MattInOz

I presume you’re not sleeping in your boat whilst reef  fishing ? If sleeping I prefer to use a plough of some sort and drop it on a sandy patch and set the anchor alarm. 
If just shallow reef fishing , I suggest just  using a  lead filled 5 pronged reef pick with about 3 m of  6 or 8mm chain  with some 10 mm silver rope and pull it up with a ball when your on reef . ( The 10mm rope is softer to use  on your hands than 8mm) This can be all stowed in a fish bin and taken out your boat when your not planning on anchoring on rock or reef. 
Keep your expensive Manson anchors for sand and mud for which they are designed .
Have a look at a Sarca  , they’re cheaper than the Mansons and have a slide shackle set up. They are bigger and may or may not suit your setup.
 
Regards
Neil

It is with a heavy heart that I tell the tale of a long lasting friendship that ended on Friday.
It was about 1982 I was introduced to GT270 and we became inseparable for nearly 43 years.
I dressed it up with all the nicest of accompaniments over those years and it served me well with many fine encounters of being triumphant.
Sadly on Friday it threw a tanty with the grinners around Mud...what a terrible way to go....topped itself about shoulder height is a most unexpected way...what a disgraceful way to go after being such a champion for so many decades.
Now standing in the corner with all the other dis-used, abused and broken, like a naughty child told to stand in the corner facing the wall....not a whimper at all.
Thank you Mr SnyderGlas for creating my prototype friend, he was an outstanding comrade for so very long.
My initial thoughts were disbelief and a hollow sense that grows within....thoughts of finding a suitable replacement to fill the void and then the realisation that nothing else could fulfill the spot in the rack.
To be honest, i don't think I could develop that amount of trust into something I could buy today...pure graphite just does not have the personality or the toughness of glass and graphite blends.
Anyway, enough of the dwelling on loss and time to regale the stories from Friday....6am launch....live baits by 6.15am....Mud at 6.25am.....Bloody bastard grinners within seconds ad they didn't stop.
So After several spot changes I found ourselves well east of Mud on a rubble patch i had not previously encountered in 12m of water. 1st cast was a small squire, then a few grinners....retie the leader and cast out again only to feel another grinner on the bait....ripped the bait away from it harshly and BANG...huge hit and peeled 30 odd metres from the reel then all became slack...reeled it in to find a lot of grinner teeth marks on the last 40mm of leader...dirty little shytes.
Oh well....came back to the rock wall and the water was filthy so went to the tripods for a quick look..not much there but in crossing the channel i spotted a school of jew so spent the next 30 minutes trying to coax some interest out of them....I left them sleeping and quietly motored away, defeated once more.
Into the river!!!!  I don't know why i got excited then, the high light was the biggest flounder I have caught in 30 years, and a couple of jumbo bream in the kilo class....snapper flathead and jew we encountered were all wearing nappies....
I ended the day with a leisurely drive from Pinkenba to Petrie that took 1.45 hours in the Friday afternoon Gateway traffic....so relaxing indeed.

3 metres of 8mm will be sufficient.
I run that on a 4.7m ally runabout with a 4kg sand anchor or reef anchor. Never had any problems with the reef anchor pulling or the chain getting stuck. I wouldn't go rope to anchor, as rope has some buoyancy, so your anchor may not set properly. Also there is the risk of the rope wearing through on reef.
Anchor socks are great, but the drawback is they collect and hold sediment.

I have a 6m plate boat that is heavy. 
I use 10m of 8mm gal chain. 
Always use reef anchors and never had to cut one off. 
It will even hold in that silty mud in the Brisbane River. 
Occasionally it will not hold, but only in really strong, full moon type currents. 
Reset and it is normally all okay. 
 
 

I've used both the boat wash and the engine flush. I can say for sure the boat wash works, but it's expensive so I switched to a 4x4 "after beach wash" that, while it doesn't do as good a job, is a ton cheaper and for a beat up fishing boat I'm not that concerned about appearance. I still use their engine flush religiously though. I didn't get their expensive "captain's musket" thing... I bought exactly the same thing in a cheaper brand on special from Anaconda.
If you have a pretty new boat and want to keep it looking flash by all means use the Salty Captain products... they do work. Just comparing the cover on my outboard after washing with "salty captain" compared to the 4x4 wash shows a significant difference in salt spotting on the black surface once it all dries.

I've used both the boat wash and the engine flush. I can say for sure the boat wash works, but it's expensive so I switched to a 4x4 "after beach wash" that, while it doesn't do as good a job, is a ton cheaper and for a beat up fishing boat I'm not that concerned about appearance. I still use their engine flush religiously though. I didn't get their expensive "captain's musket" thing... I bought exactly the same thing in a cheaper brand on special from Anaconda.
If you have a pretty new boat and want to keep it looking flash by all means use the Salty Captain products... they do work. Just comparing the cover on my outboard after washing with "salty captain" compared to the 4x4 wash shows a significant difference in salt spotting on the black surface once it all dries.

