Speaker 1: Hello everybody, thank you for joining us again on the
Seafood Matters podcast. Today, I'm please to welcome back David Stevens,
skipper of the Crystal Sea Fishing out of Newlyn. Last
week I spoke to Mark and Simon from Assured Marine,
the manufacturers of the propeller coatings. Today I'm speaking to David,
the man turning the shafts, because in fishing, claims don't
matter what results do. If a propeller coatings improves efficiency,
reduces fouling, or saves fuel, that shows up in the books,
or if it doesn't, it quietly disappears. So let's hear
from the man who are actually using it. Welcome back
to Seafood Matters, David.
Speaker 2: Yeah, Jah, good to see again and good to be back.
Speaker 1: Thank you. I agreed to have you back again. Tell
us our listeners a bit. You've had a fairly let
them in career, different things you're involved with.
Speaker 3: Yeah, Jim, you know, me and my brother Alec, we're
working the t all is still the twenty five vot
Crystal c.
Speaker 1: Yeah.
Speaker 3: We we like to invest in in modern technology and
things are going to benefit the business. And you know
we've we've done that with the science in the past.
You know, we've done that with the business itself, you know,
investing in new vessel and we just you know, try
and continue to do that. Anywhere we can save money
that you know is it's going to be a bonus
for the business as what we're always trying to achieve.
So you know, we've just recently we've been focusing on
where we can save money and fuel is by far
our biggest cost, so we've been really focusing on how
we can sort of lessen that.
Speaker 1: You yourself were involved, you're still cheering in the Fishing
in the Future.
Speaker 3: Yeah, yeah, still very much involved in Fishing in the Future,
and really please say it's going great. We've had free
freat events this year that's on the back of the
three we had last year. So the team are just
doing great, really really well. But one thing I find
with the Fish in the Future, you know, meeting lots
of different fishermen and lots of different scientists and managers,
you're learning all the time. You know, it's a really
good place to really gather ideas and you know, other
people are trialing things and if they're saying good, you
get to get to have a go at yourself. So
I work with Agent Barlett as you know, he was
very much involved with fishing in the future, and you know,
I still got a good relationship with Age and his
friend of mine, and that's really how we ended up
going down the road of the propeller coating because we
had the Ecomotus eco probed about and he knows that
we are like are key to maintain efficiencies and we're always.
Speaker 2: Willing to trial something.
Speaker 3: So he put me in touch with with Mark at
the issued Prepella Coding.
Speaker 1: Before we start. I've spoken a lot about the octopus
bloom and in a recent podcast with Barry Stewart, who's
done a lot biking review on it, I've heard that
we it's affected ports and things like that, affecting eurofishing.
Speaker 2: Yeah, it is.
Speaker 3: We we don't see a huge men of octopus. We
might get maybe three or four octopus, maybe a basket
of octopus in their nets at one time. They seem
to like going in pots, so you know, we're not
we're not seeing them in the numbers like that. But
I suppose the way it's affected that it's so much
affected the whitefish that we've noticed yet. But definitely crabfishing.
You know, this time of year, we wouldn't see a
lot of crabs anyway. You know, maybe you're sort of
what we call a bongo fifty kilos for your trip.
But we's last few weeks we've hardly seen a crab,
and I can only hope either they're hiding buried up
in the sand and hiding, or we've got a big
problem with the crab fishery. The only thing I can
say is if we do get a crab in the net.
A few weeks ago, we were seeing the old crab
or two and you know, you get the shell come up,
it looks like a perfectly normal crab, and when you
get to pick it up, it's it's just nothing. It's
light as a feather, and you turn it over on
the on the undershell side, there'll be a hole in
it and the octopus that's obviously in their net.
Speaker 2: I've got hold of the crab and like.
Speaker 3: An alien life one and they've injected it whatever they do,
and they sucked all of the meat and everything out
of it. There's nothing in it. It's like a cat's shell.
Speaker 1: Wow.
Speaker 2: Yeah, they're quite.
Speaker 3: They are weird things, you know, they go around the
deck like an a life form. I can imagine me
and the crew were saying, you can imagine the film
Alien was based on what these these things act like.
You know, they sort of move across the deck really
quite quickly. When they want to change in color constantly,
you know, matching any you put them on like a
silver surface, they'll go silver. You put them on a
white surface, they will be white red surface. You know,
you can move them aback and they'll just change color. Clever,
very clever animals.
Speaker 1: And it's a through time. Is it changing any they're
ticking off or disappearing? The don't do I wondered, from
what I've heard with a few boats are successfully catching
a lot of them and doing well, And I just wonder,
is it is it reasonable? I think we could fetter
the mood.
Speaker 3: I don't know about fishing about that. They're blue, so yeah,
I mean, I don't think you could just go out
and just fish every one of them.
