A worrying thought

[mhatherall]

Hello there. I have been looking at posts and reading people comments about the weather conditions needed to take the boat out, now being from South Wales we dont get much in the form of good weather conditions so what I am really trying to find out is if people only get to use there boats on the small amount of nice sunny days we get around this part of the world.
Cheers
Mike

 

[1937rogerdon]

Stop worrying about nice sunny days. You can get some good days on the boat even when its dull and sometimes raining.
If you only have the weekend, you just got to get out and make the most of the weather.
A notable feature of the weather this summer has been the light winds in the channel developing into a very strong sea breeze on the turn of the tide. This tends to last for a few hours then easying off and giving reasonable conditions during the later part of the day.
Roger

 

[mhatherall]

Thanks Roger, yes weekends will be the most time I get out in the boat, apart from early evening, but as the winter closes in I doubt there will be many early evening trips, looking out of my office door now, I see the night already starting to close in :-( I once loved the winter. Before boats

 

[1937rogerdon]

Mike, Not sure what type of boat you have, but in a sailing boat making a night passage or just going for a sail at night can be a a very rewarding experiance. winds are usually lighter and steady..
Thermals, a Heater and a hot water bottle essential extra kit.
Roger

 

[mhatherall]

Hi Roger, Its a motor boat, a Maryland Safari 21ft with a 60 hp engine,

Mike

 

[Sneds]

Get a few layers of warm clothing for the winter!
It allways seems colder on a boat.
Try TK Max for tee shirts and weatshirts, finnish it off with a fleece and waterproof jacket.
You may end up looking like a sumo wrestler /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif but being cold is damn miserable.

 

[mhatherall]

So going out in the winter is more about being warm,. and not so much about the bad weather and High winds ?

 

[LizzyD]

Hi Mike,

Warmth is soooooo important. There's nothing worse than being cold on the boat. It makes you miserable and wish you hadn't gone out. Last year, Bev and I went to Bristol from Cardiff for a weekend. It was the weekend that the clocks went back in October and we set off in complete darkness. Despite the snot icicles hanging from each nostril, the adrenalin rush from night navigation kept me warm. As the sun came up and were able to navigate by sight, Bev got the kettle on. You can get hot chocolate which you make by just adding hot water and we have tubs of the stuff on Lizzy. We went up the river near Bristol somewhere just after dawn and saw the mist and wading birds on the waters edge - and a zillion poor so-and-so's communting on the M5 over our heads as we went up towards Bristol. Wonderful!

Certainly, you have to listen to the weather reports. Lizzy only does 5 knots over the water, so we are ultra sensitive to weather reports to ensure we can't get caught out. I don't know anything abouth the performance of your boat, but its description leads me to think that you could speedily make your way to a port of refuge if the weather gods decided to play a little trick on us poor mortals.

Everything boat wise is about planning - as I have frequently been reminded by my own lack of it. Years ago in work, we would be told that,

"A lack of preparation and planning leads to p**s poor performance." How true.

Take care,


Lizzy D

 

[mhatherall]

Thanks Lizzym I must say its all starting to drain me, soo many great posts from people some saying the boat looks great, some saying to good to be true, its hard who to listen to, I have been able to make a list of questions tho ready for the potential boat I might be buying.

 

[Sneds]

Sounds to me like you've allready bough her /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

 

[Csail]

We do check the weather, but to be honest normally just go out whatever.... Once you have done bay of biscay the channel is quite mild.........well, kind of. Wind over tide is the biggest problem in my opinion.
The boat will probably cope better than the crew so always stay on board.

 

[Elza_Skip]

We use our boat (25 foot cruiser) all year and have enjoyed some lovely calm days in the middle of winter.

Thing is to wrap up warm including leggings/overtrousers and not be too adventurous. A trip out on a crisp January day to Flatholm and then back to the pontoons for a meal is a great day out and keeps the the engine in use.

If you are going to use the boat all year you will need to take different winter protection on your engine and water systems to keep them in commission- a whole new subject!