Although collisions between small powerboats tend to result in minor damage, be prepared to handle the results of more serious crashes. Besides the aspect of personal injury, the major concern is serious damage to the hull, either above or below the waterline, since a hole near there can sink a boat. This kind of damage should he repaired as quickly as possible and excess water removed from the bilge.
The drive belts on an inboard or sterndrive engine provide power to the alternator and to the engine’s water pump. Both are necessary for the engine to operate. A drive belt may break if it wears, dries and cracks or is not replaced regularly. Constant use in the engine compartment dries out the rubber and causes tiny cracks. You can, however, “jury-rig” a temporary drive belt to get home, if you motor slowly. Read the rest of this entry »
Most modern powerboats are designed to handle bad weather in reasonable comfort, whether it’s wind from an offshore blow or a summer squall on a lake. It is up to the skipper to know how to steer a course that will be dry and safe, as well as comfortable in adverse circumstances. This requires being thoroughly familiar with your boat and developing the following techniques on rough or stormy waters. Read the rest of this entry »
The most popular tent shape is the dome. It is the result of extensive research, and dome tent designers make the best of many modern materials such as carbon fibre and Ventex to produce ranges in all sizes. These materials make use of advanced technology to provide shelters of unparalleled resilience — in many cases they have a strengthto-weight ratio that can only be described as phenomenal. The dome shape is intentionally aerodynamic, and the stiffeners provide a good degree of flex; such tents can survive strong winds, even if these are accompanied by snow, hail and sleet. Many come with a built-in wind-deflector as part of the fly sheet, which, if correctly positioned, provides additional shelter and helps keep gusts away from the main opening. Read the rest of this entry »
The hydrofoil, a wing that creates lift in water, is not new, and hydrofoils are commonly used on powerboats today. They are even used on sailboats to minimize resistance and set speed records, which is itself an extreme endeavor. However, it wasn’t until 1989 that a hydrofoil attached to a chair became commercially available for athletes seeking a new tow-behind water challenge.
The air chair, as it has become known, was designed by a couple of friends on the Colorado River, one of whom was the co- creator of the kneeboard (a waterski that the rider kneels on) and a hot dog waterski pioneer, Mike Murphy. Murphy’s friend Bob Wooley became fascinated with the concept of riding a performance hydrofoil, and after several months of experimentation attached the foil to a “sit ski,” a seated version of a waterski. Read the rest of this entry »
Singlehanded racing is the aquatic version of marathon running, where the skipper has to draw from resources deep within himself for the endurance and stamina necessary to sail 30 days or more alone at sea. Unlike the marathon runner, whose most important equipment is his shoes, a singlehanded sailor’s equipment is a sailboat often as large as 60 feet (18m) and its accompanying systems—and it all has to be maintained continuously.
JOSHUA SLOCUM is considered the grandfather of singlehanded sailors. Between 1895 and 1898, Slocum singlehandedly circumnavigated the globe in a wooden boat, making several stops along the way. Another 69 years elapsed before Francis Chichester completed a one-stop, singlehanded circumnavigation. Then, in 1969, Robin Knox- Johnston completed the first non-stop, singlehanded circumnavigation to win the Golden Globe Challenge. Read the rest of this entry »
Speed has been a quest of sailing pioneers for as long as there have been sailing vessels. In early times, speed meant sailors could travel farther to catch bigger and better quantities of fish. Speed allowed explorers to gain access to new frontiers before supplies dwindled and starvation ensued. As warriors sought control of the seas, speed offered aggressors the opportunity of a swift attack, and gave those seeking escape the chance to elude their demise. Today, the quest for speed is all about establishing new levels of performance and securing a spot in the record books. Read the rest of this entry »
Blisters are the bane of outdoor people and as with most problems, prevention is far better than cure.
Break your boots in until they are completely comfortable and always wear well-washed, well-fitting socks. Pamper your feet, keeping the nails trim, the feet clean and the socks dusted with powder. Hot feet blister more easily than feet in dry, cool socks.
