Whats your all time favorite bit of gear you have fitted to your boat

[blaze]

sitting here wondering whats peoples all time favorite bit of gear they have fitted or use in there boat, after all the money we spend, we must have that special thing. For me it was probable my fuel flow meter.
cheers
blaze

[bigbrian47]

blaze for me the cleat on the gunnel to anchor from the side
probably the cheapest thing too
cheers brian

[peterreb]

My Raymarine 435I chartplotter & DX 500 sounder

[finga]

For me it the cook ;D
A bit expensive though :-/
But the benefits are excellent. ;D
She makes one mean cup of coffee and sao's with tomatoe and cheese ;D

On a non-living train of thought though I reckon the yabbie pump in the tinny and the GPS and sounder in the big boat. But that's gunna change soon 'cause it's gunna get a launcher and new soft top as soon as I get it up here.
That'll be my favourite for awhile until the novelty wears off then it'll be the sounder and GPS again.

[henryk]

my favourite bit of gear on my boat is my boat.
Bluefin 4.0m discovery runabout with a 30hp 2 stroke suzuki on the back and a simple navman 4431 sounder.
perfect for solo launching into the 'wonnie' at 6 am and then putting down into botany bay for a fish off doll's point. sometimes I might even turn left at the junction and head past the moons to just relax at alfords point.
I spent a long time dreaming about the right boat for what I needed and it suits me perfectly.

BTW I can get it back home and safe in the garage and still get to the office before 11, on the days that I need my 'fix'

sorry for not being more specific blaze, but as it's only a 13 footer i guess I can use some poetic license and call the whole boat a 'bit' of gear.

[charleville]

I have all the stuff that you would want on a little aluminium runabout :- hydraulic steering - really great :) ; GPS - "don't leave home without it!" :) ; Sounder - if nothing else it tells me how much rope I need on my crab-pots ;D ; downrigger - still not using this as much as I thought because of the shallow confines of Moreton Bay :-/ ; canopy - I wish that I had made it a bit higher :-/ ; the walkthrough windscreen - something that I tend to forget is there but I would not find boating anywhere near as comfortable if I did not have it :); fourstroke motor - Hmmmm - I like it - it is quiet and fuel usage is good but it cost a couple of thousand dollars more than a two stroke and servicing costs are a fair bit higher so I am not sure if it is an optimal solution on a small boat :-/ ; but the bestest, very best, absolute bestest thing on my boat is ..................


My sturdy aluminium bait-board. :)

The truth is that I don't use it as much as a baitboard these days as I am too lazy to stand-up and turn around to use it - preferring to use a cutting board sitting on top of my esky and using it when I am sitting down. However, because it is so solid (standard Quintrex baitboard) it has been the thing that I grab for when the weather is a bit rough when I am doing something out back. I always reckon that it will keep me from falling overboard when the seas are rough.

[PADDLES]

having a decent esky has got to be up there.

[STUIE63]

:D I would have to say the tacklebox i mounted in the boat it just means i have nothing on the floor of my boat. just open deck no clutter:D
Stuie

[gotya]

Would have to b my Deckie she's :gorgeous:. Doesn't cost much to run. Easy on the eye when the fish arn't bitting and the sun is shine'n. (amatta a fact she's the best thing on the eye) baits her self up and she can hook'em as well. But i have to get them off (she hasn't lernt that bit) although i keep show'in her!
It's worth taken the boat out and she catch's more than me.
Oh well apart from the miss's my esky 92 litres of TROPICAL BLISS.

[Runamuck]

My stubbie cooler then my rocket launchers

[whiteman]

unleaded petrol

[Black_Rat]

90 HP Mercury, it beats rowing a 17ft boat ;D

Seriously though, even though I didn't fit them Dual Batteries

[dogsbody]

A full floor sick of kicking those bloody ribs with them stupid half arsed floors that come with ya tinnie. Trace holder enclosed in a box bout 5 sizes and it holds the pliers as well. Got to have every thing in it's place in a tinnie.

Dave.

[leezor]

My new Zook, beats the hell out of getting smoked out by the old 2 smoke :)

[Mr__Bean]

Without doubt, the deckwash pump.

Best thing since sliced bread.

Just lean over and grab it, squeeze the trigger and wash away the blood and guts from the baitboard/floor/side of boat.

- Darren

[marty+jojo]

It would have to be my Minn Kota Rt55 bow mount with auto-pilot, it has improved my catch rate. Closely followed by my 85 litre eva-cool.

[NAGG]

Gotta be a leccy motor8-) 8-) 8-) ...... How did we fish estuaries with out them? .... NAGG

[bastard]

My 40 litre waeco

[chuss]

The anti-wife device...

Nothing beats a nice cold morning, relaxing on my boat, nothing but the wind in your hair, the noise of the ocean lapping up against the sides of the boat and fish coming on the bite..... MINUS THE MISSUS!

so secret to her not wanting to come along..... 5am departure.

