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SMAC Meeting March 2023

13/03/2023 / / 0 Comments

This being the first meeting of the new 2023 season and only three days after our Presentation Night, it was a nice surprise to see so many members attending. We were also able to welcome new member Keith Dundee who is moving to Southsea Marina with Team Anstey in preparation for the Sea Angling Classic competition in June.

Fish Of The Month was a tough one. Out of the two fish entered, would it be a pollock caught by Mark Banks or a pollack caught by Mark Banks? Rules being rules, we decided by a vote of hands to award the FOTM prize to Mark Banks for a fine specimen pollack of 15lb 5oz. This also puts Mark in first place for the Pollack Cup, Specimen Cup and club points. When the rest of the club actually starts fishing in earnest that may change of course.

We agreed to renew our membership of the Angling Trust as this gives us the specimen certificates and also insurance cover for events. Club funds are in a healthy position so far following the superb fundraising by Bill Arnold and Eleanor Atkins at the Presentation Night which brought in £910. A typical years’ expenses will be around £1,500. Currently we have 53 members confirmed for 2023 and 14+ likely to re-join. With some successful open competitions and another raffle or two we will be in good shape financially.

Our next Open Competition will be the Bream Open on 7th May. Ross Honey and Lowrance will donate an entry ticket for the Sea Angling Classic worth £250 to the competition winner, in addition to the cash prize.

We have a special 10-year anniversary logo picture above, which we can have printed on tee shirts. Unlike our hoodies and polo shirts which are embroidered to order, tee shirts have to be ordered in bulk. To give us an idea of likely interest and shirt sizes required, please could members fill in this mini questionnaire? SMAC T-Shirt Survey

Next meeting will be 4th April in the Marina Bar at 6:30pm unless otherwise advised.

SMAC Annual Presentation Night 2023

07/03/2023 / / 0 Comments

Our annual Awards Night celebrates the achievements of our prize-winners, and is also our most popular social gathering where we include SMDAC, members, partners and families. This year was no exception and by the start time of 7:30 it was standing room only so raiding parties had to be despatched to the front bar to secure more seating.

Steve Kelly, our amazing and dedicated Chairman not only organised venue, food, free drink, raffle prizes, trophy engraving and a microphone, he also expertly hosted a very enjoyable evening. Steve had invited local (well, the marina anyway) celebrity Rupert Bremer who, never knowingly under-dressed, was resplendent in a stunning fish-themed ensemble in honour of the occasion.

Steve opened the ceremony by reminding us that 2023 is our 10-year anniversary! How time passes. Like the tide, membership ebbs and flows as people join or leave the marina but there are some rocks that remain steadfast – if that’s not getting too poetic. We are all massively grateful to Steve and other long-serving committee members and helpers who make our club so successful, and a great community to be a part of. Bill Arnold, king of the raffle sales (Treasurer); Steve Andrews (Social Secretary) and Tim Andrews (Commodore) have all supported the club for many years and of course, we are also very grateful for the patronage of Premier themselves.

The full prize lists and photographs are below but there are some that are worthy of a special mention. The annual club Species Hunt was highly competitive and hard fought to the last day. Peter Churchill not only won the cup, he won the SMAC one-day Species Competition proving that it isn’t just luck. He knows where to find them.

Jim Atkins deserves a special mention for the most awards won for a single fish, although to be fair it was a very impressive bream weighing 4lb 7oz. This fish won the Bream Cup, Open Bream Competition, Best Specimen; Best Placed Bream Cup Member and of course an Angling Trust species medallion.

Tim Andrews won the Mandela Cup which is a one-day competition for the largest cod, and if no cod are caught, the largest whiting. No cod were caught and most competitors assumed that the prize would be won by a whiting at least north of a pound and a half so threw back anything smaller. Tim deserves the prize for his highly developed sense of optimism, weighing in a whiting of only 12oz. This fish almost certainly wasn’t the largest caught, but it was the largest that reached the weigh-in which is the bit that counts.

Finally, Dave Newnham proved that you can win a cup without winning a cup. Our Club Champion Cup is awarded to the member who wins the most points across the other competitions, and Dave accumulated enough second place points to become Club Champion overall. Congratulations Dave.

