So what did you do with your boat today?

[sardinella]

Very nice, now to get out there and catch a few big ones.

[bassbug]

Very nice, now to get out there and catch a few big ones.

thank you Sardinella, first attempt mid november at vidal didnt happen, oceans was a tad wild for my liking, gonna give it a a good go last week of december, south coast.

[LGF]

  Congrats Bud.

[bassbug]

Very nice, now to get out there and catch a few big ones.

initiation done

[John F]

Very nice, now to get out there and catch a few big ones.

initiation done

Well done

[sebatiaanc]

Well done.

[colin]

 

[John F]

The springs on my trailer gave up their ghost so early in the morning I put the boat in the water and called the welder. The sea looked perfect so I decided to take a ride... the boat was in the water already so had a short 4h session inside the bay... ended up with a barracuda (about 6 kg) and two rat couta... lost quite a few more...

[Serra Moz]

Cool Marcos, inside the bay, where abouts mate?

[John F]

From Baixo Ribeiro to Cockburn...

[FishStyx]

Loading my boat on New Year's day, I noticed there were some weird looking marks on the inside of the rims. They looked and felt suspiciously like grease sprayed out from the hubs. Home is only a few ks from the dam so I towed home without stressing too much.


I jacked the trailer up and felt the movement on the wheels last week. There was significant play. So I took off the hubs and to my horror, the bearings were trashed.


I used to be very good about not getting my hubs under water when launching and trailering in the 5 odd years since I built it, but the last year or so, I became a bit lazy and have been going in deeper. The corrosion in the bearings was very evident. One of them lost all of the rollers from their cage as I took it out. It was also very evident that the grease had become quite water contaminated. Inside the dust caps, there was a bit of "clean" grease, but all the other grease was rust coloured.


I'm not sure if better quality axles have superior seal machining, but my Burquip axle certainly did not keep water out. So folks... If you're going in deep, clean up and re-grease EVERY year... And if you're going into salt water, probably every 6 months.


Second pic shows the marks (tho this was the better wheel, I'd already cleaned the bad one before thinking to take a pic) and the first pic... I decided to go with corrosion block grease in the new bearings.

[dugong]

I've replaced those 30205 bearings on mine and mates trailers more times than I can remember, if they are greased properly and installed with new seals every time they should last 4-5 years - not to say the annual checking must be forgotten - I was shocked when I checked the bearings on my new trailer, the greasing was so badly done that I doubt they would have lasted six months!!
Removed, cleaned, dried and repacked and they were good to go - I replaced one that had become a bit 'scratchy' after three years and the other after four, I will be replacing them both as a precaution soon but the last time I checked they were still solid.

[FishStyx]

Ja, mine were pitted to hell and back... A definite replacement. But I'm on a schedule now... End of June every year, open up, clean and repack with grease.

[stephenrplumb]

Hmm, as a vaalie I somehow think we are worse as out boats tend to stand between uses for a long time and then take long runs to wherever we are going. For the guys based at the coast you may just be moving the boat from a shed to the water, or taking it a few km's to the sea.


I have spent time on the roadside too often with a knackered trailer. With our old Dam boat (classic 170) which i dragged all over the country, I had issues both before and after kosi bay which necessitated some quality time spent at Piet Retief. Barely made it back from PE, and ditto from Knysna, then had the same thing with my rubber duck coming back from Dbn.


It has got a lot better since I try and get as little trailer near the water as possible now, and if at all possible don't get the brakes/hubs anywhere near the water, but I got into the habit of replacing bearings and seals after every trip (We only go down 2-3 times a year.)


I have recently purchased an Ace Glider 530  and had issues with the trailer brakes locking up on the beach. Plenty of Q20, and some grease later and some new bearings and it was good as new. Going to be down soon and will tackle the other side while I am in Dbn. I would also say that tyres and springs are a big issue, and should not be left too long. Again, not really fun trying to source leaf springs or similar in a small town on the way to the coast. Better to bite the bullet and have one less thing to worry about.


For the coastal guys these issues are less onerous, but my last tyre issues was at 04h30 in the metropolis of Ermelo. I had a spare pumped to pressure so was back running again in 5 mins, but at my usual Piet Retief stop, I changed out all the tyres.


I will also be doing some welding on my trailer as I found it did not work well dropping the boat on the beach as some items from the trailer smacked the boat. I have ground off the offending parts, but will be reattaching them as soon as I am back in town as we will be dragging the old girl up to Jozini. Will also be trying to get the electronics working properly as my radio is not picking up location from the GPS unit and motors are not talking properly to the GPS.


Will only get down next week and fear I may have missed the last of the summer fish if the weather up here is anything to go by?

[John F]

Well, after about 2 weeks, I went to the club today to get some tools and make sure that I still have a boat and tackle.

Looked at the boat and had a bump in my heart-beat... Looked a bit more and simply spent a minute there... enjoying the moment. Promised that I'll be back tomorrow to start the motors and give him a shower. Haven't started the zukes in 2 months!!! Totally unacceptable!!!

Damn you SARS-Cov-2!!!!!

[Serra Moz]

Well, after about 2 weeks, I went to the club today to get some tools and make sure that I still have a boat and tackle.

Looked at the boat and had a bump in my heart-beat... Looked a bit more and simply spent a minute there... enjoying the moment. Promised that I'll be back tomorrow to start the motors and give him a shower. Haven't started the zukes in 2 months!!! Totally unacceptable!!!

Damn you SARS-Cov-2!!!!!

At least, you got to see your toys... Me, stuck in West Africa.... at sea, but no boat.... Keep safe !!

[FishStyx]

Great to see this thread again... I'll be putting some stuff on it in a day or so. I'm fortunate enough to have my boats with me and a lot of time in hand to do some work in them 

[MIKE PIKE]

Yip also been tinkering round on the boat just minor stuff thats been bugging me and things to improve on  when out on the water , which i was planning to do in June when on leave ... but guess thats on hold for now ...