[PinHead]

The anti-wife device...

Nothing beats a nice cold morning, relaxing on my boat, nothing but the wind in your hair, the noise of the ocean lapping up against the sides of the boat and fish coming on the bite..... MINUS THE MISSUS!

so secret to her not wanting to come along..... 5am departure.

if she is that bad..be a man..tell her you do not want her on the boat...if it is that bad..just yell her to pack her bags and get lost.

[DALEPRICE]

the para-shute anchor
turns the unfishable into fishable.
cheers dale

[yamp]

extra trim and tilt switch on gunnel, right hand side, for tiller steer honda 40 on 4m hornet really good for trim adjustment while moving along

[blaze]

the para-shute anchor
turns the unfishable into fishable.
cheers dale
know how ya feel about the old para anchor, fishing in a big swell the other day for about 1hr, next minute we were nearly surfing, broke the bloody rope to the para anchor. Lost to king neptune, tried to retrieve it but it sank before we could get to it. Have to put it on the buy list now.
cheers
blaze
ps
seems we love our electronics, how did we fish without them

[disorderly]

Blaze or dale,

How do you use the para-shute anchor?

Scott

[Fish Guts]

extra trim and tilt switch on gunnel, right hand side, for tiller steer honda 40 on 4m hornet really good for trim adjustment while moving along


i have never thought of that. great idea.

[blaze]

Blaze or dale,

How do you use the para-shute anchor?

Scott

Depending what you want the boat to do, if you want the bowe to stay into the sea, tie the anchor off the front bollard. I tie off about 20 foot of rope. More often than not I tie off on a rear cleat, depending on how you want the boat to drift to what side you tie it.
cheers
blaze
ps
a cheap version is a 2 gallon bucket, tie it off on a 20 foot rope and have a play and tie off in different places to see the effect. IMO never tie off onto the side of the boat, for and aft only

[kingtin]

In the tinny, my whatdjamakallit............keeps everything to hand and rods out of the way.

In/on the Whittley............the marlin board. Gives me extra space, can mount the stove on the bait board and gets me more astern of the deckie and kids ;D Oh! and hot water to hand is a great asset too, particularly as I have a penchant for handling happy moments ::)

Most useless...........and why Whittley did this is beyond me ::) ::) An underfloor livie tank that fills via a foot pump which has the annoying habit of popping up when you don't need it. Why would you want to pump your legs into oblivion when you can just fill it via the deck wash?

[disorderly]

Depending what you want the boat to do, if you want the bowe to stay into the sea, tie the anchor off the front bollard. I tie off about 20 foot of rope. More often than not I tie off on a rear cleat, depending on how you want the boat to drift to what side you tie it.
cheers
blaze
ps
a cheap version is a 2 gallon bucket, tie it off on a 20 foot rope and have a play and tie off in different places to see the effect. IMO never tie off onto the side of the boat, for and aft only


Thanks Blaze,

I actually have one,just never used it.....

cheers scott

[Tassie JR]

gots to say me outriggers beats untangling line and also me deckwash as Mr_Bean said

[blaze]

might have to set up a deck wash, only just got a boarding ladder and thats still sitting in the shed
cheers
blaze
ps
second thoughts, havnt used the boat enough lately to worry about washing blood off it

[DALEPRICE]

blaze,
you need to rig a small float on about 1.5m of rope to the nose of the
para anchor, as well as your tip line. that way if anything was to cause you to
cut the rope or have it break the float will suspend it and you can drive back to it
and pick up the float. i think i paid about 240 bucks for my para but it was worth
every cent.
cheers dale

[aido]

the navman 3100 fuel computer is indispensable

http://www.outbackmarine.com.au/Image/Navman/Fuel3100.jpg

[davez104]

Hey Aido, if you don't mind me asking, where did you get that fuel computer and how much did it cost you? I have not seen them anywhere before, maybe imported??

Dave.

[mark221263]

Hard for me to pick, would have to be my furuno 620 sounder with a close second being my colour garmin gps

[FNQCairns]

I don't have any stuff in the boat yet but in near future I think it will be the fuel computer like above, called Northstar now I think as they bought Navman out I heard, never had one before looking forward to it great little gadget!

cheers fnq

[aido]

Hey Aido, if you don't mind me asking, where did you get that fuel computer and how much did it cost you? I have not seen them anywhere before, maybe imported??

Dave.

i got mine from outback marine at the goldcoast a few years ago.
seems a fairbit dearer these das, i think i paid about $450 for it.
well worth it.

here's the link...
http://www.outbackmarine.com.au/MasterPages/TypeDetail/TypeDetail.asp?TypeID=346

[SgBFish]

Easy.
4 strokes anyone that has one knows what I mean.
Once you've had one you would never go back to a 2 banger.