King George Whiting

I have been spending the last few days sorting through some of my GoPro footage and found these. The first is a perfect example of the body posture a King George Whiting adopts just before it bolts. Notice the position of the tail relative to the body at the 53 second mark. King George Whiting are notoriously hard to get close to, and for me the best angle is from directly above. When chasing Whiting I like to use a 1200 Rail Gun fitted with a reel and a single 20mm band and a 5/16" shaft with a 6 barb Pranger . I find this combination to be the ideal length for maneuverability, yet it can still handle most chance encounters with larger fish such as Western Australian Dhufish that often favor the same ground as King George Whiting. I find the ideal water depth to be around 12 meters as this allows me to see the fish but still be far enough away that the fish is not aware of you.

The second is an example of how hard these fish can be to spot over the sand, I often see a give away shadow before I can make out the actual fish.

Last Weeks Crayfish.

 I finally got around to editing the Go Pro footage from last weeks day out catching Crayfish with Will.
There were some big ones around if you looked hard enough, I ended up with 6 and Will with 5, not a bad effort for 2 hours diving.

How NOT to lose your boat.

While I am waiting for my boat to be completed I have been making up all sorts of things and getting my gear ready for the coming diving season. A new anchor and rope was one of the things that I needed to prepare. If you have ever had to swim after a drifting boat or worse still lost one you will know how important this piece of equipment is. The type and size of Anchor and size and length of chain you use critical as it is the weight of chain that sets the Anchor,  you should always follow professional advise on what type and size Anchor, Chain and Rope you purchase. The first 5 meters or so of rope is the most vulnerable as it connects to the chain and is therefore close to the bottom. So with that in mind and considering as divers we often anchor on reef that can damage our anchor rope here is a run through of how I prepare a new anchor rope.

Step 1. Purchase about 5 meters of clear tubing with an internal diameter
a little larger than your Anchor Rope. Then using an electricians fish tape
or similar tool pull the rope through the tubing.

Step 2. When you have pulled the tubing down the length of your rope
and reach the Eye, carefully split the tubing to a length of a little over
twice the length of the splice and Eye.

Step 2a. When splitting the tube be very careful not to cut yourself or the
 Anchor Rope and always cut away from your body.

Step 3. Pull the splice up to the end of the split and trim a section as shown
 to go around the Eye.

Step 4. Wrap the tubing around the Eye and then back over itself up
past the splice.

Step 5. Tie a couple of constrictor knots with some strong cord
 ( see tying Spear gun rubber tutorial) to secure the tubing in place.
You can use Monel wire and twist it if you like  I just prefer cord as the
ends don't rip up your gloves or hands.

Step 6. Tie some more constrictor knots at intervals along the length of the
 tubing to secure it in place. 

Step 7. Tie a constrictor knot on the other end of the tubing.
 ( this step is not required I do it just to keep things looking neat).

Step 8. Now you can secure your Anchor Chain with a Bow Shackle,
be sure to tighten the Shackle Pin with a spanner .

Step 9. Now using some Galvanized or Monel wire. secure the Shackle Pin
so there is no chance of it working loose.

Step 9. Close up detail.

Step 10. Trim the wire and bend the ends over so they will not tear your hands
of gloves when you are handling the Anchor in future.

You are now ready to use your new Anchor rope safe in the knowledge that it will not easily chafe through on the reef. Once again seek professional advise on the Anchor set up for your specific type of vessel and local conditions.

Crimping New Mono to a Spear Shaft.

Step 1. Get together all the required parts, Mono, 2 x Crimps, Crimping tool,
Snips to cut mono and a lighter.

Step 2. Thread the mono through one side of a Crimp.

Step 3.  Thread the Mono through the hole in the end of the Spear Shaft.

Step 4. Thread the mono through the other side of the Crimp

Step 5. Place the Spear Shaft in the Spear Gun and check the Shaft can fully
engage the trigger without the Crimp interfering. Adjust the position of the
Crimp if needed.

Step 6. Using lighter carefully melt the end of the mono into a mushroom
shape taking extreme care not to damage any other section of the mono*.
*See note at end of instructions.

Step 7. Using the crimping tool compress the Crimp as shown, do not compress the crimps right on the ends this will damage the mono.

Step 9. The completed Crimp should look like this.

Step 10. measure off the required amount of Mono and cut.

Step 11. Thread the mono through one side of a Crimp then back through
 the other side to form a loop.

Step 12  Using lighter carefully melt the end of the mono into a mushroom
shape taking extreme care not to damage any other section of the mono*.
*See note at end of instructions.
Then using the crimping tool compress the Crimp as shown, do not
 compress the crimps right on the ends this will damage the mono.

Step 13. The completed loop and Crimp should look like this.

Step 14. Using the Clip on the end of your reel line or Muzzle bungee
attach the mono loop.

