Sailing a sports boat from the Isle of Wight to Northern Ireland.

[Chris5140]

Yeah sports cruisers are great….. pity about the whole fuel think like but hey-ho, it keeps me off the streets and outa trouble.

Good advice re the eperb, will get that sorted.

 

[Wansworth]

Yeah sports cruisers are great….. pity about the whole fuel think like but hey-ho, it keeps me off the streets and outa trouble.

Good advice re the eperb, will get that sorted.

Does the boat have sprung floors to reduce jarring or will you sit and whizz along under autopilot?

 

[Chris5140]

Dunno about spring floors but pretty sure there’s no autopilot on her,

 

[kindredspirit]

I'd do St. Mary's to Kilmore Quay (because I like the Scillies) and then you've an easier time up the more sheltered east coast of Ireland.
I've done St. Mary's to Cork, which is 135nm, so no problem from the Scillies to Kilmore Quay or even better, maybe, Wexford.

 

[Fire99]

I’m a Boatfolk customer so I get 30 days free at each of their marinas and I believe they have half a dozen in my route home. So if I need to let her sit a week or two a few times awaiting decent weather it shouldn’t be a problem.

Hi Chris,
I'm based in Bangor at the mo, so do keep us updated on your trip. I'll look out for your boat when you arrive.
I'll also be interested how you get on with the 30 day thing with Boatfolk. One of the guys here had some issues in Wales where it appeared when he said he was a Boatfolk customer, there wasn't a berth available but one of their friends who wasn't a Boatfolk customer (so paying fees) got a berth straight away.. That doesn't mean that's usual practice so I'd be interested how you get on, since I may do the opposite trip, starting in Bangor..

 

[TK Blue MAX]

I'll also be interested how you get on with the 30 day thing with Boatfolk. One of the guys here had some issues in Wales where it appeared when he said he was a Boatfolk customer, there wasn't a berth available but one of their friends who wasn't a Boatfolk customer (so paying fees) got a berth straight away.

This seems to be common practise with various marina groups in the busy season

 

[Ribtecer]

This seems to be common practise with various marina groups in the busy season

Must be in their small print somewhere.

 

[SC35]

Make sure you have a liferaft and an EPIRB or PLB (all registered in your name, including the DSC VHF).

An inflated tender is a reasonable substitute for a life raft in moderate conditions.

 

[Fire99]

This seems to be common practise with various marina groups in the busy season

Not wanting to be a misery but it's certainly something to be aware of when planning a trip (especially in busy season) not to assume it's a simple hop to hop using the free allowance..
(Now I've not done this but I have heard of someone booking their arrival and then once they're on the berth and due to pay up, mentioning that they are group customers and their stay is free... )

 

[Hot Property]

I'm late to this thread, but buying a new to you boat, then immediately planning a long distance trip seems somewhat risky.

Surely a shakedown day trip or two will establish reliability before you head off on a major trip?

I'm all for adventure and don't want to rain on your parade....

 

[Sianna]

Sounds like a Boysterous adventure I'm sure you will have fun, our 805 is powered by a KAD43, they are great engines, Onboard I carry a full set of belts, a spare impeller or two, full tool kit, fluids etc, but so far never had to use them. The KAD43 is a mechanical engine, ie no electronics, ours has been faultless over the past 5 years. we cruise around 3400 revs 24knots, with WOT at 3900 we have got 31knots with a bit of tide.

I presuming both the engines and the drives have been fully serviced with new bellows, if so my only suggestion would be a flush of the cooling systems with Rydlyme or similar, as the KAD 43's can be sensitive to overheating.

Plan each steps and expect delays

 

[Lucky Duck]

Not wanting to be a misery but it's certainly something to be aware of when planning a trip (especially in busy season) not to assume it's a simple hop to hop using the free allowance..
(Now I've not done this but I have heard of someone booking their arrival and then once they're on the berth and due to pay up, mentioning that they are group customers and their stay is free... )

I remember one of the staff at East Cowes complaining about the marina losing money when accommodating visitors from the group but I assume they receive the highest number of visitors so the impact would be greater.

