A long weekend on the boat.

[CaptainMike1970]

A great series of posts, some of the most enjoyable to read and view all seasons, thank you for posting.

 

[Harpsden]

Henry, thanks so much for taking the time to make all these posts. It's been a great read from start to finish.

I wish I could take photos that looked so good!

 

[SP2]

Adding my voice to those thanking you for such a terrific thread and read, Henry. Reminding me so much of the "3 week long weekends" my father managed from his business and the fantastic family times doing proper cruising from base. Great memories for all of you, I am sure.

 

[henryf]

Once again thanks for all the kind words.

The trick is of course to find sufficient time to use the boat properly. One worry is weather windows available to break the back of the journey and in particular how fine to cut it when returning back to your home cruising ground.

Someone local to us in the marina wanted to do the Channel Islands this year so hired a professional skipper to deliver his boat there. He used it, then had the skipper return the boat once the holiday was complete. This totally removed the pressure of looking for weather windows and allowed 100% of holiday time to be spent in the chosen cruising ground.

Some might see this as a cheat but for people on tight schedules it could offer a usable solution for not a lot of extra cost. Skippers aren't the most expensive professionals to hire.

We have been weathered in for the thick end of a week in Weymouth in the past waiting to cross Lyme Bay. For people on fixed periods this messes everything up and encourages you to push on through less than ideal conditions upsetting more fragile members of the family.

Henry

 

[oceanfroggie]

Epic

 

[Greg2]

We did the non-tidal Thames this year and took the boat down the coast to London the weekend before so that we could start the holiday straight away instead of being weathered in at Lowestoft. Worked really well and we had a great holiday.

I did plan to post a report but not sure I could match this excellent thread Henry!!

 

[PEJ]

Thanks for this thread Henry. I was away myself when you started it and have just spent the last few hours reading it from start to finish.

Can I ask a boring practical question, if you can remember the answer? Where did you get your fuel from and how much did you use? Did you have to forward plan it much or just stumble upon fuel berths?

 

[mjf]

concur other Henry - simply brilliant words and pix; its although we joined you on the trip.

Missed at Cowes I think as we came over on Monday and still here now enjoying the sunshine - lost count now the number of hours spent enjoying the ISC view.

As a matter of interest I think you quoted just shy of 50 genny hours over the 20 odd days - how many of those days didi you have shore power?

I seem to need 3/4 hours a day to keep the domestics up to speed.

 

[henryf]

Thanks for this thread Henry. I was away myself when you started it and have just spent the last few hours reading it from start to finish.

Can I ask a boring practical question, if you can remember the answer? Where did you get your fuel from and how much did you use? Did you have to forward plan it much or just stumble upon fuel berths?

We used more fuel than some, less than others.

When I started writing this it was to specifically get away from questions like this one (don't worry I knew it would get asked and understand why you ask it). Get out there and explore the world in your boats. You all know how economic your boats are. Without wanting to turn the thread into the usual argument about the cost of cheese these days what I would say is you can make a massive difference to the fuel burn and hence overall diesel cost by changing your speed. Everyone talks about the immense range of displacement boats, would it surprise you to know that in super economy mode our Princess 50 flybridge uses a little under 1.5 litres per mile. That's one engine at tick over moving us along at 6 knots plus or minus a bit. The constraints of time and a willingness to get out and explore meant we chose to make use of the vessel's top speed of over 32 knots, well certainly a good proportion of that top speed instead. As you can tell by the distance, time and average speed of under 13 knots we did potter at times.

We didn't pre book fuel anywhere but I did make a few phone calls along the way to decide where and when to take some on. Weymouth is a handy stop off both ways and a good place for fuel. The fuel pontoon is tiny so we use Quayside fuels who bring a little truck along. 07747 182181.

Sutton Harbour in Plymouth were a lot cheaper than Mayflower and Queen Anne's Battery.

Dartmouth, and by association Salcombe because they are the same people were the same price as the more expensive Plymouth marinas. Torquay was extremely expensive.

One of the advantages of having large tanks is that we can choose when to take on fuel rather than being forced to take it on when we are about to run out.

Our tank capacities are:

Fuel 2275 ltrs 500 imp gal

Water 592 ltrs 130 imp gal

Holding tank 170 ltrs 37 imp gal

Henry

 

[henryf]

concur other Henry - simply brilliant words and pix; its although we joined you on the trip.

Missed at Cowes I think as we came over on Monday and still here now enjoying the sunshine - lost count now the number of hours spent enjoying the ISC view.

As a matter of interest I think you quoted just shy of 50 genny hours over the 20 odd days - how many of those days didi you have shore power?

I seem to need 3/4 hours a day to keep the domestics up to speed.

It is indeed bright and sunny still. Damn the legal requirements to educate your children.

We had electricity at Falmouth Town, Plymouth, Weymouth, Torquay, Poole, Yarmouth and Lymington. For the rest of the time we were mid river. We did have the option of tucking inside the town jetty at Dartmouth but chose to take the relative peace and quiet of the mid river deep water pontoons. I would say we are probably about the same in terms of generator hours. Probably a little bit less once the girls were weaned off Eastenders and it was cooler at night than the Med or Asia.

Henry

 

[SimbaDog]

What a great thread View attachment 35585

Brilliant piccies

 

[oceanfroggie]

Henry I was very much enjoying a re-read of this epic thread. Stuck in bed with bad flu. Amongst other things I was/am a model railway buff and enjoyed this photo. Just one question, was the GWR loco under steam, or on tow? It's just there was no steam in the photo, but she could have been coasting.

Ps. No apologies for bumping probably the best visual feast thread of 2013.

 

[MrB]

What a fantastic thread. I stopped work for some lunch and clicked page 1........never went back to work. One would happily pay for a guide book of this quality. Well done indeed.

 

[longjohnsilver]

Henry I was very much enjoying a re-read of this epic thread. Stuck in bed with bad flu. Amongst other things I was/am a model railway buff and enjoyed this photo. Just one question, was the GWR loco under steam, or on tow? It's just there was no steam in the photo, but she could have been coasting.

Ps. No apologies for bumping probably the best visual feast thread of 2013.

That's about 100m away from my mooring. Never seen the steam engine being towed, if it's on its way to Kingswear Station (about 1/4 mile away) it's downhill so yes, likely to be coasting.

About 10 years or so back I was walking on the path by the track when the brass funnel blew about 10' up in the air and landed a few yards away from me. The train made a quick stop and it took both the chaps in the cab to pick it up and recover it. No idea what happened to cause it, but it now seems much more firmly secured to the train.

It's one of the great features of being on the Dart. And we now have a paddle steamer, they often whistle at each other, great sights and sounds.

Hope you recover soon.

 

[rbcoomer]

A couple of 'Goliath' under load ascending from Goodrington towards Churston - taken around September 2013. The line runs pretty much year round from Paignton to Kingswear with a few specials from Bristol and further afield I believe.

(Apologies to Henry for the Thread Drift! )