Speaker 2: I don't think you can do it.
Speaker 3: I mean, they've come from nothing to being everywhere for
the crabbers, and you can only hope, you know that.
I suppose the only hope for the industry is this
isn't the one off that you know, this does get
become established, because if they've eaten out all of the
shelbish stocks, then you know, those vessels haven't got anything
to go to beyond this for a few years. So
you know, we can only hope that they keep coming. Apparently,
I think according to Brice, they have like a couple
of year life cycle. They're not catching them in the
numbers that they were catching them, so they're not bunching
quite as much as they were. Seem to be spread
out more now.
Speaker 2: Whether they're spread out.
Speaker 3: Because they're looking for food or what, I don't know,
but they're down in the area where I work. Around
where I work now, the crabbers are just working about
ten or fifty miles and the same for me at
the moment. But I don't think the catches are quite
as high. So be interesting in what happens the next
few months, continue to catch and whatnot.
Speaker 1: Yeah, yeah, eig and on the subject, tell us about
the Crystal Sea live, the size, take gear, tay, typical
groans and working pattern.
Speaker 3: Well, we we tried to do six day trips. Generally
we're working twin rig gear. We work one hundred and
eighty foot foot ropes on each net and then we
have a quite long sweet bridles there. We try and
get around about six hundred feet between the troll dolls.
We work Tiger on troul dolls. At the moment, twenty
one's you know, generally going. We're bringing before all of
the fuel saving equipment that we have bought a boat.
We used to be around about eighteen hundreds eighteen fifteen
liters a day, and then since we fitted the Eco Motus,
we've saved around about sort of eight percent with that,
so we've we've took that fuel letridge down to our
own seventeen hundred litres a day and we're saving more
with the well while as I can see you so
far with with the coating, which is yeah, I didn't
think we do, but it is measurable.
Speaker 1: Interesting. What made you look at Courtly in Europe Propeller
in the in the first.
Speaker 3: Place, Well, Adrian Bartlett of Como has put me in
touch with Mark, and Mark was looking for, you know,
to trial it on fishing vessels because this was something
they have done for I think he was saying that
for yachts and high performance vessels like speedboats in the
racing world, and he thought, well, there's no reason why
it wouldn't work. You know, larger, you know, more clumsy
vessels like fishing boats. So he put me in touch
with him, and I was just told to, you know,
Mark's going to come. But I asked a little bit
about it. But I just trusted Adrian because you know,
he's in that world of I've been looking at, you know,
these techniques to save for your agent. Mark offered to
come and do the coating, you know, as a trial.
Just put a cleaner propeller up as keen as like
I get it, and you'd come down and.
Speaker 2: Put it all together.
Speaker 3: And I didn't really know anything beyond that other than
the agent had organized it. So I was like, well,
you know, I wouldn't say I was skeptical, but I was,
you know, less, give it a go, why not, you know?
So I got my propeller all cleaned up and it
was looking all nice and shiny, because generally my pella
ends up with he's not hanging with weed, but it'd
have a sheen of weed on it that you know,
if you run your nail down it, you'd put it
be able to put a scratch Mark in it. So
he's heavy enough of weed, but because he's always turning,
it never gets fully coated. I give it a good
jets brain up and then I got the I got
the sound around sounded all that was, but it was
like I knew it was. I was quite pleased with
my effort. It took me all day. I did it,
and then the next day Mark came and you know,
great guy, really good to talk to, and I learned
an enormous about chemical engineering because he's been in the
world of chemical engineering and this was just something that
it's a passion of his. I mean, I think you've
spoken to him, so he's probably took you through that
and you could really see that come out. You know,
he spent his life in chemical engineering. He'd you know,
he just living there and I think he's just looking
to sort of gives you know, he's obviously got an
extremely good chemical minded brain. You know, you know, he
really knows what he's doing. And he came with these
pots in you know, like speakers and stuff, and he
was mixing it while I was chatting away. He was
telling me all about his career and all about chemistry
and stuff. He's fascinated and he just made it up
and then you know, he applied it on.
Speaker 2: I mean, I didn't.
Speaker 3: He asked what he was doing along the way and
he said, well, basically, he's making a polymer. So you know,
he made it and he put it on his several
coats in several stages. And then after we had finished
doing this it took maybe an hour and a half
something like that to do the mixed. Two hours and
something like that, it was ready. And it's strange, you know,
I have todmit. When it went on, I was like, well,
I wasn't expecting that. It wasn't like a varnish. It
looked like a varnish, but it wasn't. You could by
the time it had finished, you could say push it,
give it a little nudge, and then it would sort
of go back to its original form. So it was
quite my appliable. But you know, he assured me that
this would make the propeller more slippery, cut through the
water easier.
Speaker 2: And it has a long life.
