instant coffee? or one of those fancy portable / camping Nespresso devices? https://www.tentworld.com.au/buy-sale/wacaco-minipresso-ns-nespresso

I still have the ticket stubbs from the 2006 broncos premiership, where i made a last minute dash to sydney at some crazy dollars to attend the GF. #bestdecision. Who knew there would be a dry spell in between premiership rings

Paint Job - Area prep and etch primer 30min + 15m + 15m (2 x topcoat) = 1 hr Female plug - Hole saw, debur, sikaflex, ciruit breaker inline, solder the wire joins, crimp lugs to battery connection = 1.5hr Male plug (to trolling motor) - Solder the wire joins, heatshrink, flexible hosing = 30 mins Heading sensor - Install to roof hard top (screw and sika), 3m wire run to 12v source, flexible hosing for wires exposed to UV, wire to bus bar / fuses = 1hr Pair / test heading and trolling motor - 10 mins Give or take 4hrs with a lot of slacking around on the job / smoko breaks. I had all parts purchased or ready before the install. Wiring was just from scrap 8awg i had lying around / hoarded waiting for a use so I saved some money there. All up just on $5.1k for a complete ulterra trolling setup. (2nd hand motor, el cheapo lithium, bow mount and consumables (paint, wiring, circuit breakers, plugs, lugs)

Welcome @Kracken93 I look forward to seeing some epic catches of reds

Great write-up sounded like some crazy weather conditions but glad you pushed through and had some epic tailor sessions. A fish a cast!. How good is it have a campsite all to yourselves as well! That guarantees your fav spot too

Thanks @Andrew_P yeah i ended up just hard wiring the heading sensor to the boats 12v battery that is wired to all the other electrics. Like you say the heading sensor will remain powered but not "ON". If i really wanted to I could have wired to a switch but that would be annoying each time i want to use the trolling motor to have to switch on. I went 24v LifePo4 100ah battery so this is completely separate from the main dual batteries I cheapped out on a no name LiFePo4 but at 27kg in total i wanted the weight saving and be able to draw down ~80% capacity compared to AGM. Will post how I go with the battery after a few cycles. Brand name like Invicta batteries with 7 year warrant on Lithium was just too expensive to try. I did install with a fuse as I had a spare Blade slot on the bus bar and at $1.10 from jaycar for the blade fuse it is cheap insurance for any shorts damaging the heading sensor or risk of fire (however small that risk is). I've played around with 12V in cars a long time and shorts breaking fuses have saved me more than a few times.

That's a solid days driving I'm probably only comfortable driving half that in a day. Did you take it in turns with Mrs Drop bear? Good plan with the cabin as last thing after a long drive is trying to setup camp in the dark. You do like your oysters What did you say to Mrs Drop bear to make her get of the car and for you reverse the hell away Awesome that you were able to snap a cassowary in the wild on the side of the road like that too! Really lucky, we stayed in the daintree area for a few days last year but none spotted in the wild.

Paint job done - not the best with some of the grinder swirls still visible but does the job ****************** Quick connect socket - Drilling a hole into your boat regardless of location is always unnerving. The socket was an atwood (amazon) brand rated for 60Amp. Decided to use this instead of Andersen plugs that are only 50 Amp and not really suited for salty / marine exposure. Max current draw was 56 Amp on the Minn Kota so the Andersen plugs would have been under rated Sikaflex used to seal the hole and keep water out (overkill) ***************************** This is inside the cab on the other side where there is cabin shelf/storage. I ran 8AWG for a short 1.5m run to the battery stored under the bunks. ******************************* In-line circuit breaker was a simple addition to the positive line. 60Amp rating with manual reset. Overall rating for the job - Simple. I didn't take any photos of the heading sensor install - hard wired / fused to 12v to the console back panel. The installation manual did not have any specific requirements for switches or triggers.

I have the 24v version whilst the heading sensor is 12v so that wasn't an option.

Interesting for sure - What does an oyster larvae look like and how do the control where they swim towards?

Predicting the future? . There is still time to change that donut day future 31/08/22 How was the water clarity / silt?

When you look at the likely finals candidates. I think they are a real chance of making the GF/Big dance. And once you are in the final you have a 50/50 chance to convert it into a premiership. All it takes is one Ben Hunt drop ball and they can be premiers again.

Why do I fish? I can think of a few things: 1) To replicate that high or feeling of ecstasy when you feel the bite on the rod tip change from a nibble to loading up and a reel screaming. 2) Not one day fishing is ever the same, each time is something different or new. 3) It's time away from a desk (Mon-Fri) on the water, back to nature, no time for a phone when you are holding onto a rod 4) A good days fishing is topped off by a feed so fresh that money can't buy and it taps into that primal need to "hunt and gather" Cons: 1) The missus outfishes me 9 times out of 10 - so i get to hear about that everyday until the next time we fish 2) There is a fair bit of prep/cleanup involved especially when boat fishing. 3) It's getting more costly as a hobbie once you go down the rabbit hole of boats, fuel, gear, gadgets, tools 4) Fishing requires/takes a lot of spare time (it's not a short/quick activity)

Love the with sunrise photos and glassed water in the background

What model did you get this time around? (Thrust, shaft length, voltage). Did you go with a version with the GPS link?

I don't think there are any options...............if solo sailing auto pilot would be a must unless you wanted some sleep or hang at an anchorage every night. Less crazy people on the seas compared to our roads. and also less things to hit although we have all seen new stories of beacons / buoys being hit at night. Or you would be sleeping with a life vest on

The self steering wind vane will be a nice addition to the autopilot as well. Any pics of your electronics setup? Charts / Auto pilot / Radar / Fishfinder I'm an electronic gadget buff hahaha

I asked my NRL ref prospect. The soft whistle was a term phrased by the NRL to explain the Cowboys / Tigers debacle. It's not any actual thing in the referee trainee, he did however say the on field ref is supposed to check with with the touchies and confirm no infringements prior to blowing full time. The "soft whistle" is how the NRL explained what this pre-full time whistle "check" was.