Charles and Paul set out to build our own crab pot

Step one. We are using a ridged plastic buoy as it is easier to work with.  Firstly I drilled a hole top & bottom of the buoy. Then as

a flag pole we are using an old VHF aerial from 'Duchess'. As you can see the aerial was very green with mould. I sanded off the

mould then passed it clean through the two holes.

Once the aerial was in place I filled both ends of it with epoxy to make the tube water tight. The holes in the buoy were then filled with epoxy.

This is one of the advantages of using the ridged buoy. I was able to epoxy in the aerial with out fear of the epoxy cracking.

The next step was to drill another hole in the top. Because the buoy now has two holes in it I decided to fill it with expanding foam to

make sure it remains afloat.

Next I masked the aerial and sprayed it with day glow orange paint to ensure maximum visibility.

Julie made us a flag for the former aerial from an old hi vis jacket and the pot itself I bought from a local

seaside gift shop.  So the only question is what happens next......

Lacey and Paul await the arrival of Duchess & Charles. We used the tender to drop the pot away from the boats then.....

Went to the pub. After the pub we went to sleep at anchor and in the morning guess what?

Not quite big enough to eat but well done to Storm & Charles for getting it out of the pot