18 foot boat to small for the Solent?

ricky_s

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Hi,
I have a Cranchi Riviera which is a sports cuddy just under 18 feet long. I popped out of Chi Harbour on Sunday as far as the bar and although Sunday was a nice calm day, it felt a little choppy to me the further I got out. The odd splash coming over the screen.

Didn't feel unsafe but wasn't that good a feelng after turning back to the harbour.

Is this size boat okay to go out on a good day or am I taking a big risk. I want to go over to the Isle of Wight when the weather is nice and the boat is fast when on calm water.

Do I need to get a bigger boat? The harbour is going to get old very quickly if that is the case.

Thanks
 

Fire99

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sorry if this sounds like a post i made answering another question.
I used to have a Norman 18 with a little cabin and i used to go everywhere in that.
My suggestions would be to keep an eye on the weather and dont go out over a Force 4 and try to avoid wind against tide situations..

I dont know your boat but the weakness on the Norman was the front windows were held in by Rubber gasket which means heavy waves could theoretically push them in and fill the boat up quickly.

It did get quite bumpy if the weather turned but it felt worse than it was...

Just remember to have the necessary like life jackets on etcand if going out alone have a kill cord or something to stop the engine if in the worse case scenario you should end up in the water..

But in fine weather a little boat can be a whole lotta fun for not too much money.

rgds,

Nick
 

volvopaul

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Your fine as long as you get up to date weather forecast and watch your tides, ie wind against tide etc, get some training if your not an experienced boater, and most important of all make sure you have, flares an up to date vhf hand held and a fixed set if you can fit one from the engine battery, lifejackets for all persons on board, tell someone landbased where your heading and what your passage plans are, contact solent coastguard if unsure of sea state your in if it concerns you as they will keep an eye on you, travel with another boat if you can till you get used to it.
Make sure you have good waterproof clothing some water and food to drink, first aid kit, torch and nav lights if you get stuck at night, adequate ropes and fenders and a small anchor if you can store one, get the engine serviced and carry spare filters and impeller, if you can fit say a 5hp get you home outboard as well.And of course enough fuel to your planned destination.
18ft is small but there are ribs and sailing dinghys smaller than that on the water.
I will never forget my first tip to Guernsey as we were going through the alderney race and round the south side there were all sorts of small boats and Island hopping ferries that were much smaller than my 38ft princess, no doubt there will be more replies to this post but here is my contribtion, ENJOY!
 

Kawasaki

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Good replies Paul and Nick.
No doubt there will be more input.
Rick, if You follow the advice from those two posts, You won't go far wrong.
Using the advice given and common sense ( which You show You have by posting on here!) Your boat is quite capable of the use intended.
K
 

Steveu

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No, I think that you can have plenty of fun in your boat out in the Solent. But the sea over Chichester bar can be rough and you need to get over it to get home so you'll need to watch out for the wind-over-tide situations which make it scary. It'll boil down to this: if you only go out in winds light enough that you don't need to worry about getting home over the bar then the winds will be light enough that you don't need to worry about being out at sea either. I'd say the comfortable wind speed is likely to be force 3 rather than force 4 but there are (usually) plenty of days like that in the summer...and they'll be memorable days.
 

Frontier

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Hi

I am in Chichester and I have had some nasty times getting out or back in a 32 footer. As others have said on here, you need to be able to get back and it may have changed while you were out.

I have been in Chichester since September 05 and I think on average I have had more uncomfortable Bar crossings than calm ones. Also the weather always seems to be F4 -F5 which is fine outside but boils up crossing the bar. In fact I find it a real pain. SWMBO wants to move because she is fed up of the fairground ride getting in and out. If it was wider and you could go faster it would add more good days, but the speed restriction in the channel means that MOBO's have to bob about for an age to get in and out, if you could plane it would only be a minute or two and actually less wash than trying to go at 7kts pushing tons of boat through the water.

