Any suggestions for gettting yacht home?

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IzzyDeadyet

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My first post for qite a while and I'm not sure that this is the correct forum for it but here goes.

My future son in law and four sailing friends set off from Chichester on Saturday intending to sail his new to him yacht (Invicta 26) back home to Wisbech by Thursday (28th). He's got to be home by Thursday because there's a wedding in the offing - his!!!

They've been sailing cautiously it being a new boat and all that but even so it's evidently NOT been the sunshine cruise that some of the crew expected and there's mutiny in the ranks with one jumping ship at Newhaven this morning. The four of them sailed on to Eastbourne today and he's rung me for advice because they've now decided to call it a day when they reach Dover (hopefully tomorrow or Wednesday).

Owing to his wedding/honeymoon etc he's not going to be able to sail it home for almost a month (me thinks he'll have some hefty mooring bills on his return).

It's pointless me offering to sail it home for him because I'm only an incompetant ex-dinghy sailor so I suspect that he'll have to find a yacht delivery skipper and/or crew.

Am I right or is there another (cheaper) option?

Also, does anyone know of somewhere cheaper than, but near to, Dover for long term stay?

If he does need a yacht delivery service can anyone recommend one and any idea of cost?

As always, thanks for reading this. Any help and advice will be much appreciated.

Regards
 
Excuse my geographical ignorance, being a Westcountryman, but from my roadmaps the River Nene doesn't look wide or deep enough to sail a yacht to Wisbech.
Anyway, it looks to be an awful long way by sea from the South Coast. Perhaps a professional delivery skipper might be the answer?
 
[ QUOTE ]
he's not going to be able to sail it home for almost a month (me thinks he'll have some hefty mooring bills on his return).

[/ QUOTE ]Isn't it customary for the bride's parents to pay for this sort of thing?

Failing that, I'm sure you and some local SB types can solve the problem with only a little bit of mooring fees.
 
Months berthing in Dover £33/m in Wellington Dock.
VAT, water + electricity included.
My berth is free from tomorrow for a month.
PM gives my phone no etc.

Bob Frost
 
A Delivery skipper is only about £120 a day ... that's £5.00 an hour for 24/7 service ... hell, I pay my idiot nephew more than that per hour to cut the grass. With per diem, etc, call it £150 a day. Expensive? Not really.

Also, get a quote on shipping it by road.
 
I could do it. I have a fairly togetherish crew comprising self and three windcrazy teenagers. Few days i reckon in lickle 26 footer. Whatever they do - leave keys with harbourmaster of course.

Has this boat gotta liferaft? - obviously, whoever does the trip won't really need a liferaft of course...er, unless they need a liferaft...
 
yes yes, a professional skipper would be able to step the mast singlehanded or perhaps cleverly cant the boat over to get under the bridge hoho.

Ahem, there is a swingbridge and you callem oop to let yer through.
 
Wow. 83 metres, eh? I don't think many marinas anywhere can take 'em that big. Being old I had to convert that to proper measurements and it came out as being about 275 feet. Do you get many yachts that big up there?
 
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If I was about to get married, I woldn't want to be shelling out too much on professional crew !

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Neither would I.

And I would still be single if I had dared to arrange my shakedown/delivery cruise so close to my wedding day!!

Clearly my wife is made of sterner stuff than my daughter /forums/images/graemlins/tongue.gif
 
[ QUOTE ]
Isn't it customary for the bride's parents to pay for this sort of thing?

[/ QUOTE ]

What? Aaaaaaarrrrgh!!!! No, tell me it's not true! NO, NO!!! No Way /forums/images/graemlins/shocked.gif


[ QUOTE ]
Failing that, I'm sure you and some local SB types can solve the problem with only a little bit of mooring fees.

[/ QUOTE ]

Now that's a much better idea /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif

The problem is the furthest distance I've ever sailed is four times round the reservoir in an enterprise dinghy - and that was some time ago! Probably not the ideal preparation for a voyage across the Thames estuary and then a further 140+ miles up the east coast to the Wash culminating in a scenic trip miles up a winding river. Oh yes, did I mention the deep keel?

But if any of you out there are willing to hold the hands of an Incompetant Sailor who has never set foot on the Invicta 26 (but I have had a good look at 3 photo's of it) I'd love to hear from you . .

Please form an orderly queue here and can I have cheapest prices at the front please.
 
I agree with you. I used the same reasoning with Future son in Law from day one. Back of a lorry or a Delivery skipper and crew was the sensible thing to have done especially so close to the Big Day!

I don't know how bad the weather has been on the south coast the last few days but I have a feeling that four days out from Chichester a delivery crew would have got a little further than Eastbourne. .
 
Sadly not, as I'm only 30miles from Wisbech....

But remember that its in the heart of the fen agicultural economy, and used to be in distant times, a major shipping port..... the odd largish ship still makes its way up there, but not in anywhere near the same volumes as they used to.....

There's a new marina been recently built, but its such a ball ache journey out to the sea, constrained by tide, and then only into the Wash, with little in the way of sensible destinations other than anchorages, that its not very attractive to many... me included

Wisbech did recently however have a visit from a couple of tall ships.....

As an aside, I have a friend who runs a factory processing potatoes in that part of the world, and in recent conversations, he told me that a large precentage of their factory employees had never been more than 15 miles from Wisbech.... incredible
 
about sixty a year, but mostly in the summer months. They have to moor alongside the quay though as, as you quite rightly surmise, the 'marina' doesn't have finger pontoons big enough. I think it's actually nearer 271feet, but they can manage 275 feet if you're planning to visit in your super yacht.
 
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I don't know how bad the weather has been on the south coast the last few days but I have a feeling that four days out from Chichester a delivery crew would have got a little further than Eastbourne. .

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Well, a delivery crew would probably have got a bit further, but they wouldn't have been nearly so successful at managing to make a 4 day stag event out of the trip /forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif
 
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