McMurdo FastFind 220 GPS PLB A great bit of kit especially for the solo paddler

I've recently taken the plunge and bought myself one of these not cheap but could turn out to be the best £199 ever spent and knowing its there if I should need it is invaluable

Another item that I seem to carry but hope I never use

The full info here:

 

McMurdo's latest Fast Find PLB sets new standards in Personal Locator Beacon 406 MHz location technology and builds on the phenomenal success of the 210 with addional features. The Fast Find 220 is a potential life saver; it is extremely compact and will slip into the smallest pocket. You can set off in the most remote locations around the world, and be confident of being able to contact the world’s professional search and rescue services. Fast Find should be carried as a last resort safeguard against any life threatening incidents that may occur anywhere in the world.
Features of the 220 PLB:

New 6 year battery life

New contemporary styling

New Retro reflective float pouch included as standard

New lanyard and universal carry pouch included as standard

New smaller box

Protected antenna

GPS as standard across the range

No Subscription and no call charges

Out with some fine company 21/10/2012

Had a trip out from Marske today and was joined by Chris and Phil from the North West and Nigel and David from Halifax also Mark joined me who lives locally but was keen to land his first Ray I couldn’t promise this but would put him in the right area Nigel was easier to keep happy he wanted a Flounder and knew I could almost guarantee him one of these

 

 

 

 

Once out on the water we paddled out to one of my marks that has produced Ray for me before and anchored up it was slow going to say the least and as I started to fear that the lads who had travelled were becoming a bit disappointed I was relieved to see Chris lift a nice Thornie aboard so I slipped anchor and paddled over to photograph and weigh it pulling the scales round to 11lb 6oz the pressure was starting to lift now

 

 

Unfortunately the rest of the session was to be made up of very small whiting and small flatfish

 

 

 

Mission accomplished for Nigel bagging many Flounders

 

 

as the fishing was slow myself Chris and Phil spent a few hours messing in the surf which was great fun today a great day with good friends

Got to test out Chris’s Pro Fisha 575 in the waves wish I had a bigger garage to store one in but might have to invest in a Pro fisha 475 soon!

 

First Fishing trip out in the new ‘Stealth’ 13/10/2012

Managed a trip out today on the new Yak and gave it a thorough test launching and landing in some big powerful surf very pleased with how it performs also got to test the anchor trolley out and it sat quite well at anchor a bit noisy but expected with the shape of the stern slapping against the chop need to fit a cleat to lock it off as it did creep slowly which would have led to becoming side on to the tide but this can be easily rectified

 

 

 

Fish were plentiful but mainly small flatfish and whiting but I did hook and then loose a decent Thornback Ray gutted would have been nice to christen the yak with a good Thornie but never mind maybe next time

 

 

 

 

 

The kayak has grown on me a lot now I have managed to sort out the foot pedal position and paddles faster than I have given it credit for and up to now handles the rough stuff very well  

Stealth Supalite X 1st outing

 

 

I picked up my new Kayak this week it’s a Stealth Supalite X which is looking like it will be great for when the surf kicks up a bit still lots of rigging to be done and a proper review once I have managed to get out a few times and tested it out a bit more.

 

 

But initial thoughts are very good massive fish hatch and plenty of other storage excellent riding the waves in still need to figure out if I can move the footrests to make it fit a bit better and managed plenty of self rescues even in the deepwater surf without any problems.

 

Some pics for now

 

Back in search of Pollock 04/10/2012

Today I headed back out for a session trolling for Pollock around the scaur edges but a combination of big seas and a lot of rain the previous week meant the water was still coloured making the lure fishing slow,after a good paddle about I got a take which failed to hook up but at least I knew something could spot the lures in the coloured conditions.

 

With only a few small taps over the next hour I was surprised when the rod whacked around and line started to peel off the reel at first I thought I had snagged bottom but when the drag started screaming a lot faster than I was moving it was obvious it was a fish heading for the Kelp after struggling to get the rod out of the holder for a while I leaned into the fish but it was well and truly “Kelped” but after reeeling myself towards it and putting pressuere on from directly above I soon had a nice Pollock in the net

 

4lb 1oz

 

Unfortunately that was the only action of the day so landed on an exposed scaur for a rest and managed a few snaps of the local wildlife was good seeing good numbers of Eider ducks amongst the Oystercatchers and Shag’s

 

 

Slow fishing but great to be out again!