After a hearty buffet, we then moved on to the raffle. With Bill Arnold providing the force and Eleanor Atkins providing the glamour, this sales team netted over £900 for the club funds. There was a great array of prizes carefully curated by Steve but without the generosity of members both present and through on-line pledges we wouldn’t have raised so much. We are very grateful for all the support. Club membership is only a nominal £20 so these fund-raising activities are essential to help us pay for our competitions and social events.

The 2022 Season is over. The counters are reset. Now there is all to play for in the 2023 season. Species tallies are already coming in so it looks like another fun year ahead. Good luck everyone!

Neville Merritt

SMDAC Results:

  • Largest Fish From Lakes Cup: John Wearn
  • Pier and Beach Cup: Chris Satow
  • Mixed Lakes Cup: Frank Chatfield
  • Best Cod Caught From Lady Elsa: Frank Chatfield (Whiting 1lb 11oz)
  • Best Specimen Caught From Lady Elsa: Chris Satow (Undulate Ray 16lb)
  • Specaies Hunt On Lady Elsa: Frank Chatfield (12 species)
  • Combination Cup: Frank Chatfield
  • Champions Runner-Up Cup: Chris Satow
  • Champions Cup SMDAC: Frank Chatfield

SMAC Results:

SMAC AGM February 2023

09/02/2023 / / 0 Comments

Our Annual General Meeting was very well attended, probably more due to everyone being starved of fishing conversations than actually wanting to debate rule changes! This meeting is sandwiched between the end of one season and the start of another, so we marked the occasion by reminding ourselves who won what in 2022 (competition list below). We’ll make a bigger thing of this at Presentation Night on 4th March. We will be borrowing the ECA disco equipment so if anyone has a suitable music playlist please let Steve know. We’ll make a donation to RNLI/GAFIRS in appreciation.

Still in 2022 Season – Peter Churchill picked up his prize for 19th place in the Open Cod Competition. He was extremely pleased with his mackerel feathers, which was nice.  We also voted on Fish Of The Month for January, which was won by Neil Glazier for a very decent undulate ray of 17lb. SMAC sent 20 Specimen Forms to the Angling Trust in 2022 which shows some of us can catch some decent fish. That sounded like it included me, but it didn’t.

The Species Hunt competition was fiercely fought to the end and is probably our most popular competition. It certainly gets a lot of airtime on the WhatsApp Group. Only days into February, the 2023 hunt is already under way!

Subs are now due for 2023 – please can all members pay their £20 to Steve Kelly. This must be done before any catches are recorded, and definitely before you get a free drink at Awards Night. With renewals we are expecting 68 members and 39 boats which puts the club funds in a very healthy position to pay for our annual events, prizes and competitions.

We then moved on to the AGM agenda. First up was to vote in a new Committee. If anyone was hoping for some drama here they were disappointed because we all voted the same committee back in again. A warning to others, once in there is no escape.

  • Chairman – Steve Kelly
  • Deputy Chairman, Competition Assistant, Writer of Things and BBQ Cook – Neville Merritt
  • Commodore – Tim Andrews
  • Treasurer – Bill Arnold
  • Social Secretary – Steve Andrews

There was a minor rule change voted in – all competition entries (species hunt, catch and release, species cups etc) have to be claimed and recorded within 48 hours of capture. We also have a new competition and prize. Thanks to a cup donated by Dave Newnham, we now have a Brill and Turbot Competition. Following a vote, the rules were agreed that qualifying fish for this annual cup must be a minimum of 2lb for a brill and 3lb for a turbot, and weighed on the club scales. The cup is awarded for the best specimen of either species.

The meeting closed with Any Other Business. John Evans reminded us of the sad news that a local angler was drowned this week off White Cliff Bay. Lifejackets save lives, and now is a good time to do annual checks (see here for a how-to). Bill Arnold also reminded us we were planning to invite the RNLI in for a safety talk at one of our monthly meetings, so that needs to be organised.

The next event is Presentation Night on Saturday 4th March in the Marina Bar, from 7:30pm. A free drink for members, snacks and a raffle – partners and families welcome. We will be awarding the cups and prizes listed below. The next regular monthly meeting will be on Tuesday 7th March at 6:30pm and we’ll decide at that meeting whether to swich to our summer meeting times in future.