*Note. There is debate about the practice of melting the mono end prior to crimping, I do it but others may not. Some claim it can weaken the mono however I cannot attest to the validity of this claim. Although I have never had mono fail through the practice of melting the ends prior to crimping, I leave the choice to melt or not up to you.

Baja Cabrilla

Footage of a nice sized Cabrilla captured in the Sea of Cortez Baja California Mexico in July 2012, filmed with Mask mounted GoPro camera and captured using a Rob Allen signature 1400 carbon Rail gun.

A short clip from a Winter trip north.

Mulloway and Spangled Emperor taken with a Rob Allen 1500 "Zulu" carbon Rail gun and filmed with a mask mounted GoPro Camera.

How to attach a GoPro to your Mask

Below is a short pictorial of how I have attached my GoPro to my mask, I am working on other GoPro mounts and will post them when they are complete.



Step 1. Find a mask that fits you and has a reasonably flat and wide frame.
Cut and file a GoPro mount to fit the profile of the frame and glue in place.
Be sure to clean and prime both surfaces to ensure a strong bond. Use a top
quality adhesive such as Locktite 406.

 

Step 2. Position the mount and glue in place.

 

Step 3. Align the lens with the glass in the mask this will
ensure the camera sees the same things as you.

Step 4. You may want to attach a small safety lanyard to the camera for extra
 security.

Step By step pictorial guide to tying Speargun Rubbers.

Step 1. Make a loop with a simple overhand knot and seal the ends.

Step 2. Using a pair of pliers insert the knot into the hole in the
 rubber, some lubricant such as KY will help.

Step 3. Begin to tie a constrictor knot.

Step 4. A half formed constrictor knot.

Step 5. A fully formed constrictor knot.

Step 6. Begin to tighten the knot, you may need assistance with
this step.

Step 7. A fully formed and tightened knot.

Step 8. trim and seal the ends of the cord.

 

Step 9. Attach a Bridle/ Wishbone cord.

Step 10. As you can see the Bridle can be changed with ease
if it becomes worn, also the complete rubber can be replaced
with a handy pre-made spare should it be damaged or break.

Building a New Boat

Over the last 3 months I have been building a new boat, I wanted a good strong seaworthy hull that is not too heavy. After a lot of looking around I chose to have a hull made by GKS Fiberglass.
I talked to them regarding my specifications and settled on a 17.5ft Center Console with a pod for the motor, I also wanted underfloor storage and a big 150lt fuel tank. I had them fit racks for my Spearguns to keep them safely off the deck, and drop the back half of the topdeck by 100mm to make it easier to get into from the water. The first step was to get a hull laid up.






My hull laid up in the mold

After being removed from the mold the box section ribbing was made up and glassed in, I had them divide the center section into 2 parts. The forward section for the fuel tank and rear section for storage.


Box section fitted and glassed in.



Deep "V" and flared Bow.

After the Box section was glassed in the hull was removed from the mold. The floor was them made up along with the console, the deck and the floor hatches.



Floor being trimmed to fit.

The floor was then fitted and glassed down, then the deck was fitted and glassed in place.



Floor and deck glassed in place.

 The console was then fitted and the floor marked so the console could be glassed down at a later date. This is done so there is plenty of room to move when finnishing the other work.

Console in place for marking.

The Motor Pod was then made fitted as was the Marlin board.

Pod and Marlin board in place.



Side profile of my boat, the console still needs to be fitted.

 The boat was coming together nicely all that was needed was to organise a Motor and Trailer. For the motor I chose a 115hp Yamaha 2stroke. The trailer was built by John Papas Trailers and is a tandem Axle, combined Multi/ Keel roller trailer.

Trailer in the front yard ready for the new boat.





I have chosen to fit Hydraulic steering, Binacle throttle controls and electronic gauges, a VHF Marine radio and a compass will also be fitted. At a later date I will add a GPS/Sounder combo but for the moment I will just run a hand held GPS and a basic Sounder.

In early December I picked the boat up from GKS and took it to have the motor fitted at Magnum Boating in Wangarra.

The completed hull leaving the MAnufacturers.

 Once the motor was fitted I had the boat fitted with a Hull Identification Number then came the process of and registration and insurance. With a short stop at home for some photos.



My completed hull ready for a water test.

3/1/2013
Now the Boat is complete and fully registered and insured it is time for a water test which is scheduled for today.

5/1/2013
Well the test went well with the exception of a strong South Westerly messing things up a little, we hit 40 knots at 5000rpm and about 2/3 throttle, though we didn't get enough of a run to gauge the fuel consumption. There was still plenty of grunt left in it so it should be good with a full load of fuel, divers and gear. I have fitted all the hatches and grab rails and the VHF Marine radio. We are headed out to Rottnest tomorrow so we will get a pretty good idea on the fuel consumption out of that trip.