Maybe we have just picked the wrong weekends, so take a balanced view from your replies, but see if you get some from some seasoned locals, Getting in and out of Gosport is much easier, but even there I think you are going to find an 18ft boat makes it interesting.
 

hlb

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I to, having experienced a 22 ft boat. Would wonder about the experience from Chichester. Might be beter to move the boat into more sheltered water. Yes it's probably not going to sink, but thats hardly the question.

Not to sure about Chicheter, have been there a couple of time. But you need a home port that you can easy get back to, in case the weather changes. Which it does.

Depends here whether we are talking, do able or comfortable..
 

Fire99

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I agree there is a big difference between comfortable and do-able for most people.
And from experience in an 18ft boat you certainly feel 'part of the action' in any kind of chop. (However that can be quite fun ff you keep safety as a priority.) You gotta face facts that a little 18 footer is gonna be alot more bumpy than a 50ft Sunseeker however does that make it unsafe?

If you take the correct precautions with life jackets etc (and keep within reasonable limits) no its quite safe.

This may be a bit overkill for some but you could even do the RYA Powerboat course on your own boat then you'll learn alot more what the safe limits of your boat are.. This may make your trips out alot more relaxing and perhaps safer...

Just another thought.

regards,

Nick
 

Solitaire

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[ QUOTE ]
Hi,
I have a Cranchi Riviera which is a sports cuddy just under 18 feet long. I popped out of Chi Harbour on Sunday as far as the bar and although Sunday was a nice calm day, it felt a little choppy to me the further I got out. The odd splash coming over the screen.

Didn't feel unsafe but wasn't that good a feeling after turning back to the harbour.

Is this size boat okay to go out on a good day or am I taking a big risk. I want to go over to the Isle of Wight when the weather is nice and the boat is fast when on calm water.

Do I need to get a bigger boat? The harbour is going to get old very quickly if that is the case.



[/ QUOTE ]

To a very large extent this issue does not have anything to do with the capabilities of the boat (within reason). It is more to do with your own experience and those with you at the time! There are those on here who take small sports boats into the most unlikely places. I have been through the Gulf of Corryvreken in a 21 foot sports boat, and Brendan can tell you stories of daring do in small boats as well.

The Cranchi has a good hull and would cope well in "rough" water, it's just how you drive it!

Rough water handling is an art as well as technique. One of the biggest problems with people helming in rough water is taking the power off. You have to play with the throttle, one minute you are almost in neutral the next on full power. You cannot hope to drive confidently (and safely) in rough water by keeping the throttle in one place. Take the power off at the wrong time and the boat will "fall" into holes, leave it on too long and it will ........... Well you know when!

The bar can be nasty place, but a boat handled correctly will be fun!
 

Its_Only_Money

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In the mid-90's we did 500Nm in a season around the Solent, as far East as Brighton along the channel, and up on the West coast of Scotland.

As others have said get a 5Hp get-you-home (ours would do 5knots with the 5hp deployed, using the main engine as a rudder - this lets you helm from the comfort of a seat and behind your screen at a cost of some speed and you still have to return to the 5hp for engine controls).

We carried 4x 25l + 1x 12l outboard tanks and had a Yamaha main and aux 5hp, premix in the 12l and neat petrol in the 25's. As the fuel connectors are the same (the Yam 5hp took an external tank), this means that we could use the 12l at a pinch in the main engine as further reserve and we could also if required add oil to each 25l tank in order to feed the 5hp - useful to keep your options open.

Another advantage of this setup was that if you needed to refuel at a roadside garage there was no need to decant the fuel from the cans into the boat tank - removing a big potential safety issue. Range on each 25l tank was a consistent 15Nm and as you had to change fuel tank every 15Nm you had a firm indication of fuel usage without relying on a built-in tank gauge.