 

Neville Merritt
February 2023

SMAC 2022 Season Winners

01/02/2023 / / 0 Comments

31st January came to a close and the SMAC winners for the 2022 Season can be announced! No last-minute changes so the positions over the weekend remain in place. Club champion is Dave Newnham, and well-deserved too. It also shows that points mean prizes, because the  competition he won outright was the Pairs Cup with Clive Newnham, but he came second in enough other competitions to secure the Club Champion place.

The other hotly-contested competition worthy of special celebration was the Species Hunt Cup, won by Peter Churchill with an amazing 45 species. He was chased all the way to the finish line by Dan Lumsden but don’t feel too sorry for Dan, he won the Cod Pool and Cod Cup!

Congratulations to all the winners and all the placings. We have many highly skilled anglers in the club and no top spot is safe for long, which makes it all the more interesting and fun. The full results are listed below. The Awards Night for presentation of these prizes will be Saturday 4th March in the Marina Bar.

Well done all!

 

SMAC Mandela Cup January 2023

29/01/2023 / / 0 Comments

The last one-day competition of the 2022/3 season, the Mandela Cup was finally fished on Saturday 28th January. We usually try and fish this Club competition during the Christmas break but, perhaps predictably, the weather wasn’t cooperating. However, Saturday was a huge improvement with almost no wind initially and calm, clear conditions. A northerly wind kept it chilly but it is January after all.

The Mandela Cup is a simple, winner-takes-all competition for the largest single cod, and if no cod, the largest whiting. There were 16 entries fishing from 7 boats, giving a prize pool of £40. Usually at this time of year we would expect the last run of sizeable whiting before the much smaller fish stay around to raid our baits. However, this was not to be. Despite the rod tips nodding to conger, dogfish, small whiting and even plaice, the large whiting were scarce and the cod scarcer still. Most anglers assumed other boats were landing larger whiting and small whiting were being thrown back. In the end, the largest whiting actually weighed in was 12oz making Tim Andrews the Mandela Cup Winner.

Although winning is one thing, the social aspect of our club competitions is another. Helped by an early finish time for this competition there was plenty of time for celebration and reflection in the Marina Bar afterwards. Our thanks to all competitors who took part, Michelle Plomer for handing out the cup at the prize ceremony and Steve Kelly for his immaculate organisational skills, as usual.

Until next season!

Next SMAC Event is the AGM on Tuesday 7th February at 6.30pm in the Marina Bar.

SMAC January 2023 Meeting and Curry Night

11/01/2023 / / 0 Comments

This was meant to be a quick meeting in the Marina Bar followed by a curry upstairs in the Bombay Brasserie, but unfortunately due to the unpleasant weather causing accidents and traffic jams we delayed the start to give those travelling towards us a bit more time.

First up was a review of the current competition and points standings. We only have until the end of January to put more scores on the board, so we need a few more fishable days in January please! The current positions are on the sheet at the bottom of this report.

The next regular item on the agenda was Fish Of The Month. We actually had several cod to choose from and an impressive pollack, but as cod are such rare catches these days the best cod won. It weighed 13lb 10oz and was caught by Dan Lumsden.

We all agreed that the Open Cod Competition had been a great success, and the option to allow online payments for entry fees will be continued for future Open competitions to encourage participation (and a bigger prize pool!) from further afield.

Promotion for our next Open Competition, the annual Boat Bream Competition on Sunday 7th May will be starting soon, so save the date! There were some really good fish caught in 2022 so hopefully we’ll see a good turnout for the 2023 event.

Some more dates for the diaries: the Mandela Cup will be fished either on 28th or 29th January, and in the sea, harbour, marina or bar depending on the severity of the weather. It has to be done, the SMAC season ends 31st January!

The annual Awards Night will be held on Saturday 4th March in the Marina Bar. There will be drinks (a free one for each member), snacks, music and prizes so all members are invited, and families too. We will all be on our best behaviour so we don’t embarrass anyone in front of their partners. We save that for the WhatsApp Group.

Our next monthly meeting will be the Annual General Meeting (AGM) on Tuesday 7th February where we decide on the committee members, rule changes and any other business of global significance for the 2023 season. It will be held at 6:30pm in the Marina Bar so please come along because your vote is important. SMAC is an amazing community and it will always be as long as it is run by us all, for us all. Some of us have more time to devote to club activities than others but don’t worry about that, every member counts.

Finally, we retired upstairs to enjoy a curry, a drink and some great banter. It was a pleasure to include the stalwarts from SMDAC too! I’d also like to thank Luke Scott for his extraordinary generosity, it was much appreciated by all.