Premier Marinas say they give preference to berth holders but I have no experience as to whether that happens in practice.

 

[Fire99]

I remember one of the staff at East Cowes complaining about the marina losing money when accommodating visitors from the group but I assume they receive the highest number of visitors so the impact would be greater.

Premier Marinas say they give preference to berth holders but I have no experience as to whether that happens in practice.

Interesting.. At the end of the day one of the 'benefits' advertised for being a berth holder with ol Boatyfolk is 30 days per year free at each of the sister marinas.. That's what they offer so that's what we should get. It's part of why I'm with them.

 

[Alicatt]

I'm late to this thread, but buying a new to you boat, then immediately planning a long distance trip seems somewhat risky.

Surely a shakedown day trip or two will establish reliability before you head off on a major trip?

I'm all for adventure and don't want to rain on your parade....

It's pretty much what we did, the delay in the previous owner de registering the boat held us up as we could not register her in our names, we bought the boat at the beginning of July and it was September before we got the registration documents and could finally take the boat out for a shakedown cruise.

We had planned the trip home and got lots of advice from people that had done sections of the route. We were going to take a ships captain with us but on the day heading back to the marina everything was good so we turned around and headed off from Willemstad at Hollands deep to Kerkhoven in Belgium about 200km or so. The captain was a bit pissed as he had been looking forward to the trip too, but I am happy that we learned a lot on our own figuring out what and what not to do.

We did have 2 incidents on the way back, first was picking up weed on the starboard engine raw water and shredded the impeller, it's still not 100% but the engine oil cooler is clear, and the main heat exchanger is also clear, I inspected it with an endoscope, so no bits of rubber stuck in there, checking the raw water in the other direction today.

The other incident was a dutch e-boat coming out a sluis, where we were moored, so fast that his wash almost put us on top of the pontoon, the boat in front of us I seen it's propellor and it was almost thrown on the pontoon too, lucky I had heard the bell for the sluis opening and looked round to see the boat leaving, I seen the wash it was making and shouted to my wife to hang on as she was on the side deck at the time, I wish I had got his number to report him, we have a couple of scratches on the port side from that incident.

I know it is much different than an open sea crossing, I had some experience of small open boats, had just done my PB2 course along with my wife and she had no prior experience, this was the first twin engine boat I had helmed, our little 7.5m river cruiser while a nice start was much more difficult to sail than our Ocean 37 is. Sailing Hunter back was quite the adventure for us as relative newbies.

 

[colhel]

I'm late to this thread, but buying a new to you boat, then immediately planning a long distance trip seems somewhat risky.

Surely a shakedown day trip or two will establish reliability before you head off on a major trip?

I'm all for adventure and don't want to rain on your parade....

I can understand your reasoning but the initial passage can be made up of short hops where I would think any present issues will be evident early on. But having said that I'd take the opportunity to have a play around in the Solent before setting off anyway and sample its unique atmosphere

 

[FirstMate II]

Enjoy it , Our last boat that we bought in Wales was an Antares 760 and we steamed her from Port Dinorwic to Fenit her home port in and around 320NM biggest issue was the weather we just had a window of 48 hours so we just ran with it . Would have liked to take longer and visit a few ports on the way back .
JK

 

[Greg2]

It will be quite an adventure and I can see the appeal but be prepared for it to be not so good. Having cruised in a Fairline Targa 35, including crossing the N. Sea in horrible conditions, I can testify to Pete’s comments about it sometimes being a gruelling experience.