If, or rather, when, you get a blister, act as follows: At the first sensation of an imminent blister, or a ‘hot spot’ on the foot, remove the boot and sock. If the skin is merely red and tender, cut a square of ‘Moleskin’ and cover the area, which may prevent further trouble. Read the rest of this entry »
A large number of dishes, sandwiches, pasties, salads, cold meats, sausages and so on can be cooked at home and taken into the field to be eaten either cold or re-heated.
Many foods can be enjoyed equally well cold, accompanied perhaps by a mug of hot soup or a brew.
Here again, as is so often the case out-of-doors, the value of pre-trip information is apparent. Since the amount you can carry is limited on a long trip, it is usually necessary to find somewhere to stock up every three or four days and these stops are usually at country stores where special outdoor foods, in light, dehydrated form, are rarely available. You must check that the shops will be open, or even that they actually still exist, for quite a number of villages survive with only a church and a pub. Read the rest of this entry »
THORAX (GENERIC)
THREAD: 8/0 prewaxed, colour to match body.
WING: Turkey body feather (turkey ‘flats’), hen back feather or similar soft, webby feather.
TAIL: Spade hackle fibres or Micro Fibetts, colour tomatch natural.
BODY/HEAD: Natural or synthetic fur dubbing, colourto match natural.
HACKLE: Genetic hackle, colour to match natural. Read the rest of this entry »
The Umkomaas River, a challenging stretch of water situated near thesmall village of Bulwer in the foothills of the KwaZulu-Natal Drakensberg, provided good trout fishing to anglers for many years before the Natal yellowfish established itself in those waters. In particular, one fast-water section of this beautiful river used to captivate me with its dancing riffles and swift pocket water.
Here a large midstream boulder broke the current into two well-defined tongues; one of these was diverted, almost at right angles, towards the bank where it welled up as it struck the side, forming a deep undercut I knew held good fish. On two previous visits to this stretch of water, I had drifted a small rubber-legged Bitch Creek Nymph into the undercut and on both occasions the pattern had produced several yellowfish, some of respectable size. Read the rest of this entry »
The Stimulator is a favourite dry-fly pattern, which, coming from someone with vastfishing experience across the globe, says much for its effectiveness. It will take fish under varying conditions and Randall uses it on lakes and streams, but is at its best in fast water. The Stimulator is a combination of several attractor and exciter patterns and imitates caddisflies, stoneflies and, at a pinch, grasshoppers.
What makes the Stimulator so effective? Like many successful dry flies, the Stimulator imitates several food forms in general, yet nothing in particular. By varying tail, hackle, body and wing colours a variety of insects — both terrestrial and aquatic — can be matched. The Stimulator combines the general shape and characteristics of patterns such as the Trude series of flies with the attributes of more established downwing patterns such as the Sofa Pillow, all of which were designed initially to imitate the adult stoneflies found on rivers in the western United States. Kaufmann’s Stimulator, however, is not limited to the imitation of stone- fly adults: it is used with great success to imitate other aquatic and terrestrial insects, including adult caddisflies and terrestrials such as grasshoppers and cicadas. The Stimulator has all the characteristics of a western-style dry fly designed for fast-flowing freestone waters and consequently is ideally suited to the fast pocket-water stretches of South African rivers and streams. Read the rest of this entry »
During hopper feeding sprees trout usually lie in the shallow water close to the edges. This makes them more vulnerable to predation than at other times and, as a result, they are skittish and far more alert to abnormal disturbances. It therefore pays to adopt a careful approach at all times and to keep as low a profile as possible, avoiding wading whenever possible and quick movements.
Since the best hopper fishing usually occurs during windy conditions, and since the patterns are usually large, bulky and wind-resistant, rods that generate high line-speeds will greatly aid the angler in his efforts to cast hopper imitations. In the steep-sided kloofs of the Western Cape winds usually blow upstream during the day, which makes fishing hopper patterns that much easier. On rivers and streams of a lower gradient, such as many of those in KwaZulu-Natal and the north-eastern Cape, winds can blow from any direction, making casting the wind-resistant hopper patterns a real chore. Read the rest of this entry »
One of the best areas to prospect with a DDD in our still- waters is along weedbeds that reach to the surface. Trout often cruise along these weedbeds in search of aquatic and terrestrial fare, and weedbeds that grow in deep water and which reach to the surface are favoured, since they provide food as well as the protection afforded by deep water. The imitation should simply be cast out alongside the weedbed for the trout to find of their own accord. If the surface action is slow, it pays to give the pattern an occasional twitch with a single, short strip of the line.