As others have posted, smaller boats are just easier to be affected by a deterioration in the weather, compensate for this with a good set of foul weather gear and keeping a VERY good eye on the weather but with the right hull and topsides setup they can be very seaworthy. Get some training or accompanied experience in less-than ideal conditions so you have an idea of how tiring smaller boats can be in heavy weather (and the definition of heavy weather gets less poor as it were in smaller boats), learn how and be prepared to tack into a head sea etc

Smaller boats are definitely a lot of fun, my boat is only 21ft now!
 

nicho

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[ QUOTE ]
SWMBO wants to move because she is fed up of the fairground ride getting in and out. If it was wider and you could go faster it would add more good days, but the speed restriction in the channel means that MOBO's have to bob about for an age to get in and out, if you could plane it would only be a minute or two and actually less wash than trying to go at 7kts pushing tons of boat through the water.



[/ QUOTE ]

Strangely, I have only had one bad entry across the Bar in the past 12 months, and that was my fault for misreading a forecast and found myself in a Spring ebb in a Southerly F5 - bumpy to say the least in our 42 footer, and SWMBO was not too happy.

Do note however, that the 8 knot speed limit finishes South of a line between East Wittering church spire and Eastoke point, and thereafter you can go a fast as you wish. It's a bit of a misunderstood point, some thinking it extends to the West pole Beacon.
 

Solitaire

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[ QUOTE ]

I believe I was there at the time in my 18ft! /forums/images/graemlins/laugh.gif Not half as scary as running through that gap between the islands straight into that pea-soup fogbank!!! /forums/images/graemlins/shocked.gif

[/ QUOTE ]

If I recall, so you were. /forums/images/graemlins/laugh.gif Now that was a long time ago /forums/images/graemlins/shocked.gif
 

nicho

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[ QUOTE ]
If the conditions meant adhering to the speed limit increased the danger I'd be happy to have that discussion with the harbourmaster after the event...

[/ QUOTE ]

I have spoken to the harbour master and he confirmed the line of the 8 knot limit. The worst of the seas are found south of that line, so if speed helps, go for it! the only limiting factor might be the line of yachts all motoring at 6 knots, when good seamanship might prevent you from swamping them!
 

[2068]

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Powering up a bit does help.

With the S28, going to semi-displacement mode at about 12-14knots seems to work well. It throws a huge wash, and uses tons of fuel for a few mins, but I've tried other speeds: faster and your teeth hit the windscreen. Any slower, and you get wobbled around all over the place...

dv.
 

rickp

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[ QUOTE ]
I have spoken to the harbour master and he confirmed the line of the 8 knot limit.

[/ QUOTE ]

Did he also mention the Havant Borough council & Chichester Council limits? This is what he replied to me by e-mail:

[ QUOTE ]
The harbour speed limit of 8 knots only applies to vessels within Chichester Harbour that is north of a line drawn between Eastoke Point and the Church spire at West Wittering. South of this and outside the harbour Havant Borough Council and Chichester District Council both have their own speed limits that extend 400 metres or so seaward of their respective low-water marks. Beyond here mariners are only bound by the requirement in the collision regulations to proceed at a safe speed.

[/ QUOTE ]

Trying to find any mention of such a limit on the Chichester and Havant websites was pointless - so I have no idea what they are.

Rick
 

Frontier

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[ QUOTE ]
I have spoken to the harbour master and he confirmed the line of the 8 knot limit. The worst of the seas are found south of that line, so if speed helps, go for it! the only limiting factor might be the line of yachts all motoring at 6 knots, when good seamanship might prevent you from swamping them!


[/ QUOTE ]

I think you have it in one, "the line of yachts" or sometimes a wall of yachts, all trying to overtake each other at the same time. By taking the full width of the channel all the way out MOBO’s can’t plane a lot of the time. I guess it’s their way of getting their own back for when some inconsiderate MOBS's have rocked them about in the past.

I try to go over to the shallows to the east to give them plenty of room.

Returning to Ricky-s question I think the replies seem to cover it, its going to be exciting or frightening a lot more of the time in a 18ft boat and you get proportionally more comfort the bigger you go, I think your 42footer is probably ideal, and leads to more days being OK for you, a bit exciting for my 32ft and very exciting for a 25 footers. I almost bought a Sealine 255 and am glad now I didn’t. That doesn’t mean there would be anything wrong with the 255, but for my comfort level it would have been more like hard work than enjoyment.

D
 
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