Plymouth to Limerick in a 1974 Seamaster25 twin perkins 4108??

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navigator66

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Hi to one and all,
I have just purchased my first boat, a 1974 Seamaster 25 with twin perkins 4108 engines. I have worked offshore for 20 years, have lots of small boat experience, but no coastal experience.
I'm ok with sea survival, reading charts ( i'm a navigator ) and the like, but would appreciate any advice, as i'll be taking the boat to ireland, on my own.
What are the capabilteis of my boat, max wind and sea states?
Has anyone any experience of a similar boat.
Any help appreciated
Cheers
Chris
 
bbbRrr. Glad you've got the sea survival stuff. /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

Ok so your a navigator. So whats your route. You'd prob make it down to Penzance ok, but what next. Scillies to Dunmore East would prob be quickest, but a hell of a long way. Guess about 160 miles?? Maybe more. Course there are other routes, but all have ther difficulties.

A Force 3 is about your max. But a F3 can be like F6 in some areas.

Theres alot of areas where your going to be very exposed. Lands End. Then the West coast of Ireland.
So you need dead flat sea, more or less all the way. Which is not likley to happen.

The other routes are Penzance or Newlyn to Padstow, then Milford Haven. Did it last year but cant remember. 55 miles or so?? One way or another, get to Hollyhead, then Dublin 45 miles?? Think you might be able to take the canal and rivers then, down to Limerick.
 
I think what hlb is really saying is Get a Trailer, much easier and less stress, thats a hell of a journey in a small boat. Good Luck
 
You need to satisfy yourself on many fronts with a new to you boat. How reliable is your engine. how much fuel does she consume per hours run? what is your back up if she conks when at sea on your own? what knowledge have you of harbours en route? Would it be easier to lift her on to a lorry and get to know her a little more leisurely?
Sorry to be such a wimp but I've been there - ran into difficulties with a new boat simply because she was airlocking and I had not learnt at the time how to deal with the problem.
 
Hi Chris,
As you can see from the tone of some of the replies there are a few reservations about your proposed trip.It is probably the age of your boat that will cause most concern,unless a very unusual vessel,by now all of the stuff of the boat will be reaching,shall we say past its fall to bits date.Most craft of this age will now be settling in to a long quiet retirement on a river or estuary,where if a problem occurs,it will merely involve a drift to the bank or at worse dropping your anchor and waiting for somebody heading upriver to take pity on you and tow you home with a trip to the pub afterwards by all concerned.
Feel sure that HLB can tell you that those bits of the coast you will be transiting are very exposed with not that many places to run if the weather gets iffy and those that are available are fairly well apart especially for a slow boat like yours.
Any time spent listening to an ailing engine miles from nowhere with everything crossed is an experience guaranteed to put a few lines on your face. /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif
How about fuel?
You could do it maybe over a few weeks by doing short hops using perfect weather windows but it would probably be cheaper to pop it on a lowloader and its there the following day in one piece.
 
In a boat that age I too would recommend trucking her across to Ireland. If your bound for the Shannon, you could cruise down the Grand canal from Dublin, or even around the coast in short coastal hops over a week or two if you get exceptionally settled weather, especially when rounding the SW coast and approaching the mouth of the shannon, because the Atlantic swell can take a week to die down after a blow, so finding a safe window is limited.

Another option is to road transport her to Waterford and cruise inland up the Barrow navigation and then west along the Grand canal to Banagher on the Shannon. Contact the guys in the IWAI at http://www.iwai.ie and on their Web forum for advice. That boat is very suitable for the inland shannon with her giant loughs and inland seas (ie Lough Derg, Lough Ree, Lough Erne, etc)

If you do want to cruise across then shortest recommended leg something like Milford Haven to Kilmore Quay in wexford. Do the trip in lots of small legs close to bolt holes and help, and only in exceptionall settled weather. Forget Dunmore East, that is no longer used by yachtsmen as first port of call, Kilmore Quay in wexford with it's marina is closer and more sheltered.

Recommend trucking her across the Irish sea.

PS: Btw, Navigation from Limerick to Killaloe on the inland shannon is now much improved but do NOT enter it if the hydro electric dam upstream at Ardnacrusha is running more than one turbine. After heavy rain fall with 4 turbines running on full load the Abbey river in Limerick can run like white water at 10-12knots making the Limerick bridges kamakazi, but a mill pond in the right conditions. Check with ESB before leaving Limerick's Hunt Jetties for Killaloe (3hr trip). The run up the shannon estuary from Kilrush Creek will take about 5hrs with the rising tide.
 