Another excellent area to prospect with the DDD is along the windward shore of lakes, where terrestrial and other wind-blown insects are found during and after windy weather. Strong winds stir up the bottom silt close to the bank, making the area even more inviting for trout to feed in as they can go largely undetected. Read the rest of this entry »
The unparalleled DDD is without question the most famous dry fly in use on South African stillwaters today. The DDD was created by the now legendary South African fly-fisherman Tom Sutcliffe, a person who has channelled all his free time and energy into the pursuit of trout and all activities allied to fly-fishing. Tom graduated with a medical degree from the University of Stellenbosch, and it was on the streams surrounding Stellenboschthat he was taught the skills of fly-fishing by the late Mark Mackereth, an angler well known for his abilities to deceive trout with a fly. Tom’s occupation later took him to KwaZulu-Natal, a province renowned for its lake fishing, and it was on the lakes in the Impendhle and Dargle areas that the DDD quickly established its reputation. Read the rest of this entry »
‘OPPERTUNITY TIME‘, as well-known angler, authorand entomologist Dave Whitlock calls it, is a unique time of the year when anglers are able to deceive some of the largest fish of the season on dry flies. As summer advances, grasshoppers become increasingly active in streamside vegetation and may end up in the water as a result of strong winds, rain, annual crop harvests, grassfires, predation or severe cold. Once they become trapped in the surface tension, they are relished by observant trout on the lookout for an easy meal, and may afford the angler some of the most spectacular sight-fishing of the year.
Grasshoppers thrive in areas with over sixty days of sunshine a year, and with daytime temperatures that average fifteen degrees Celsius, and so do exceptionally well in South Africa. Hopper activity increases as temperatures begin to climb above fifteen degrees Celsius; to most South African anglers this translates into mid-spring to late-autumn fishing, with peak hopper fishing occurring during the heat of summer. Hoppers are welcomed by fly-fishers as they become active along river and stream banks at a time when the more significant hatches are on the wane. Consequently they are of great importance, particularly to anglers who enjoy the sight of trout feeding actively at the surface. Read the rest of this entry »
Like ants and grasshoppers, beetles are terrestrial insects that do not willingly enter the water. When theydo, however, they are usually eaten by observant trout on the lookout for an easy meal, and consequently deserve the attention of all fly-fishers. Fishing terrestrial beetle imitations was perfected by anglers such as Vince Marinaro, Ed Koch, Joe Brooks and others who frequented the fertile spring creeks of the Cumberland valley in Pennsylvania. These creeks are home to large, shy, selective brown trout that often ignore hatch-matching patterns, yet frequently succumb to terrestrial insect imitations such as the Crowe Beetle and Letort Hopper.
My research indicates that anglers fishing the Pennsylvania spring creeks were using foam beetles as early as 1960. Vince Marinaro used a beetle consisting of a coffee bean glued to the hook shank, while Don Dubois used a pattern called a `Flure’ — a combination of a fly and a lure. The Flure was made by tying a section of oval foam to the top of the hook shank, but many anglers refused to use it because it wasn’t made of the traditional fur and feather materials. Today, almost every fly-shop sells foam body material. Read the rest of this entry »
Most still water fly-fishers have fished damselfly nymph imitations, and patterns such as Hugh Huntley’s Red-Eyed Damsel are firm favourites in many fly-boxes. However, few anglers use the adult form of this abundant insect even though it can produce some spectacular action, particularly on days when the weather may seem too hot for enjoyable fishing.
Adult damselflies are easily distinguished from dragonflies by the attitude of their wings when they are at rest. Damselflies hold their wings folded together over the top of their abdomens, while dragonflies hold their wings at right angles to their abdomens. In addition, damselflies are not as large and robust as dragonflies, and are more likely to find themselves on the water, particularly during strong winds. Once on the water, they are unable to escape and are easy prey for an opportunistic trout on the lookout for a high- calorie meal. This usually occurs during the warmer months of the year when adults can be seen flitting over the water’s surface as they deposit their eggs. Read the rest of this entry »
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