Looking for a channel crossing suport vestal

[WindermereColvic]

Looking for a channel crossing suport vessel

Hi all, this might sound a bit mad, but…
My university sailing club needs more money. This year we’ve got some really decent sailors, and could potentially do well in the inter university leagues –but – our sails are terrible, and actually most of the boats could do with some serious repairs. So, we need money.
We want to sail the channel to France, and are confident our peers would sponsor us to do it.
So my question is this:
Is there anyone who would be willing to act as a support vessel? We foresee we will need accompanying across (c.4 knots), and help being guided across shipping lanes ect.
Anyone know anyone who might be willing to help? We can’t really offer a fee as such, but I’m sure if I was made aware of your favourite tipple, gratitude would be forthcoming.
Any other points spring to mind?

To clarify a point raised about fuel costs. We're really not expecting fuel to be paid for what would basically amount to a several hundred £ donation to us. The point of this post is to find one of the many boats who would be undertaking this trip at their leisure, albeit at a little more than 4 knots, we are asking more for a donation of time on a trip that would be happening anyway.
Thanks for reading, Matthew
PS, Yes, i know the title is splt al rong

 

[G12]

Vessel.

 

[Sybarite]

Hi all, this might sound a bit mad, but…
My university sailing club needs more money. This year we’ve got some really decent sailors, and could potentially do well in the inter university leagues –but – our sails are terrible, and actually most of the boats could do with some serious repairs. So, we need money.
We want to sail the channel to France, and are confident our peers would sponsor us to do it.
So my question is this:
Is there anyone who would be willing to act as a support vestal? We foresee we will need accompanying across (c.4 knots), and help being guided across shipping lanes ect.
Anyone know anyone who might be willing to help? We can’t really offer a fee as such, but I’m sure if I was made aware of your favourite tipple, gratitude would be forthcoming.
Any other points spring to mind?
Thanks for reading, Matthew

Mathew I would love somebody to pay my boating costs too but it just doesn't happen in the big ugly outside world. What about vacation jobs this year and sailing next year? And as a university student it would help your cause if you used a spell-check.

 

[Sybarite]

"support"

 

[savageseadog]

Mathew I would love somebody to pay my boating costs too but it just doesn't happen in the big ugly outside world. What about vacation jobs this year and sailing next year? And as a university student it would help your cause if you used a spell-check.

A Vestal virgin

 

[lenseman]

. . . . . We foresee we will need accompanying across (c.4 knots), and help being guided across shipping lanes ect.
Anyone know anyone who might be willing to help? We can’t really offer a fee as such, but I’m sure if I was made aware of your favourite tipple, gratitude would be forthcoming. . . . . . Any other points spring to mind?
. . . .

Welcome to the forum and glad you are thinking of sailing over to get some DF's.

Firstly, I have a 4-metre rescue RIB and earlier this year I covered a Mayday for Solent CG where I had to go from my berth at Haslar to the far end of Hayling Island, a distance of about 8 to 10 miles. It cost me about £25 in petrol!

About 5 years ago I was negotiating on the purchase of an Arun 54 (ex-RNLI Off-shore lifeboat), the fuel cost about 28 to 32p per litre at the time and I casually asked the broker how thirsty an Arun 54 might be.

He told me it would use a gallon a minute PER ENGINE !!

This is 9.1 litres per minute and at current prices would cost something like £10 per minute, or £600 per hour. The English Channel is 22 miles across at the thinnest bit but probably 30 miles where you intend to go so 60 miles, minimum, round trip!

 

[LadyInBed]

A Vestal virgin

Oh! You beat me to it!
I bet he's not doing an English degree

 

[Sandyman]

Oh! You beat me to it!
I bet he's not doing an English degree

By today's standard of education I wouldn't bet on it

 

[Simondjuk]

Gosh, what terribly helpful replies so far.

