Irrational fear.....

I think having fear is natural, and the fear will help ensure you make the best decisions possible like ensuring the boat maintenance is up to scratch, you have some safety equipment and know how to use it and make sure you venture out in appropriate weather. I do disagree with other comments such as never taking children out or trying to make your boat unsinkable - that amount of fear should equal staying on dry land. My children are 7 & 3 and love being on the boat. I grew up on boats from a similar age - incredible memories. Just being sensible will ensure you have a brilliant time.
 
Yeah, if you think it's too unsafe for children to be on board, then surely you also think it's too unsafe for adults?

Anyway, my son (now 6) has been on our boat from 5 weeks old, obviously everyone has different ways of evaluating risk, but taking sensible precautions should enable you to go boating safely whilst minimising risk.

Now I've said that next time I go out I'll be faced with some major issue I haven't considered, such is the way Murphy's law works
 
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Since I’m the one who said about not taking kids I guess I’d better explain. First I have none of my own, but i don’t want to be responsible for other people’s kids, simple as that. It’s not that i fear my boat will come to a bad end but a child can pop over the side in a heartbeat and as someone not used to looking after them 24/7 I don’t want the responsibility that would surely come to me as captain. I was merely empathizing with the op by showing we all have genuine concerns, not to tell him to leave his child on the beach. If I was asked to take a child, I would explain that I don’t have a child’s life jacket, which is true (although I have three different size dog life jackets on board)
 
I too have small children on board. The only concession I make is that when underway that they remain in the cockpit and not inside the cabins. Purely because I worry that with their lifejackets on escape would be impeded in such a disaster scenario or capsize.
 
guyd said:
It’s silly, but I’m concerned that at high speed and in low population waters .
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Its certainly not an irrational fear. In fact it is good that you are thinking about what could happen instead of just blindly setting off into the blue yonder without a care in the world. Yes you can and should equip your boat with good quality safety equipment of the type that other forumites have described. If it were me, I would take a 4 man liferaft rather than a partly inflated dinghy because if sea conditions worsen, an inflatable dinghy is in danger of capsizing. Yes I know a liferaft is expensive to buy and service but one day it could be the difference between you and your son surviving a sinking or not. Personal locator beacons (PLBs) are definitely a good idea especially for your son

There are some other safety measures you can take. Inform a family member or friend when you are leaving your berth and if you do not phone them by a certain time to confirm your return to the berth, tell them to contact the Coastguard. Make sure you give details of your boat and the number of persons on board to that person. Another thing you could do is to cruise in company with another boat. Try to find somebody who has a boat with a similar speed capability as yours and suggest a few cruises in company, at least until you have more confidence
 
I broadly agree with all the good advice on here so far.

I wonder if your OP has been addressed exactly though ? You ask what would happen if you hit a submerged container or a railway sleeper at speed. I don’t think I can give you a scientific answer, but my own view is that in both cases you would be unlikely to cause sufficient damage to sink the boat....... not to say that it couldn’t happen, but a fast planing boat is only drawing a small amount and the Boat would naturally rise above and across the submerged object rather than smashing into it....... if the container was projecting out of the water enough to prevent the boat running over it, then I think you would see it pretty easily ! So your most likely scenario, in my opinion only, would be damage to your outboard or prop or both. I don’t think you would hole the hull such that you would sink. Certainly it’s possible but suddenly you are combining a low probability with a low probability and that should give some comfort.
I think one of the earlier replies suggested going slowly until such time that you are more comfortable with the risks you are taking. This is also good advice and doesn’t mean sub 10 knots. Put the boat on the plane and find a comfortable cruising speed..... whether that is 16 knots or slightly higher you will be able to maintain a pretty good lookout. Contrary to popular hearsay, the chances of hitting something in daylight are actually fairly small in calm seas, and if the waves are larger then a partially submerged object will be more likely to be visible anyway.

I think the summary advice is go slower, keep a good lookout, get a small liferaft for peace of mind. Don’t let fear of an unlikely event spoil a wonderful pastime.
 
rafiki_ said:
Why don’t you call Jake or Cathy at http://www.compass-seaschool.co.uk/

Based at Portishead. Jake is also Coxwain on the RNLI station. Both great people.
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That’s a bit of wooden advice .Good advice all the same
Based on accountability and notoriety if things do wrong , post incident mud slinging- “ covering ones arse “ you are only gonna get a by the book answer .A thick tome as well on the kit you should carry .
Your safety gear will end up worth more than the boat .

They can,t these days advice anything less than “ best practices “ —- officially.

Thing is should something untoward happened and a 3 rd party gets all legal and finds out you did NOT follow the advice after seeking it - - as long as you are happy with the prosecution reading that out in court ,the list of stuff that you ignored.

Over a beer with a mate who,s a cox that’s different off the record advice .i,d go for a more subtle approach like you doing now .Forum as another eg !

No and my middle name is not Teflon :)
 
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Portofino said:
That’s a bit of wooden advice .Good advice all the same
Based on accountability and notoriety if things do wrong , post incident mud slinging- “ covering ones arse “ you are only gonna get a by the book answer .A thick tome as well on the kit you should carry .
Your safety gear will end up worth more than the boat .