I've used both the boat wash and the engine flush. I can say for sure the boat wash works, but it's expensive so I switched to a 4x4 "after beach wash" that, while it doesn't do as good a job, is a ton cheaper and for a beat up fishing boat I'm not that concerned about appearance. I still use their engine flush religiously though. I didn't get their expensive "captain's musket" thing... I bought exactly the same thing in a cheaper brand on special from Anaconda.
If you have a pretty new boat and want to keep it looking flash by all means use the Salty Captain products... they do work. Just comparing the cover on my outboard after washing with "salty captain" compared to the 4x4 wash shows a significant difference in salt spotting on the black surface once it all dries.

If i fish central to north qld I always set the last fishing day in one of the dams.....give it a good sloshing at the end of the day and throw 20 buckets in the hull and run the bilge pump back to the ramp.
Just another job you don't have to do when you get home.
For many years I would flush out at Youngs Crossing before they added all of those bollards.

Funny, there's a 2007 (I think) Yammy 60 with the same problem listed for $2.5K on gumtree that I was very tempted to spring for and have a go at fixing as an upgrade from my 1999 40HP Merc. Thought it might have been yours at first but you fixed it, so no.

Best idea I've heard all week... thanks. 🙂

@MattInOz  No - Membership will no longer be required once Marine Rescue QLD is fulling implemented / operational.
From their FAQs Frequently Asked Questions (vision6.com.au)
Will Marine Rescue Queensland charge users for services?

Providing marine assistance to persons or vessels in difficulty or distress will be a core function of Marine Rescue Queensland. This means that MRQ will not be charging for these services. 

The rescued party may choose to make a donation to MRQ as a subsequent action, however the request or requirement for donation is not tied to the on-water response. Where someone chooses to make a donation, that donation can be directed to their local unit or to Marine Rescue Queensland.

Mate of mine did a trip up to Pancake Creek and on way home drove into Monduran Dam reversed down the ramp.  A guy was yelling at him about not having undone the straps…he laughed and said he was just flushing trailer and motor with fresh water.  Not sure if its bad etiquette but its only around the corner from Turkey Beach relatively so you could always stop for a quick fresh water fish on the way home and run it with some fresh water.

Definitely don't recommend that link as it is way over the top pricing.
But that's just so you get the idea  as an option. I'm sure bunnings would have something you could use for probs less than $10 hahaha

The answer to your question is another two questions: Are the batteries charging to 100% during the day, and are they discharging to below a usable voltage with normal use overnight? A volt meter will answer the question for you... a lead acid battery at full charge will read just under 14 volts, and once below about 11 volts it'll probably be too discharged for your fridge. If your batteries are not charging completely you need a bigger solar panel, and if they're charging to 100% during the day and discharging too quickly at night you need bigger batteries (or possibly just new ones, get them load tested).
Of course, putting bigger batteries in might also require bigger solar panels to charge them too... have to suck it and see. If your current batteries are already at 100% by say 11am you can probably afford to put a bigger battery on it but if they struggle to get to 100% by say 4pm a bigger battery will require a bigger panel.
As for the type of battery, a deep cycle battery is specifically designed to be fully discharged and charged repeatedly, while a cranking battery is designed for the heavy, brief load of a starter motor and then immediately recharged by the alternator. If replacing your house batteries you want deep cycle (or dual use) ones ideally.

The answer to your question is another two questions: Are the batteries charging to 100% during the day, and are they discharging to below a usable voltage with normal use overnight? A volt meter will answer the question for you... a lead acid battery at full charge will read just under 14 volts, and once below about 11 volts it'll probably be too discharged for your fridge. If your batteries are not charging completely you need a bigger solar panel, and if they're charging to 100% during the day and discharging too quickly at night you need bigger batteries (or possibly just new ones, get them load tested).
Of course, putting bigger batteries in might also require bigger solar panels to charge them too... have to suck it and see. If your current batteries are already at 100% by say 11am you can probably afford to put a bigger battery on it but if they struggle to get to 100% by say 4pm a bigger battery will require a bigger panel.
As for the type of battery, a deep cycle battery is specifically designed to be fully discharged and charged repeatedly, while a cranking battery is designed for the heavy, brief load of a starter motor and then immediately recharged by the alternator. If replacing your house batteries you want deep cycle (or dual use) ones ideally.

Nice idea, but ridiculously expensive. Think I'd just get a plastic garbage bin and cut it to suit instead. Suppose I could do that and put 3-4 jerry cans of water in the ute... fill them up in Gin Gin or somewhere else close by to save carting water all the way from Brisbane. Still, as Huxstang pointed out it's probably not worth it if I'll be using the boat daily, just do it when I get back.