Speaker 3: So that was what we did at the slip, and
after I finished up the slip, it was time to
go away and see if it worked.
Speaker 1: One of the things that fascinated in me with a
chart remark mainly has and the Brian he has but
to go from the mouth to propeller to see you know,
he's talking about the similarities. I don't know how anybody
could take Similard. It is between what goes on in
our mouths and what goes on.
Speaker 3: Yeah, yeah, he was great. I liking him too, the
guy from Breaking Bad.
Speaker 2: You know.
Speaker 3: It was you know, he's concocting these chemicals and I
think you could do anything. You know, he really could,
And yeah, it was it was really interesting. But you know,
that's what he does. He's he's a chemist. But he
assured me that the process that he had put together,
it wouldn't be very difficult for him to teach. It
didn't look overly difficult for me. I mean, if if
it was, if it was numbered, you know, in pots,
and then you just had a little prep sheet. I'm
sure that you know, anyone could mix out anyone wh
knew about painting, you know, and we've got plenty of
great guys, you know about painting boats and mixing paint.
I think I think they'd be more than capable of
mixing this.
Speaker 1: I think that's the plant, you know, and you Obviously
before before this, you weren't coming at it with problems
you would experience we folding or was it or is
it more as you said, to just give it a gore.
Speaker 3: Yeah, it's more good to go because obviously, you know
we take the boat. We only take the boat out
of the water once a year because it's very difficult
to take the boat out of the order down here.
You know, we're not as well equipped to Scotland, where
they can take the boat out of the water and
any tide. We're very tidal down here, and the slips
are really full. You know, it's not not we don't
have a lot of slip capacity at all. So it's
something we and I only do every year. And mainly
our main effort is to get the bottom clean, get
the coolers clean, really important to keep the engines cool.
And obviously everything makes a difference with efficiency. Clean the
bottom you'd be saving three or four liters an hour.
And I never really thought does the propeller make a difference,
and you know Mark said it will you know, would
a sheen of weed make a difference on it? I
didn't know. I have to say, is one of them. Well,
it's worth giving a go. We all know a very
clean propeller would be you know, effissient.
Speaker 2: But does it.
Speaker 3: Create more grip, you know, because it's all in towing
vessels or grip, and I did, I did wonder whether
it would make a difference, but we certainly found out
within the first week it was quite actually, you know, it.
Speaker 2: Was like, it's this real. And I didn't say anything.
Speaker 3: I said, when you go to see next week, just
you tell me if it's any different side the first
trip back, and what I was finding was we do
sometimes we'll steam ten to fifteen minutes between grounds. We
just lift in tow and getting the boat lined up
for the next toe.
Speaker 2: And we do that.
Speaker 3: We put the foot rope on the rail back half
each side and we just steam with the stockings out
over the stern. So you're not steaming fully efficient efficiently
because you know, you've got drag, but not the whole
drag that you would have when you're towing. And we
only steam with ten and fifteen minutes. It's just easy
to leave them out. And I've never seen the boat
do eight knots with the with the stockings in the water,
we're generally about six point ninety seven knots about same
reps thirteen hundred rofs on the engine and we're doing
eight knots. I say, this must be more tied or
it must be a bit of flow in the water,
you know, pushing us along. So I said, ab Alex,
what had happened? And I said, you know, just see
if you notice any difference.
Speaker 2: And he did.
Speaker 3: He said yeah, he said, because he does pretty much
the same as Idea. See and he said, yeah, we
were like and not faster. And then when we were
steaming in, you know, it wasn't so noticeable. With without
the drag, we're definitely half a lot more steaming speed.
And we've maintained that still. It was six months or
more now since I was at the slip. We're still
maintaining that efficiency. So I wasn't expecting that at all.
But we had to measure the fuel performance. We had
a few weeks of quite poor weather not long after
we'd done the the coating through September. I said to Mark,
I think there's a difference, but I said, I can't
measure it poor weather because I'm using more fuel to
try and push through the weather. So it's it's a
hard time to know. So we left it two or
three months and we had a finer spell for a
few weeks in October. It was and I've definitely seen
a difference in the in the fuel consumption. You know,
we measured it over a few trips, you know, because
we we we've just divide our time at sea in
hours by what we've taken and if you do that
over a few trips compared to what it was before.
We quite regularly do this, and I'd say to anyone
who you know, if you're going to trial something like
the ecomotis or the or the yeah, the polymer on
the prop, and just make sure you get a few
fine trips together before you do anything, so you know
what your average fuel usage is per day over a trip,
and then you've got some a benchmarker measure.