I imagine, if someone happened to be sailing the route you plan to sail on the day you plan to sail it, they may well be prepared to dawdle a little in order to provide support from a larger vessel. If I were, I would. Why wouldn't I if it helps get more people out sailing one way or another and costs me the square root of sweet fa?

Meanwhile, Sandyman and Lady In Bed take joint honours in the 'Hoist By One's Own Petard Award' for taking swipes at spelling and grammar whilst brazenly failing to punctuate their own posts correctly. Good work!

 

[Sandyman]

Gosh what helpful replies so far.

I imagine, if someone happened to be sailing the route you plan to sail on the day you plan to sail it, they may well be prepared to dawdle a little in order to provide support form a larger vessel. If I were, I would. Why wouldn't I if it helps get more people out sailing one way or another and costs me the square root of sweet fa?

I think you will find there is a lot more to providing a support vessel than just dawdling across.
The reason why replies have not been helpful do far ??

 

[Sybarite]

Gosh, what terribly helpful replies so far.

I imagine, if someone happened to be sailing the route you plan to sail on the day you plan to sail it, they may well be prepared to dawdle a little in order to provide support from a larger vessel. If I were, I would. Why wouldn't I if it helps get more people out sailing one way or another and costs me the square root of sweet fa?

Meanwhile, Sandyman and Lady In Bed take joint honours in the 'Hoist By One's Own Petard Award' for taking swipes at spelling and grammar whilst brazenly failing to punctuate their own posts correctly. Good work!

If it were just that it would be different. However it starts off saying that they need money : maintenance and repairs, sails etc. Money and sponsors are specifically requested.

 

[Simondjuk]

I think you will find there is a lot more to providing a support vessel than just dawdling across.
The reason why replies have not been helpful do far ??

I rather got the picture that the crossing is likely to take place anyway, presumably in fairly small craft, and that a larger vessel standing by would simply be a resassuring and prudent precaution. Not that they were seeking an orange RIB with flashing blue lights, 1000hp worth of engines and lots of aerials to hold their hand evey mile of the way.

If ther former is all they need, I'd happily shadow them to make the trip a viable proposition.

 

[bendyone]

Some idea of which part/end of the Channel would help,

 

[Simondjuk]

If it were just that it would be different. However it starts off saying that they need money : maintenance and repairs, sails etc. Money and sponsors are specifically requested.

What he actually says is that he is sure their peers would sponsor them. That, to me, means that they would seek sponsoship from their fellow university students. This is how they aim to raise the money they need for new equipment. It does not read to me as if they are asking for monetary donations from forum members or the support team, other than that the support vessel pays her own costs, but these would be negligible due to her simply making a passage she was intending to make anyway, albeit at a slightly slower speed.

He even mentions that he appreciates that the vessel serving the support function would be providing a facility which would cost hundreds of pounds if a vessel were engaged specifically for that role. They simply seek to avoid that cost in order not to blow the majority of their sponsorship money before they even set off, instead retaining it for the purpose for which it's been raised, ie. new sails and kit.

 

[Ianhampshire]

In this day and age, when so many young people struggle to rise above the weight of expectation, critisism, health and safety legislation, negative reporting and show a spirit of adventure, then we who are able to do so, at little or no cost to ourselves, should both applaud and support their trip. They ask for no money, just our time.

For anyone who was intending to sail across to France at the same time, the loss of a few hours in the crossing would be a very small price to pay to accompany them just in case they needed help. We would all want the next generation to learn about, and share our enjoyment of sailing but what image is given out by us when such an honest request is met, not with encouragement and support, but by nit-picking the spelling and grammer.

I for one would willingly help such a simple request if I could.

 

[Simondjuk]

Well said, Ian.

It actually quite saddens me that so called sailing enthusuiasts, enthusiastic enough to spout about sailing on an internet forum at least, take such a negative view of a request for simple assistance to realise an endeavour of this kind. More so, that most of that criticism is levelled only as a result of the majority of respondents not bothering to read and understand the opening poster's request properly.

