As planned we set off early on Saturday morning from the harbour on a chartered superduck. The sea was choppy all the way from the harbour to about five km south of Cape Receife. The water colour was superb and the temperature was a promising 20.5 deg C. AS we progressed the sea calmed bu the temperature dropped and along with it went the water colour - from the boat the viz was an estimated 3-4 m and the temp was down to 16.8 deg. This bad water lasted for 35 km!!!

Eventually we found a trawler with a flock of seabirds including gannets, albatross and skuas. Storm petrels were also present in large numbers.

Lures in rather than divers in such viz! We trolled for a good few kilometers and about 40 min - nothing, AT ALL!

A seal chills out in the cold dirty water 60 km south of land.

I suggested we head further south and soon the temperature rose about 0.1 deg C for every 300 m - a fairly good rise in temp and the water got a bit cleaner. At 65 km south of land we decided to get chum (sardines) flowing and divers in. There was only a thin layer of clean water on top and it deteriorated fast as they went deeper and the vis was a dismal 3 m at a depth of ten m with a cold thermocline.

Divers out and off we went a bit further south and when the water colour was bluer and the temp up to 22 deg C, I got in with Dave Hudek and many sliced sardines. The vis was a good 10 m and it was clean down to about 15 m where the thermocline was with the murky water. After about 40 minutes we saw nothing and decided to troll some more - still no sign of life.

I hoped to head east about another 25 km to the canyon where I once encountered a large marlin but our petrol looked a bit low for such an excursion and we trolled back along the line where we spread the chum - still nothing. The current was running at between 5 and 7 km per hour - a good pace.

By 12 am we had had enough and headed back inshore to try for yellowtail at the Cape Receife. On nearing the point we trolled for bonnies and all we got was a pile of rope full of small crabs - see pic.

Jumping in just south of Thunderbolt Reef I found the viz to be poor but requested a few pilchard from the boat - as we had a few boxes left after the trip south.

Pilchards rained i all around me and frenzied the frenchies - after five minutes I got a four kilo tail from a shoal. A little later I took another and Darryl Hiscock and I each lost a big one. They fish really did seem turbocharged and rather jittery.

Raggies were now getting excited by the bait but the viz was good so we kept chumming.

I saw a big bonito - chased but spooked it - a big one for a change, all this season have been small.

Soon Darryl got a nice fish of about 14 kgs and I got one of 12 kgs - again they fought like a shark was chasing them. We all got the feeling we should never have left the point in the first place - we would probably have had a good catch of yellowtail. You won’t know if you don’t go; so we will go again.

Anyway by 4 pm we left and headed home planning our next southerly adventure - this time we will go after westerlies and will take another 65 liters of petrol along. First stop will be the canyon.

Filed under: Ask Autoblog , Sports/GTs , Etc. , Euro , Supercars , Lamborghini , Military Click image for photo gallery Car vs. jet stunts are kind of ridiculous, but they're entertaining nonetheless. The more exotic the hardware, the better the entertainment, and Lamborghini's Reventón is about as exotic as it gets these days. In a made-for-TV showcase (no, we haven't found video yet), a Lambo test driver and an Italian fighter pilot lined up one of the jet-inspired supercars…(read more)

A BBC’s Timewatch crew visited the country park’s grazing fields on a bitterly cold Saturday 24th to look for evidence of the tidal wave that followed the well documented Colchester earthquake of 1884. Professor Simon Haslett is being asked by TV and radio presenter Vanessa Collingridge if the layer of sand and shingle discovered nearly a metre under the fields, could’ve been deposited there by the tsunami. Confirmation should come later after the soil samples have been analysed in the lab with the results shown on the television programme, sometime next spring.

Whilst I hovered around in the background in the fields, one or two birds of interest were noted during the morning period, despite the Arctic wind. First to show was a pair of calling anxiously on the seawall as we walked past. Several small flocks of were seen flying around the coast looking for the main flock of geese. The regular group of 100 were gathered both in the fields and in the dyke.
Three flying distracted the film-crew as they swooped low over our heads before settling on to the nearby dyke. Several flapped by as they moved off the mudflats for the high tide.

The anxious calls of some alerted me to a male flying over the fields. It disturbed 40 from one field along with and some . A short while later some curlew and ten took to the air and circled around the fields. One of the regular was hovering in the cold wind above the fields, hoping to catch a snack.

The regular group of about thirty flew around the fields as they checked out the thistles. Three and one or two were also noted during the morning. The strangely unseasonal sound of a drumming was heard and then later, two were seen flying onto a tree alongside the fields.

Several thrushes made their presence noted today. Early in the morning a was again in song along Bromans Lane which appears to have inspired the to start singing today too. Amongst a group of about ten were five that soon flew away and one noisy that perched up high calling.

On the park pond the first of the winter here was heard calling from the reedmace but was too shy to show. Usual variety of ducks on the pond with up to fifty noted of and
Graham Ekins had a very productive visit to West Mersea with views of a hunting saltmarsh to the near the Strood Channel, male also along here, two over Old Hall Marshes, female different from the two birds seen last week and 2 seen opposite the Victory pub. He also saw offshore 3 , 14, 23 , 2, 2 and a . An excellent variety of birds for West Mersea.