Speaker 1: From Obviously I'm not freshmen were the experience that you
have day But one of the things that did really
surprise me for the coating on that it's more important
on the prop than the How Now when you think
of the all the plates and that the amount area
it's ticking up and it's in the water and I've
seen boats, maybe I'm sure you've got it down their
boats that have maybe been tied up for a bit
a few weeks for some reason, and there are growth
on their hulls. I've seen actually hanging and just what
you were saying that you found with propeller when you
would put at your finger and see a mark. Maybe
they would get pressure washers and things like that to
clean it. Obviously, maybe I've not got engineer in mind,
but to think that it's more important to get that
coating on the prop and the hull, I thought it
was amazing.
Speaker 3: Yeah, I yah, Mark, I mean I don't think it
would be. I think the propellers we just you know,
it's the moving part, isn't it. And I think that's
where you're just going to for the the amount of coverage,
you're going to gain the most gain, you know, I
don't I dare say if you put it right across
the hole, you would get a gain. But that's an
awful lot of polymer that would probably cost a lot
of money to do that. I can imagine them doing
it on speedboats in the yachts, but that's where he's
probably got his knowledge from because he's done it with
speedboats and yachts and well, we're definitely with speedboats, so
he's been coaching everything I would have thought on a speedboat.
But then he's probably done the experiments where he's just
done the propellers and found that it was just more
efficient to do the propellers.
Speaker 1: H And who applayed the cut in the yard manufactor yourself?
Speaker 3: No, it was Mark himself and the yard was extremely interested.
Paul Tom's was, you know, very keen. He's looking at
it because Paul also racist yachts and he was thinking,
he's a bit left over, can it pop it on
my yacht?
Speaker 2: So yeah, he he was really interested in it.
Speaker 3: But I think what you know, Mark has took the
right approach where you know, he can't be all over
the country doing this, but you know every yard has
its painting and he doesn't see that it's a big
leap for them to learn and how to do it.
Speaker 2: You know, he will.
Speaker 3: Sell the products to the people who are applying it,
and they'll be applying it, so I think he will
keep a fir bit of oversight on it. We're coming
out of the water, hopefully in April at some point
for a quick sort of spash and dash because I'm
going to try to push the boat onto September this
year for the full painter. So I've got to come
out of the water at some point, so it'll be
interesting to see. Hey, the polymers. Hey he's got on
you know, but I got I've got a boat camera,
an on the water camera looking at a propeller, you know,
but that's for other reason. That's for you know, in
case we pick something up. So at the moment, you know,
obviously my propeller was gleaming when I left the yard,
but I think it's in better condition than it otherwise
would be. You know, the propeller's still looking goldie color.
So I think by now we would we would have
seen it looking more green with the weed by now.
Speaker 1: Wow. Yeah. And the host street forward was a preparation. Well,
he was mixing it in front of me. He would say,
but say put one and two together, and there was
a different amount in one pot than the other. And
then he would pour it.
Speaker 3: Into a little like a little hub, and then we
just brought it on, you know, just like you would
paint like painting, and then cover of that and you
can easily see it because obviously it has a sheine
to it, and the rest of it doesn't. And then
that was left for maybe half an hour or so,
I can't quite remember. And then he he'd mix up
another amount I can't remember if he did free mixes,
and he slowly built this layer of polymer up I
think marvelup will explain. This one was like a bass coat.
The next was the base of the polymer, and then
then the next one made the polymer. So I think
there was free coats. I can't quite remember, but it
didn't look yeah. I mean he proportioned it all out
before he came, so I think the really clever bit
is he would send proportioned domounts out to people, so
there's already made mix and it's like a recipe. It'll
all go together, and he'll give you the how to
do it, which wasn't difficult. And I think the clever
bit is just what's in it. You know, he's obviously
making the chemicals and he's got the chemical background of
how it all goes together, so it's just repeating that
process then, which I presume you would give training to
the people who were replying it.
Speaker 1: It's fascinating when it was somebody who well, yes, it's
important that he had the background knowledge about the product,
but you would you would imagine to come up with
something like that, his knowledge would have been more on
what goes on the sea and who the propeller reacts
with the sea.
Speaker 2: Yeah.
Speaker 3: I think he spends a lot of time on the
seat himself though. He's a bit of a passionate and
I think that's where that that comes from. So yeah,
I mean, I suppose chemistry is just if you if
you've learnt it well and to the level that he's
learned at.
Speaker 2: You know, it's it's just chemistry.
Speaker 3: It's beyond me, but you know it's that's his That's
been his life, and you know he's he's he's been
in the industry doing this on large scales, like you said,
with making it too taste.
Speaker 1: Yeah, all sorts of different recipes, you know, but they
all seeing up here, they have one that one is
each to the own.
Speaker 2: Yeah, he's an expert in this field.
Speaker 1: Were you skeptical before seeing in the water.
Speaker 2: Just more open minded?