They then focus their energies on posting smart responses picking holes in the odd spelling error in the title of the thread, which it may not be possible to edit once the thread has been submitted, themselves containing grammatical errors as numerous and blatant as those they are formed in response to. There's nothing makes a person look quite so foolish as out-smartarsing themselves.

Throw in a healthy dose of 'Do you know how much this sort of thing costs?' type negativity, again completely irrelevant to the thread and brought about only by a lack of attention in reading the initial request, for good measure and it all adds up to a fairly negative statement of some of the minds that are involved in the sailing scene today.

Then, to cap it all off, I'm asked why I think some of the replies have been less than helpful. I'd have thought it was fairly apparent when of the now 16 replies only those from myself, Ian and bendyman have been constructive and anything other than unnecessary jeering snipes at spelling or random quotes of the cost to fuel an offshore lifeboat of a type which was clearly never requested.

All we need now is the hand-wringing, Daily Wail reading contingent to leap in to point out how if we shadow these little craft, and something bad should happen to one of their occupants, we'll be tossed into gaol and the key thrown away for our gross, and surely criminal, negligence. The same type of folk who think they're likely to be prosecuted should they give an intruder into their home a good biff on the nose for his misdemeanour.


Good luck to you in your efforts, Matthew. Don't let a few negative ninnys put you off. You and your sailing club buddies are seeking to help yourselves by means of initiative and positive action, and that's to be commended. I hope you can make the crossing happen as it sounds like a lot of fun and quite an adventure. What sort of boats are you proposing to use?

If the plan should come together, and I'm in a position to do so at the time, I'll gladly find a reason to make a crossing which coincides in order to informally support you guys. Heck, afterwards, we can even post some photos of what a spiffingly fun, low cost and spelling mistake free adventure we all had.

 

[LadyInBed]

Gosh, what terribly helpful replies so far.

Oooo, are you related to the OP or have you just taken on the role of his defender?

PS - I never got to take English O level or whatever the equivalent is these days, so I don't rate myself as a punk tuator. I just take a stab at stringing words together and throw in the odd comer, but I can use a spell checker

 

[Rigger Mortice]

Simon, Ian et al.

+1.
Particularly as OP is obviously not a chancer who is trying to get something for nothing. He is a forumite and has been posting on here for sometime. A clue as to his credentials is in his name; "WindermereColvic".
I don't know if he is doing this for his old university, or he works there, or even if he is a mature student and I don't think it matters but the patronising comments show that some are willing to criticise without bothering to really read what he asked for.

Mathew,
It would help if you could say where and when you are doing the trip.
Good luck with it.

 

[snowleopard]

I have done just this so let me relate my experiences.

There was a request on here for a support boat for a 17 year old girl who was crossing from Exmouth to Cherbourg in a Laser 1 to raise money for a charity. Their friends who had a cruiser had damaged their boat and had to drop out. A trip to France seemed like a good idea so we stepped in.

The crossing took 20 hours and as well as ourselves acting a 'mother ship' there was a large RIB provided by the outfit that organizes transatlantic rowing trips. I did the navigating and the RIB shuttled to and fro with refreshments. Her parents rode with us. We had a good time in Cherbourg including going to the Cafe de Paris for the young lady's 18th birthday. For the return trip we hauled the Laser onto our foredeck and took them back to our home mooring from where they trailed the dinghy home. The RIB made its own way back to base in about 3 hours.

This was taken in mid-channel approaching the Off Casquets TSS

 

[exfinnsailor]

So .........

The boats need a serious amount of work for which you don't have the money
You need new sails because the old ones are rubbish

and you aim to cross the Channel

Sounds like you need to do a Risk Assessment

You will also need Insurance etc. because I don't suppose for one minute that your present Insurance Company would want the risk.

Apply to the Lottery If they have anything left after the Olympics