An alternative might the to do 50:50 - i.e. truck to the west coast somewhere (perhaps preceded by a week cruising the south coast) and then across the Irish Sea, perhaps with stops at the IoM and anywhere else that takes your fancy either side depending on where you launch. We did that on a delivery trip from Redbay Boats in Cushendall - crossed to Whitehaven where the boat was lifted for onwards transport. The guys at Redbay are dead on and I know they have taken their boats by sea to the Southampton Seaworks Show but they are serious bits of kit and they are hardcore when it come to putting to sea. Might be worth a chat with Tom at Redbay (think he might be retired or semi-retired) or his son, Connor.
.

 

[Hurricane]

I think you should "go for it" but plan stages carefully and expect to get held up (maybe for months) in a port/marina on the way.

The experience from a trip like this cannot be under estimated.
You will get so much satisfaction, you will be talking about it for years after.

Although a bigger boat, I was faced with the same challenge back in 2008.
Torquay to Sant Carles in the Med.
Reported on this thread:-

Thread 'Princess 67 Delivery - UK to Spain - Loads of Pics and Videos'

21 Sep 2008

This is a long report on the delivery trip of our Princess 67 from Torquay to her new home at Sant Carles in the Mediterranean. I’ve added lots of photos / videos and there are some (possibly interesting) “boaty” paragraphs at various places to keep you awake. Let’s hope it isn’t too boring.

It was two years ago at the 2006 Southampton Boat Show, Mary and I signed up for a berth at the new (yet to be built) marina at Sant Carles in Spain. We have never before bought anything “off plan” so it was exciting to be one of the first to “bag” a 20 metre berth. As most of you know, we sold...

• Hurricane
• Replies: 65
• Forum: Motor Boat Forum

• 

Essentially, we cruised at full planing speed during the daytime and stopped in good marinas overnight.
This process allowed for well planned fuel stops, on-shore evening meals at nice restaurants and a comfortable night's sleep every day.
We took each day "as it came" - not expecting too much.
She was a new boat that we had "shaken down" but boating is usually full of mechanical problems.
We were lucky and had none - every day for us started afresh and no significant problems.
In fact, I didn't even expect the first leg to go well.
We just plodded on, eventually arriving in Sant Carles 7 days after leaving Torquay, having seen the mountains in North Africa within 5 days!!
In hindsight, it would have been nicer to have stopped for a few days/weeks on the way but - hey, a delivery trip is just that A DELIVERY TRIP - a job had to be done.

Amongst the pre-planning was to run the boat before the delivery for a longish distance (150 miles or so) at displacement speed to establish the maximum range of the boat with full tanks. Our delivery plan didn't account for displacement speed cruising but it was useful to know the statistics (in our case, we were going to cross Biscay so that information was useful).

So, to recap - enjoy the experience and maybe post a thread like mine here on this forum.
I know everyone enjoys trips like this and a post like mine documents a terrific experience that you won't forget.

 

[Chris5140]

Ok Update….. I chickened our.

Well, not exactly. The survey showed up a few items that required a lift out to fix and this delayed the sale until my pre booked family holiday date arrived, so in the interests of not getting divorced I went with plan B and got her brought back by truck.

I console myself by telling my adventurous side that sailing a new boat that you don’t know 600 miles in seas you don’t know was maybe not all that smart.

She arrived the night before our flight to Spain, I barely had time to get her unloaded and the covers back on before heading to the airport.

So I’m sitting here planning my next move. I put her in the hard so will get a fresh polish and new anti foul and anodes. Gonna wrap the hull and put posey underwater lights on and then back in the water for proper sea trials.

All being well I intend to take her from Bangor NI up the Caladonian or Crinan canals before winter hits, not the full 600 miles in sunny south England I planned but still a decent 250 mile adventure.

My thanks to all the contributors on this thread and your advice. If Scotland goes well I I tend something special for next year, I’ll keep you posted.

Thanks guys.

Chris

 

[Seastoke]

2 things about the crinan , you can pay people to open the locks for you , well worth it , also we got stuck waiting for water to be enough to get out to sea. But a great trip.