Speaker 3: I was just like, well, you know, I just like
you know, like a lot of fisherman, I would give
it a go. You know's what's the harm in giving
it a go? You can't do any harm. So you know,
if it didn't work, it wouldn't worked, you know what
I mean. I always say, well, I won't do it again,
So there was no lots to me. You know, price
it's going to go out at eventually. I don't know
if you said a price, but I definitely think. I mean,
if you're saving four percent on a week for us,
you know, I mean, you know, at the moment the
fuel price has gone bananas, so you know we'll be
spending probably ten thousand pain or if you also four
percent is a big saving at the moment, but you know,
but normal going if the prices around that's sixty pence
a liter mark you know, well, you know you're saving
four percent. If you're spending six phasan pouind it's four
percent of that. So it's a weekly saving, it's a
few and a quid each week.
Speaker 1: Absolutely, to see it goes overly a little hill.
Speaker 2: Yeah, definitely.
Speaker 3: I mean with my combined savings that have made with
the ecmodus and the you know, the papana coating. I
went to see the accountant late last year and she
had noticed through the account She said, oh, you're saving
I'm sure she said, I can see it for the
leaders you're taken. And I was like quietly impressed, because
you know, she's one of those account that's really lied
to get into the numbers. And I was like, yeah,
there's a reason for it, because she always asked like,
is that reason for it?
Speaker 2: You know, she likes to know because she's found it.
I was like, yeah, there is.
Speaker 3: So I told her, and I was quite preshly spotted it, actually,
but I was quite pleased that she did because.
Speaker 2: I'd never told her.
Speaker 3: I never pre warned her, but so she had seen it,
and I was like, well, it just reinforced it backed
up what me and Alec were seeing that the account
didants have seen it as well, so you know we've
seen it from a value point of view.
Speaker 1: My response to that, Dave would be, don't give up
your accountant either. That's the sayings of a good one
because my goodness, for them to spot that, that's fantastic.
Speaker 2: Yeah it was.
Speaker 3: I was pretty impressed. Yeah, she impressed me. You know,
she's just one of them girls. She likes to get that,
she likes to get to an answer. She's quite scary. Actually,
you sit in front of it. He's only a little good. Yes,
have you some questions?
Speaker 2: I think you'd like pay you you're not paying me? Yeah,
she's good.
Speaker 1: Did that any time you think this may be just
another expensive experiment?
Speaker 2: No?
Speaker 3: Yeah, I mean because it because it was a trial.
You know, obviously I had nothing to lose on it.
So if he had come, well it's potential they asked
for you know, I suppose it was a rain, the
sort of five Z under paint mark. I'd been, yeah,
well I give you a go.
Speaker 1: Why not?
Speaker 3: You know, but like everything comes down to price at
the end of the day, doesn't it. You know, you've
got to pitch it right for people to experiment, and
and you know, different people of a different level of
spend it. Sure on fuel, you know, so for air vessels,
something like air vessel and working your way through the
size of the fleet to bean trollers you know, more
high fuel usage vessels, towing vessels like us, then spending
money in this area is is well worth it, you know.
If you're more static gear type vessels, yeah, maybe fuel's
not so big a consideration. It's more about sort of
you know, your gear that you got in the water
and your bait that you've got to put in the
gear so, you know, so for toaed vessels, I would
say it certainly you want to go out and think
about it, because but whatever you do, if you want
to measure it, just do a little bit of work beforehand,
you know.
Speaker 1: And excuse this question, that's maybe showing my lack of
experience or knowledge, but I would take it. When you're
talking about percentages, bigger engine burning more fuel, the slings
would be bigger as well.
Speaker 3: Yeah, I know, if if you've got a bean troller
burning you know, twice as much of what I've done,
obviously they're going to get twice a saving on it,
you know, So they wouldn't be that much bigger propeller
than we are. Yeah, they're gonna they're going to definitely
get a saving. So yeah, I didn't encourage anyone to
do it. I'm always surprised that more people don't get
involved with these with like looking at these things up.
Speaker 2: People do.
Speaker 3: But I'm just surprised it's not more popular. You know,
everything that we've experimented within with the fuel saving so
far has been a winner for us, and I'm just
surprised it's it's not more popular and it's not it
just doesn't just win with the fuel saving. We are
one hundred not omitting what we used to admit. And
it's not that I'm looking to save the planet, but
I just think at some point if we went to
build a boat or for being forced down the road
of having a blue at some point a boat, there's
a solution on the shelf.
Speaker 2: It doesn't cost you. It saves your money when you
put it a board a boat.
Speaker 1: You know.
Speaker 3: I wish the NCAA would support these initiatives more and
push them through as an alternative to some of the
ridiculous things that the industry is being made to fit.
These CATADATECIC converters that are being fitted on boats are enormous.
They're very costly to fit and to run. And so
the ecomotus is about the size of a computer and
you just top it up with a bit of water
and it saves you ten percent on the fuel. It's
like it's a no brainer.