I don't think you will go wrong if you take OceanFroggie's advice. If you look at his post's he is extremely knowledgable and helpful in respect of anything to do with Irish waters, the lads on the Irish site are also very good have a look on here web page
 
a lot off negative feeling here, i brought a 50 year old boat with twin perks in plymouth & motored up to rye, took me 4 days on my own in december 2 yrs ago, b 4 i left i had a couple of trips out to get 2 know her, i serviced both engines, got plenty of spares, what made the trip hard was no company!! if you cant find any crew put a notice on here for voluntiers. do plan carefully you do need to know where you can pull in & what times the safe havens are accesable, good luck and let us know how you get on.
 
Thanks to you all for your input, my plan was to get to penzance, wait ( in the pub ) for a nice day to get round lands end, then up to Bideford ( another pint ) then across St George's channel to st david's head then on to Rosslare ( the shortest distance between two islands being a striaght line ). Now, depending on how brave i feel, and how the boat is behaving, i'll either go stbd to dublin and canal it, or port for the beauty of the south and west coasts, if the weather looks good. the latter being my prefered choice.
I'm fortunate that i have 4 weeks to do the trip, and deep pockets for diesel. if i don't manage it in 4 weeks, i can have another go in August, i work 5 weeks on 5 weeks off.My overiding sense is that boats were meant to go on water, not trucks. I'm not reckless either, and have no wish to be rescued/get my feet wet. the boat will have a full service by a boat mechanic ( i'm pretty handy myself )lots of spares and saftey gear and give it a shot.

I'll never be more than 25 miles offshore, and that's only crossing bristol channel and over to Rosslare, the boat says it will do 12 knots, i calculate on 6-8. Plus i'll have a few days in plymouth getting to know it before i set off. and i have two engines to go at.

I bought a bedford rascal for 70 quid 2 years ago and drove it to Mongolia, only had one broken leaf spring in 9000 miles. you have to try, don't you?

Thanks again. all taken onboard.

Chris

P.S. Deisel. i can think of nothing nicer than spending a couple of weeks on my own!!!!!! books and beer, beer and books.
 
Good luck with whatever you decide to do, a bit of info on smaller brother of your boat.
seamaster.jpg
 
Chris.
I did that trip last July in a 52 footer, twin 800hp. It took me 8 hours from Newlyn to the mouth of Cork harbour in an average F6. I had 2 crew and we were all knackered when we tied up. It is a long trip and you have an awful lot to consider doing it on your own. Cork Swansea ferry is due to start up soon so why not transport to Ringaskiddy. The rest of the trip at least you will be near safe havens if needed.
 
Now i've woken up!! i just re read the barrow river option, that would be great, so i'm off to do more research.

as experienced boaters, what would you take with you, my list so far is,
Survival suit,
spare vhf
flares
life jacket
tender, with oars.
oil, fuel filters and tool kit, spare piping/ jubilee clips
Spare fuel and two charged 12v batteries
manual bilge pump/ bailer
charts and spare compass
spare GPS ( satnav)
sea anchor
lots of dry warm waterproof gear.
two radios, for shipping forecast
tow rope
torches
epirb.
bottle of whisky, Glen livet!!

If anyone has any ideas, please put them forward.
i'm setting off around the 5th of June so lots of day light, just need some nice weather!!

cheers

Chris
 
Is it common practice to notify the coastguard before you set off, or just let a friend know your intentions, and call them when you arrive at your destination.

Thanks
 
Letting the coastguard know you are leaving may make you feel secure but they will do nothing with that information at all. Much better to give your route to a friend with an ETA who will call the CG and raise the alarm if you have not phoned your friend. In the UK you can register your boat with the MCA and even post a picture so they know what they are looking for in an emergency
 
I'd be more worried, that you actually had something strong enough to attatch a tow rope, rather than having one.

Have you read up on Arny's exploits last year, when he went round the country in a smaller but newer boat than yours. He was on a charity mission, collecting money for the RNLBI.

Yes he made it, but I dont think he would do it again. The last we heard, the boat was being sold.

What can you tell us, about overfalls. Wind over tide. The difference between seas roundhead lands, in bays and in the open sea?

Most folk build there knowledge up over years, slowly extending there cruising grounds and usually buying a bigger boat on the way.

The biggest problem most boats have, is being to close to land, far off it is usually good.
 
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