The answer to your question is another two questions: Are the batteries charging to 100% during the day, and are they discharging to below a usable voltage with normal use overnight? A volt meter will answer the question for you... a lead acid battery at full charge will read just under 14 volts, and once below about 11 volts it'll probably be too discharged for your fridge. If your batteries are not charging completely you need a bigger solar panel, and if they're charging to 100% during the day and discharging too quickly at night you need bigger batteries (or possibly just new ones, get them load tested).
Of course, putting bigger batteries in might also require bigger solar panels to charge them too... have to suck it and see. If your current batteries are already at 100% by say 11am you can probably afford to put a bigger battery on it but if they struggle to get to 100% by say 4pm a bigger battery will require a bigger panel.
As for the type of battery, a deep cycle battery is specifically designed to be fully discharged and charged repeatedly, while a cranking battery is designed for the heavy, brief load of a starter motor and then immediately recharged by the alternator. If replacing your house batteries you want deep cycle (or dual use) ones ideally.

The answer to your question is another two questions: Are the batteries charging to 100% during the day, and are they discharging to below a usable voltage with normal use overnight? A volt meter will answer the question for you... a lead acid battery at full charge will read just under 14 volts, and once below about 11 volts it'll probably be too discharged for your fridge. If your batteries are not charging completely you need a bigger solar panel, and if they're charging to 100% during the day and discharging too quickly at night you need bigger batteries (or possibly just new ones, get them load tested).
Of course, putting bigger batteries in might also require bigger solar panels to charge them too... have to suck it and see. If your current batteries are already at 100% by say 11am you can probably afford to put a bigger battery on it but if they struggle to get to 100% by say 4pm a bigger battery will require a bigger panel.
As for the type of battery, a deep cycle battery is specifically designed to be fully discharged and charged repeatedly, while a cranking battery is designed for the heavy, brief load of a starter motor and then immediately recharged by the alternator. If replacing your house batteries you want deep cycle (or dual use) ones ideally.

The obvious suggestion is have you checked the fuses, and are you 100% certain they're connected correctly? Looked for damaged wires? (I'm sure you've checked it half a dozen times, but it's gotta be asked). If nothing's working it suggests a bad power supply or eath return... if you have a test light or multimeter find out which connections are +12v and -12v and make sure they're working correctly.

Thanks for the input guys... think I'll save my money and just keep tieing up to the rails. 🙂

Thanks guys, you've set my mind at ease. I tend to get a bit OCD about things like this.

Yep... just when you the boat's perfect and there's nothing else to do some other shiny toy (usually with a 4 figure pricetag) suddenly seems absolutely essential. Oh well, everybody needs a hobby. 🙂

From my time as a mechanic working on old Minis, MGs, Rovers etc I can confirm this. Spending money on octane levels higher than your engine is designed to use is just throwing money away. The fuel companies will argue that they put in detergents etc to help "clean your engine" but realistically all that would do is take up space in the combustion chamber with something that's not producing power and actually lower your output. Of course if your engine's designed to use 95 or 98 RON you should use that, but the majority are not.
One caveat though is if you're using 91RON (or 94, depending on the brand) be very sure not to use fuel with ethanol in it. Not because it would do any damage (it won't assuming your motor's less than 30 years old) but because ethanol is hygroscopic... ie: it absorbs moisture from the air. This isn't a real problem with cars under normal use, but with boats it's inviting water contamination in the tank.

From my time as a mechanic working on old Minis, MGs, Rovers etc I can confirm this. Spending money on octane levels higher than your engine is designed to use is just throwing money away. The fuel companies will argue that they put in detergents etc to help "clean your engine" but realistically all that would do is take up space in the combustion chamber with something that's not producing power and actually lower your output. Of course if your engine's designed to use 95 or 98 RON you should use that, but the majority are not.
One caveat though is if you're using 91RON (or 94, depending on the brand) be very sure not to use fuel with ethanol in it. Not because it would do any damage (it won't assuming your motor's less than 30 years old) but because ethanol is hygroscopic... ie: it absorbs moisture from the air. This isn't a real problem with cars under normal use, but with boats it's inviting water contamination in the tank.

From my time as a mechanic working on old Minis, MGs, Rovers etc I can confirm this. Spending money on octane levels higher than your engine is designed to use is just throwing money away. The fuel companies will argue that they put in detergents etc to help "clean your engine" but realistically all that would do is take up space in the combustion chamber with something that's not producing power and actually lower your output. Of course if your engine's designed to use 95 or 98 RON you should use that, but the majority are not.
One caveat though is if you're using 91RON (or 94, depending on the brand) be very sure not to use fuel with ethanol in it. Not because it would do any damage (it won't assuming your motor's less than 30 years old) but because ethanol is hygroscopic... ie: it absorbs moisture from the air. This isn't a real problem with cars under normal use, but with boats it's inviting water contamination in the tank.