Neville Merritt

 

Bass Closed Seasons 2023 – 2024

01/01/2023 / / 0 Comments

All bass caught during the months of  February 2023 and March 2023 must be returned unharmed to the sea. No bass may be landed either by recreational fishermen until the next Open Season starting 1st April.  According to  the Fisheries Consultations Between the United Kingdom and European Union for 2023, by December 2023 there will be an agreement to limit the Catch and Release season to two months, February and March 2024 . This brings the rules for Recreational Anglers in line with the rules for Commercial Bass.

More information is on the Angling Trust website.

 

Still questions surrounding the sinking of “Flag Theofano”

17/12/2022 / / 0 Comments

By now, a lot of people will be much more aware of the story of the sinking of the Flag Theofano on 29th January, 1990 in the approaches to the Eastern Solent. Much of this awareness is due to the publication in 2022 of the book “The Forgotten Shipwreck” by commercial diver Martin Woodward MBE, and the campaigning that he and Steve Hunt undertook to raise public awareness of the tragedy.

Having read the book, the Marine Accident Investigation Board (MAIB) Summary Report and other contemporary reports, I believe there are a number of questions that remain mysteriously unanswered. A total of 19 men lost their lives that night, the largest peacetime loss of life in the Solent waters in recent history. Only five bodies were recovered, and the body of Ibrahim Hussein who was buried in Portsmouth was finally  given a memorial headstone in 2022 thanks to the campaigning by Steve Hunt and funding from Southampton Ship Owners Association. The remaining 14 bodies are almost certainly still in the wreck, which is intact and only 3.8 miles from shore.

Piecing together the various sources of information, it is almost certain that there were multiple factors that caused the wreck rather than any single cause. The most significant factor was the shift in the dry powder cargo which caused the sudden capsize, but a shift doesn’t happen spontaneously. Something has to cause the cargo to shift.

Let’s wind back a bit. This vessel had already made 18 round trips to Southampton since refitting as a bulk cement carrier, but the captain had recently been replaced so the new captain, Ioannis Pittas was relatively inexperienced with the route in past the Nab Tower.

That night, after arriving at the Nab Tower, they were instructed by Southampton VTS to anchor in St. Helen’s Roads for the night. An experienced captain would have known it was safe to take a short cut from the Nab to St. Helen’s Roads directly across New Grounds. Instead, Captain Pittas followed the buoyed shipping channel as far as Dean Tail. This would have been fine, except for what happened next.

According to Martin Woodward who dived the wreck immediately after the sinking and surveyed the wreck and surrounding seabed extensively, he is in no doubt that the vessel overshot the turn to port at Dean Tail and temporarily snagged the buoy under the rudder. This was enough to slow and heel the vessel, triggering the cargo shift and sudden capsize. The full details supporting this assessment are very well explained and illustrated in the book, with supporting evidence.

This could be left as a tragic accident if it wasn’t for some significant, unanswered questions which remain. If anyone wants to come forward and provide explanations, I will willingly publish them so the full story can be told at last.

  1. The New Grounds buoy was reported to be out of position by 350 metres to the north. If Captain Pittas was using this buoy to confirm his own position, it would have put him further north than was safe and in a collision course with the Dean Tail buoy. Why were there no navigational warnings issued by KHM Portsmouth if the buoy had been reported out of position?
  2. The Dean Tail buoy was reported as unlit on the night of the accident. Again, why was there no “Notice To Mariners” issued?
  3. Flag Theofano was called three times during the night by Southampton VTS with no reply, yet no further action was taken. Why didn’t that cause concern? The Bembridge Lifeboat was in the area and could have been asked to check.
  4. Evidence from the wreck of a waterline collision with a metal object, the seabed scour from the six ton buoy sinker and the report from THV Patricia indicates that the Dean Tail buoy was badly collision damaged and had been dragged by a considerable force. This is denied by the MAIB Report, yet the buoy was removed and replaced as soon as the weather eased after the fateful storm. If it wasn’t damaged, why was it removed so quickly? And as it was a vital piece of evidence for the MAIB enquiry, why did it disappear?
  5. Only five bodies were recovered out of the 19 crew. We can only assume most if not all of the remaining 14 are inside the wreck. No permission was given to recover these bodies even though divers could access some of the accommodation areas. The recovery operation concentrated on removing the cement, and 60 tonnes were extracted. If it was possible and affordable to recover 60 tonnes of cement, why were 14 bodies left in the same wreck?