They can,t these days advice anything less than “ best practices “ —- officially.

Thing is should something untoward happened and a 3 rd party gets all legal and finds out you did NOT follow the advice after seeking it - - as long as you are happy with the prosecution reading that out in court ,the list of stuff that you ignored.

Over a beer with a mate who,s a cox that’s different off the record advice .i,d go for a more subtle approach like you doing now .Forum as another eg !

No and my middle name is not Teflon :)
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A chat with Jake or Cathy, would give the OP a lot more info on boating in the Bristol Channel. They make their living there, are on the water everyday, and would give a rounded views on safety in the Channel, do's and don'ts and what safety gear to carry on a small planning boat. The OP could do worse than to have a day out with Compass, which will give him a lot more confidence in his boat and abilities, and what to do if anything goes wrong.
 
Boatbore said:
I broadly agree with all the good advice on here so far.

I wonder if your OP has been addressed exactly though ? You ask what would happen if you hit a submerged container or a railway sleeper at speed. I don’t think I can give you a scientific answer, but my own view is that in both cases you would be unlikely to cause sufficient damage to sink the boat....... not to say that it couldn’t happen, but a fast planing boat is only drawing a small amount and the Boat would naturally rise above and across the submerged object rather than smashing into it.......
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Your post has just reminded me that many years ago we did hit a massive piece of wood at high speed. It wasn't a railway sleeper but it wasn't far off in size and shape. It was flat calm, we were doing 40 knots and it was waterlogged so floating on the surface, but not high enough to see.

What happened was exactly as you describe, the boat went over it without flinching and the only reason we knew we'd hit it was that the engine revs (which weren't far off maximum anyway) suddenly flared up briefly without warning, which was a bit startling.

We stopped immediately to work out what was wrong and it turned out we'd gone over the wood and the outdrives had hit it, causing them to be pushed up (as they're designed to do) and the revs had flared as the props neared (or possibly cleared) the surface of the water and lost grip.

Not a mark on the boat or the drives remarkably, although I do wonder how a shaft or IPS driven boat would have reacted.
 
The oddest thing I have seen floating in the water was a full sized fridge in Caernarvon Bay, but after heavy rains we can expect a lot of dead wood in the water, trees and branches that have been felled and left by the river banks that have subsequently washed down the various rivers and quite often also get caught between my river pontoon and the boat. Even though largely submerged I have yet to hit one and can usually spot them in the water well in advance of hitting them. If I have ever hit any I have not noticed. When I have seen boats / yachts holed it it usually above the waterline and a consequence of hitting steel channel buoys at night. (The presumption here is they inputted the channel buoy co-ordinates into their chart plotter and set waypoints by them) and when it's below the waterline almost exclusively some failure while at or leaving anchor. I think this is significant as it highlights where the highest percentage of risk is. I have yet to hear of a boat being holed and sinking from hitting anything at speed other than a navigational aid. Go figure.
 
BruceK said:
The oddest thing I have seen floating in the water was a full sized fridge in Caernarvon Bay, but after heavy rains we can expect a lot of dead wood in the water, trees and branches that have been felled and left by the river banks that have subsequently washed down the various rivers and quite often also get caught between my river pontoon and the boat. Even though largely submerged I have yet to hit one and can usually spot them in the water well in advance of hitting them. If I have ever hit any I have not noticed. When I have seen boats / yachts holed it it usually above the waterline and a consequence of hitting steel channel buoys at night. (The presumption here is they inputted the channel buoy co-ordinates into their chart plotter and set waypoints by them) and when it's below the waterline almost exclusively some failure while at or leaving anchor. I think this is significant as it highlights where the highest percentage of risk is. I have yet to hear of a boat being holed and sinking from hitting anything at speed other than a navigational aid. Go figure.
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wasn't that your fridge you lost in bardsey sound ha
 
Thanks one and all. Interesting that at 40 knots there was no damage
My tartmobile is a shafty, but does have a significant lump of steel under it (keel band? Skeg? Dunno) which would help, unless the prop got ripped out.
 
Many years ago a friend I shared boats with was coming out of Cowes behind the Hydrafoil and there was a loud thump from the cabin, A large bulk of timber end on had penetrated the hull and boat filled rapidly with water and started to sink. They had to swim ashore near the yacht Squadron fortunately the were not far out and during the summer.
The boat was a 16ft Solar Corsair that we had fitted with a 140 mercruiser.
We believe that the hydrafoil had kicked up the submerged timber.
 
personnally in your circumstances i would get a small inflatable tender and a grab bag with flares and a handheld vhf.
i dont think you are being irrational but the chances of catastrophe is slight, but now thats its in your head it cant be discounted off hand untill you are confident.
the reason i suggest a tender is that its there, already inflated and may offer much more reassurance than a little white canister liferaft on the roof.
similarly a grab bag in the cockpit may also offer you some reassurance.
get the children fladen flotation suits if that is your biggest worry and if the worst happens you would all be fine for hours in the tender
 
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