Speaker 1: It's just.
Speaker 2: I don't know why we're fumbling around in the dark.
Speaker 1: Well, I don't think our governments are helping well. Certainly
in Scotland they're all helping as much because they're not
giving very much assess that.
Speaker 3: No, I mean there are grants out there for I
don't know about the propeller coating product, but there's no
reason why it couldn't be could fall under that category
why not? But the ecomotives does. So you know there
are grants out there to get fifty percent off. And
we've just obviously taken our engine apart. We've done a
complete rebuild on their engine. Alec did that with Brian
the engineer, and you know it was in very very
good condition in some respects. We could have gone a
lot longer, but you know, we wanted to do it
plan maintenance because we didn't want to be held up
for you know, an unscripted one. But yeah, in no
way does any of this effects the engine materials withinside
the engine.
Speaker 2: Nothing, So we've proved that.
Speaker 3: So that was always a little concern for me when
when I first put the ecomotors the boat, will it
harm them the engine? And as time went on we
knew it wasn't. But to actually take the engine apart,
to see right inside the engine and have a good
look at it and find that as a fact, it's
it's you know, even cat for finnings come down and
said that's a very clean engine for what hours it's done.
And we'd already gone fifty percent over the hours that
we should have done for the overhaul. So yeah, you
know that that just says it's the right product and
it's it's not going to do any harm.
Speaker 1: Yeah, easy thing with when we see it with government assistance,
that's in doing with you. But north of the border
in Scotland, if you went to the government and you
were going to make a fifty energy saving and yet
hosts they would be right with you with your board,
they're not.
Speaker 3: No, No, I think we do need a sport business
more in this country.
Speaker 1: Absolutely.
Speaker 3: Yeah, you know in every way we're getting hit in
every direction at the moment, you know, through taxation, through
lack of support. Yeah, I think we just got to
grind it out and hope for a change.
Speaker 1: That's that's the SNP government who would probably tell us
we're far right when they're ultra left.
Speaker 2: Yeah, well there we go.
Speaker 3: You know that it's slight the sense of people are
empower at the moment and people with any cont common
sense are just may keeping the country a flat.
Speaker 2: Really, we've got the unit running.
Speaker 1: This isnum that's obviously you know there's a measurable difference
with fuel consumption. What about the rpm at cruising speed, vibration,
noise and conversation stuff like that.
Speaker 2: Well we haven't.
Speaker 3: Obviously we can we can do less revs because we're
getting more out of the fuel because we're burning the
fuel more efficiently. But there's no difference that I've noticed anything.
You know, the boat is, you know, she's quite about
really towing and not any changes that we've made. Haven't
made any alterations with with anything with any machinery, noise
or anything like that. Ye, the only thing is we
know we're just running cleaner, saving fuel and we're more efficient.
Speaker 1: And have you been weeks at sea and inspected what
did you what did it look like compared to maybe
uncoded prop at the same stage.
Speaker 3: Well, only we've we do keep back cam clean. We
get diver come down every now and again just to
make sure the weed stays off it. And I was
at sea looking because you can't see it in the
harbor because the harbor's obviously the river actually running into
new it, which keeps the heart.
Speaker 2: We're a bit water is a bit dirty.
Speaker 3: But when we get out of the harbor we can
see the propeller, and I think it's looking cleaner.
Speaker 2: Than it would do.
Speaker 3: You know, I pretty much got the slip every August,
so we're not We're March now and we so it's
looking cleaner to me than it would otherwise do in
previous years.
Speaker 1: Has it taken any knock rope debris ground.
Speaker 3: In Yeah, we've had a couple of Like we had
a rope going a few weeks ago, but it was
only a small one and I haven't noticed any difference
in performance or anything like that. The rope when he
just went on the out of blades and it was
only in there for a minute if that. But we
haven't had anything knock it or anything like that. I
think we'll tell when we got the slip in April
how it's performing, you know, whether whether the polymers come
off or or whether it's still on. But I would
say at the moment still on, because we're still getting
that performance of extra speed, and we've still got the
fuel saving and it's still looking clean from the from
the camera point of view. So I'm hoping. I'm pretty
sure it'll be right, but it'll be interesting to get
down there and inspect it.
Speaker 1: You what like a sea bed at the bottom. Have
you got there? Do you know who would cope with
sand er a breeze of sea bed? Yeah?
Speaker 3: I think you're right to ask that, you know, like
a we'd see Newton's a bit like hard mud and
we don't really kick up a lot of dirt and that.
So I'm not in sandy areas kicking up pushing sound
from a propeller. But yeah, somewhere like say Saint As
for instance, you know, quite a very sandy harbor, quite
coarse sand. Yeah, you do, wondering that would affect it.
