Advice for taking 24ft powerboat to sea

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Chris Devey

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Hi would be grateful for some advice for a complete novice. I have a feeling people will laugh at this but I need to know if it is possible.

Basically I am looking at taking all the relevant training courses to take a my dad's power boat out to sea. my reason for learning is so I can take the boat from England to Spain (Bilbao) in 2.5 year's time for my 40th. I can hear some of you laughing already! I doubt this is even possible so please let me know.

So for the boat, it is a 24" Cranchi with a 350HP 7.4 litre inboard engine, and also a 75hp outboard backup.

Not sure what else to say so please ask if I haven't said enough, but I'm guessing most people will think i'm crazy for even thinking this is even possible.

Cheers

Chris
 
Chris Devey said:
Hi would be grateful for some advice for a complete novice. I have a feeling people will laugh at this but I need to know if it is possible.

Basically I am looking at taking all the relevant training courses to take a my dad's power boat out to sea. my reason for learning is so I can take the boat from England to Spain (Bilbao) in 2.5 year's time for my 40th. I can hear some of you laughing already! I doubt this is even possible so please let me know.

So for the boat, it is a 24" Cranchi with a 350HP 7.4 litre inboard engine, and also a 75hp outboard backup.

Not sure what else to say so please ask if I haven't said enough, but I'm guessing most people will think i'm crazy for even thinking this is even possible.

Cheers

Chris
Click to expand...

Hi, you are not crazy. A crazy person would not be asking others for advice and not planning on training courses!

Www.solocoastalsailing.co.uk
 
Have to agree with Martyn on this. A 24ft powerboat is really best used in calm waters. While you could get very lucky with a weather window, it is unlikely to be calm all the way across. You will also be using 20 to 30 gals per hour with your monster engine, so how big is your fuel tank? You probably safely have about 60-80 miles worth of range, and in a small sports boat, little space for carrying additional fuel. So your best option is to trail the boat, and enjoy her when you get to Spain.
 
Thanks for your advice guys, I am not sure of the fuel tank size but here is a little more I have found about the boat

Vessel name: Cranchi Turchese 24 Vessel type: motor Builder: Cranchi Make: Cranchi Model: 24 Turchese Year constructed: 1999 Berths: 2 Cabins: 1 No. of engines: 1 Engine model: Volvo Penta 7.4 Gi V8 Engine power: 360 Fuel type: Petrol (Gas) Crusing Speed: 35 Knots Maximum Speed: 49 Knots Length over all: 7.31m Length at waterline: 6.6m Beam: 2.43m Maximum draft: 0.91m Hull type: Deep Vee Displacement: 2000 kg

The plan was to use the boat only to get to and from Spain (instead of taking a ferry) bit more of an adventure! Once in Spain I will be doing wine tasting of the Rioja region so won't actually be using the boat until we are ready to return to the UK, so taking the boat there by road would not really help for my plan.

looking at the map I guess we would cross the channel to France, then hug the coastline down to Spain, but I guess with a small boat like this (even with spare fuel on board) we would have to make frequent stops to refuel.

So from what you guys are saying it looks like this won't be an option and to book a ferry ticket :-)
 
Even with all the training courses you may not be ready for such an undertaking. Nor I imagine is the boat rated for such a journey over open water so insurance etc would be problematic plus fuel plus, plus etc. It is certainly within the realms of possibility given enough time and weather windows but would be extremely ''adventurous'' and not recommended and certainly not freshly qualified without much experience. Much better to have it transported or trailered. One of my most truly terrifying moments in a small 20 footer after "qualifying" was setting off on a millpond, rounding a headland (Great Orme) at the turn of the tide and within 5 minutes finding myself head on in steep 6 foot waves with a 30 foot period. Green water over the bows and the boat starting to founder and you have to try and make the turn back. 5 minutes later back in a mill pond. That's the difference between training and experience, training doesn't prepare you for the experience. Headland overfall and everything else you will learn doesn't sound terrifying on paper, but it is.
 
