Continuing with our caravan (and other holiday essentials) maintenance routines, here are a few more details of what has gone into the preparations for summer.

A few more fixes have happened on the caravan and leading into the summer holidays, our small fishing boat is also ready to go!

Boat Maintenance

For our annual summer holiday we take a small (4.2 metre) tinny which we’ve had a full service done on, prior to sea fishing. We used a local company in Goolwa, South Coast Marine, to do the service which included checking the water pump, propeller, anodes, engine compression, spark plugs, flywheel, fuel system, electrical system, timing belt, steering check and more.  Hopefully it will pay for itself in fish, squid and crabs on this year’s holiday!

Now is also a good time to go through the fishing tackle and see if a top up is needed. You can re-spool fishing reels with new line and check that you have enough hooks, squid jags and whatever else you need for your summer fishing. You should also check that flares and safety gear for the boat are up to date and compliant.

And for all the best ideas and tips, you can’t go past Fishing SA magazine, which also makes a great Christmas gift for the fisher in your life, with subscriptions available to receive the magazine in print or online.

Make sure you’re up to date with new fishing catch limits which are in force in South Australia, because of the algal bloom that has caused some mass fish kills. Essentially there is a temporary reduction which will apply for the affected species including calamari, garfish, blue crab and King George whiting. The catch limits include daily bag limits – the number of fish a person can keep per day and also boat limits – the total number of fish allowed per boat, where 3 or more people are on board.

For full info visit the PIRSA SA fishing limits page.

Caravan Awning

Our caravan awning has been showing signs of wear and tear and fade so we’ve also had a new one made for it. We used another great local business, South Coast Marine and Caravan Upholstery, which specialises in all sorts of canvas work for boats and caravans and having used it in the past, we knew the work would be professional and fair priced.

As well as the new awning, we had another sail track (rope track) fitted above the awning and an awning protector cover made, which covers the rolled up awning and ties securely to the side arms.

This will help to keep the awning weather protected and clean when it’s not in use, and prolong the fabrics life span.

Bring on the summer holidays!

Glenys

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