The answer to that is you'd have to try it,
give it a go, you know, I just don't know.
I mean, most of the time boats are see, aren't
they So it's only if you're driving them hard up
the beach. Yeah, yeah, you're ever going to have a
problem like that, and most people don't do that.
Speaker 1: Do you feel folin reduced compared to previous season this year?
Speaker 3: No, I'd say it's been a warmer winter for us,
so the boat's looking a little bit weedier around the
hull than it would normally. That's why I'm probably going
to have got the stick in April, because I don't
think I'm going to get to September because the winter's
been so warm, and I think we're going to hire
we growth this year.
Speaker 1: That would make it even better than if if you're
not in that in the hole as it.
Speaker 3: Yeah, if the propeller is still clean but the hull
is getting dirt here this year, then yeah, that's another
win because obviously the propeller would go at the same
pace as the whole, wouldn't it.
Speaker 1: Yeah, yeah, part of chips. Does that compromise the rest?
Speaker 2: I don't know the answer to that. Yeah.
Speaker 3: I think I'm going to have to go through this
year and then give it another coat. I'm quite confident
to give it another coat this year. For what I've
seen from it, I'd be doing it again. And I
just think use over time will give us an idea
of what it's doing. But because it's like a polymer,
I presume Mark made it like that, so it does
take that little bit of you know, he's going to
have a bit of a nudge or it will just
go back to its normal self. I presume if he
made it a hard surface that it would be more
prone to damage. So maybe that's why it's a polymer.
Speaker 2: I don't know. I have to ask him.
Speaker 1: Yeah, we'll have them back. Has it genuinely extended the
time between prop cleans or lift boots because that's obviously money.
Speaker 2: Yeah.
Speaker 3: Well, I'm obviously going to lift the boat out because
I've got to do everything else on the boat. I've
got to do the hull and I've got to do that.
The coolers mainly, I've got im bought coolers on the
boat and they're like a little trap for muscles and
we you know, it's frisen, a weedy they get and
if I don't do them, the engine will will run
too hot. So that's the only reason I'm doing it.
So I'm not taking a boat out for the propeller,
but it will be I say interesting when we do
take around what condition pressent?
Speaker 2: I get some pictures.
Speaker 3: I make sure everyone has a good view of them,
and you know, if it's you know, I'll rise up
my findings.
Speaker 1: Really. Yeah, we're in a full season. Where have you
seen the benefit consumption?
Speaker 3: And then just saving a little bit of time because
you get in between the ground quicker. Obviously we're steaming
in quicker, So yeah, you're saving time. You know, you're
steaming a back quicker and then obviously more efficient. When
you're telling would you.
Speaker 1: Be happy spending money on that? If your phone it
you need you see it value? Yeah, No, I definitely
want to do it again. No, I'll be coating it again.
Give it another year, that's so sure.
Speaker 3: You know, sometimes it's a big part of you thinks, well,
let's not give it a coat, just to double check
everything we've seen. But I'm pretty confident in everything that
I've seen is is. Yeah, it's definitely made a difference,
you know, I'm pretty confident of that.
Speaker 2: So I'll be doing it again.
Speaker 1: What would make you stop using it? Who would you
recommend it do?
Speaker 3: Well, I'd recommend to anyone who's doing hovid fishing, you know,
any beamer, Saint Netter Taller, I'd say, anyone's worth doing.
We've seen a difference. It doesn't it We're not going
to do any harp, nothing at all. So there was
nothing that would stop me using it, other than if
it didn't work. But it does work, so no, there's
no reason why I would.
Speaker 1: Not use it. Indeed. Indeed, and I mean obviously you
built your board, you get your board built up in
Scotland here. So in all the do you feel that
for Maybe? I don't know if there'll be all that
much difference, but colder waders, different groans and things. Would
it make any difference in the far north of Scotland
to the far south of England.
Speaker 3: No, because the polymer is making the propeller more slippy
and more grippy for some reason. I don't know how
that works, but it won't matter, you know. The temperature
of order I don't think makes any difference. I think
anyone who tries it in Scotland will see the same
as us. You know, we've got the same boats. She'st
as many boats like hours up in Scotland. No doubt
that they'll see the same performance as we have.
Speaker 1: Okay, I'm just going to ask you for a picture
the scene. If you were local bar and a fisherman asked,
what would you tell.
Speaker 2: Them you're not a fishment asked me about it?
Speaker 1: When it's at the bar, you could include I'll just
buy me another drink.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I was at the bar with the fisherman.
Speaker 3: I just I just say, just get down the slip
and get get the stuff on your boat.
Speaker 2: You know it works, you know? Yeah? And then yeah, Bobby,
Bobby a drink next year when you know it's working.
Speaker 1: In other words, look, just go and do it.