Great boat, and started in something similar myself, but in my opinion, Spain is completely out of the question for almost anyone (unless trying to set a record etc.)

Trailer it. I drove UK to Spain for the first time this year and it was great fun.
 
Whilst it would be possible to do the trip in a 24ft boat you would have all sorts of delays with weather. A small boat like this needs very good weather to make any sort of good progress. Then there is the matter of fuel. With a single diesel it would be possible I am sure, but with a large block v8 petrol I am not sure you would find enough fuel stops. It would also be horrendously expensive.
 
How much is the ferry?
Its about a 1500mile round trip from Plymouth, if good weather you might manage 2mpg if your lucky.
So thats 750 gallons of petrol at about £5 a gallon if you can find it, so £3750 in fuel. Say 150 miles a day if you have the range so 10 days to get there and back, plus marina fees, food drink etc....

Take the ferry :)
 
Chris Devey said:
The plan was to use the boat only to get to and from Spain (instead of taking a ferry) bit more of an adventure!
Click to expand...
If that's the idea, why not go through the French canals?
After crossing the Channel, you could forget the main engine and use just your o/b.
Which is a good combination btw, because I suppose it doesn't get used a lot otherwise.
And the trip would be MUCH more interesting for sure - not to mention safer...
 
Unless you have lots of time on your hands, I suspect the weather window (or lack of) will be the biggest issue. Once you trained and (probably more importantly) gained some first hand experience in the boat, you'll find that likely as not, when you have the time the weather will be uncooperative! I'm heading for my 6th year and still haven't managed to get holiday and weather to align to enable a run across Lyme Bay to Weymouth yet! Although a smaller challenge, our boat is just under 16' - and despite having been out in a F6/7, there's no way I'd venture across Lyme Bay in anything more than F2/3... (Even less so the Atlantic coast of the Iberian Peninsular!) Perhaps you could plan a run to the Channel Islands once you have built some experience? That would give you a taste of open water and provide something to benchmark the proposed adventure against? In addition to cost, the other consideration is how you would manage being held up in a port somewhere by poor weather that might extend the trip by weeks! Canals certainly sound like a viable alternative and much less weather dependant.
 
Well I think almost all has been said. Could your boat make the crossing? Yes it could, some guy has just rowed across the Pacific in a boat small that yours, Is it going to do what I think you want it to do, Very Very Unlikely, You have basically got a day boat and the odd overnight, for local journey or short hops, I would leave it at that. Either way get yourself a boat and have some great fun on it. But just stay safe.
 
rbcoomer said:
unless you have lots of time on your hands, i suspect the weather window (or lack of) will be the biggest issue. Once you trained and (probably more importantly) gained some first hand experience in the boat, you'll find that likely as not, when you have the time the weather will be uncooperative! I'm heading for my 6th year and still haven't managed to get holiday and weather to align to enable a run across lyme bay to weymouth yet! Although a smaller challenge, our boat is just under 16' - and despite having been out in a f6/7, there's no way i'd venture across lyme bay in anything more than f2/3... (even less so the atlantic coast of the iberian peninsular!) perhaps you could plan a run to the channel islands once you have built some experience? That would give you a taste of open water and provide something to benchmark the proposed adventure against? In addition to cost, the other consideration is how you would manage being held up in a port somewhere by poor weather that might extend the trip by weeks! Canals certainly sound like a viable alternative and much less weather dependant.
Click to expand...

so the range rover breaks down alot ,joke
 
Thanks for your advice everyone, and as many of you have said the fuel costs with this engine would be enormous, the French canals sounds like a good idea, but I'll probably get the ferry for this particular holiday, and I can't see an issue nipping over to France in this boat, weather permitting.

That said I will still get the training done and look to take it around the Norfolk coastline this summer coming, happy boating! :-)
 
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