Having read the available reports and spoken to individuals involved at the time, I am now in no doubt that the most likely cause of the sinking was a combination of:

  • the route taken by an inexperienced captain;
  • the buoys being unlit or out of position causing the ship to take the wrong course;
  • leading to a collision and entanglement with the Dean Tail buoy;
  • which turned the vessel broadside to the waves;
  • which resulted in the ship heeling badly;
  • causing a cargo shift and capsize.

Although this might be seen as a “perfect storm” of unfortunate events, the main question in my mind is around the apparent cover-up of the collision with the Dean Tail buoy. Why was that? What was there to hide?

In addition, I think the callous disregard for the bodies and the families involved is inexcusable. Contemporary press clippings indicate that the bodies are “encased in concrete”, but the crew accommodation is in a different part of the boat from the cargo hold area containing the solidified cement. This makes me wonder who was giving this false information to the press? The ship has now rolled almost upside down and the crew section may be crushed, but that isn’t what we were told. If there was a tragedy of this scale on land, would the authorities have left 14 bodies under a collapsed tower block in Portsmouth, and bulldozed over them? There would have been an outrage. Surely it is still possible for the remains to be recovered, or at least an attempt be made. At a minimum, I think the MAIB should review their report which given the severity of the tragedy is superficial to say the least.

These are my own conclusions, and I welcome any further information if it helps with the explanation of the events surrounding this tragedy.

Neville Merritt
December 2022

A Visit From Thor the Walrus

13/12/2022 / / 0 Comments

It’s not every day you see large marine mammals, and a walrus is an extremely unusual visitor. Apparently this young male has been exploring the UK South Coast and the French coast, and on Sunday 11th December he decided to stop for a nap at Calshot. Social media spread the word faster than any news bulletin. Here is an extract from one of the Hampshire & Isle of Wight News channel report videos.

SMAC Open Cod Competition 2022 – Results

11/12/2022 / / 0 Comments

Well finally! After postponements due to the weather then nearly a postponement due to the World Cup (won’t say too much about that), the SMAC Annual Open Cod Competition was held on Sunday 11th December. A total of 76 anglers fished from 34 boats, braving some very cold conditions which is quite a change from the mild weather we have been experiencing. We were delighted that the first eight places were taken by cod catches, the remaining prize table going to whiting.

Here is the full list of prize winners.

1st Dan Lumsden, 13lb 10oz cod

2nd Steve Tambling, 8lb 14oz cod

3rd, 4th tied Simon Connor and Chris Jewell, both 3lb 11oz cod

5th Tony Connor, 2lb 15oz cod

6th Tim Warren, 2lb 12oz cod

7th Darren Price, 2lb 9oz cod

8th Mick Hardy, 2lb 4oz cod

9th Mick Beaty, 31.5oz whiting

10th Lee Smith, 29.5oz whiting

11th Wayne Comben, 25oz whiting

12th Paul Farrel, 20.0oz whiting

13th Dick Stubbs, 18oz whiting

14th Charlie Gattrill, 17oz whiting

15th, 16th, 17th tied Tony Allen, Jim Atkins, Ray Plomer, 16.5oz whiting

18th Lee Swire, 15.0oz whiting

19th Pete Churchill, 9.5oz whiting

There were no weigh-ins for Junior or Ladies prizes.

First prize was a cash prize of 60% of entry fees. Second prize was a cash prize of 30% of entry fees. Other prizes were kindly donated by Premier Marinas; Baits’R’Us; Victory Gas & Heating; Fish-On; British Game Fishing; Normark UK; Sportsmans Knight Charters; Newnham Builders; SMDAC; Cosham Angling; Anglers Edge charters; Marina Bar.

There are a couple of nice stories to share too. Ray Plomer, who won the prize of a day’s fishing on board Angler’s Edge charters is gifting his prize as a treat for a friend who is fighting cancer. On his way back in, Chris Jewell in Reel Affair noticed a boat in trouble. He stopped to set up a tow, so Steve Kelly took his cod ashore to be weighed so the delay providing a good turn didn’t cost him his third prize!

Thank you and well done to all competitors, and congratulations to all the prize winners. Until next year!

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