Speaker 3: Yeah, just go and do it. Yeah. Yeah, it does
what it says on the team, it's Yeah, it works.
Speaker 1: And obviously, as you've said, you would, you would invest
your own money to do that now annoying the benefits.
Speaker 3: Of it, Yeah, it's gonna be well worth it. No,
I won't be I won't be hesitate you to do that.
Speaker 2: Yeah.
Speaker 3: So hopefully it'll all be set up and there'll be
people there were training who will be applying it.
Speaker 2: So if if that's the case, then we'll be doing it.
Speaker 1: Is there anything that would make you stop using it?
Speaker 3: No, not not unless they get the mix wrong, you know,
and it doesn't work. But I'm sure they'll be trained well,
you know, and it didn't look that difficult, you know.
I'm sure if I was shown once, I could have
done it myself.
Speaker 2: I think, you know.
Speaker 3: The only thing is you've got to clean your propeller up,
you know, So you've got to be but you either
you get someone of the yard to do it, or
you do it yourself like I did, And so you'll
be a day by the time you've get.
Speaker 2: Sprayed it and then got the grinder out and.
Speaker 3: Give it a good polish well using a sander, so
you know, give it a good polish, get it as
clean as you can. It's the day's work. Well wors
for air prop. It's a big old props arms. My
arms and shoulders break at the end of the day.
But yeah, it did be good. You know, I'll keep fitting.
Speaker 1: Did you think that any team before that it was
just another expense of experiment.
Speaker 2: Yeah. When I was cleaning the prop, yeah, this works
and put a lot of effort in.
Speaker 1: So you're giving Mark all the credit.
Speaker 3: Then now now you got very compliment me and how
shy he had made my prop. I even took a
pout of it. I got a selfie with me and
my prop. Get that prop all day you as.
Speaker 1: You know, it's funny at times. You know many a
person would be wanting to get that photo beside their
favorite footballer or film star and you're happy to haven't
your prop?
Speaker 3: Yeah too right, Yeah, every fisherman they love their bouts,
you know what I mean.
Speaker 2: You know it's the second wife, isn't it. You know, Well,
any fatal opportunity with the with the doubt is good.
Speaker 1: You and that one tells me how much a fisherman
like his board. He'll be talking about it and he
refers to as she of a fisherman talks about it,
or they don't have any passion for well.
Speaker 2: Boath have personalities, I'm sure of it.
Speaker 3: You know, every different boat than me and Aleca and
Dad had had had a different way about it, had
a different feel, different personality about it. And you know,
when you build a boat, you know, it's like by
having a child. Really, it's like, you know, it's a
big deal. You know, it's a great It was a
great thing to do, and you do feel. I feel
closer to this boat than any other boat I've had
because we built her and the ideas that we had
went into her, and it was a privilege to do it.
Speaker 2: And it is a privileged to work.
Speaker 3: And the boat looks after you and you look after
the boat, and that's what it is to be a fisherman.
Speaker 1: Definitely, and there's never one way looking at it't know
it would be a much better world. Do we live
and have more people do that?
Speaker 2: Jould?
Speaker 3: Yeah, Well, a lot of fishermen there, you know, a
bit like farming. You know, it's just a way of life,
you know, it's it's it's not just a job.
Speaker 1: Is it definitely definitely far bigger than that. Yeah, do
you have a social media presence and work and listeners
follow you on lane?
Speaker 3: Yeah, I'm thinking among those things, like you are, Jim,
And I'll do a bit of tiktoking now just got
down with the kids doing that, but are not particularly
good at it. I'm not as good as John Ove.
He's mister TikTok these days, and it is Tralla entails
fantastic and we're all learning Doric as well because of him.
And and yeah, so he's mister TikTok. So I'm on Instagram.
I like Instagram and Facebook, on LinkedIn, Twitter, We've got
like a whole suite, isn't it these days? To follow
It's nice to keep it touch to everybody. I like
posting pictures, interacting with other fishermen. And yeah, it's a
good thing if it's used right. It's a good thing,
isn't it. We've got podcasts these days. We all really
enjoy listening to your podcast, and thank you. Really accessible,
it's really just successful. You can pop it on when
you're just making tea or something, can't you and you've
got ten minutes and listeningly.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I've could have a number of people told me
the different ways will be maybe steaming out to see
somebody will be driving so they'll put it on as
they're driving or that. So No, it's great. I enjoy it.
I have to see, David, I do enjoy it meeting
and talking to some really interesting people like over this.
It's fascinating to hear that even still there's people coming
up new ideas and adapting them to the industry. It's
it's that's what keeps us going.
Speaker 2: Yeah, and it's good to have showcased, you know, it
really is.
Speaker 1: Yeah, well, I'll thank you and was fooled up. That
was great. Looking forward to getting it out. Thank you
very much, Thanks you, good see you