Sailing across the channel

Can I add that too many teenagers are content with sitting at home watching TV, so IMHO, go for it!!!!

Yes, make sure you take the neccessary precautions, and I feel that a support vessel of some kind is a very good idea....

But, wow, what an adventure... :D

Good luck!

PS, i've done some 'mad' trips in dinghies too.... including sailing across the Wash in a Laser II on the trapeze the whole way..... :D
 
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sailorman said:
I didnt respond when it was first posted, insread looked @ bio.

A Sea Scout would have some basic knowledge i would have thought:o
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I guess this is a pop at me for trying to help. :confused:

Have you ever been as Sea Scout? I have, and in a seaside town. They are Scouts first & boat orientated second. The OP even stated "no sea experience" which is fairly typical. Even when taking my Anchor Badge, (1961) the nearest I got to the sea was in a whaler in Salthouse Dock. Almost all sailing will be done on lakes & rivers. The English Channel is a whole different ball game, even if pottering the fringes, never mind a 20 mile (minimum) crossing.

So yes, they have the necessary basic sailing skills, but long-distance cruising in an unsuitable, small, over-canvassed class racing dinghy is a whole different ball game, especially when 3-up! I'm surprised you don't see the difference. So it goes.

I too wondered if it was a Troll, but I remembered earlier posts of a similar nature by Mollykins & believe there is a genuine need for info, ideas & discussion. Thank you for your contribution & help . . .
 
Searush said:
I too wondered if it was a Troll, . . .
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I have had a skim through all his posts and am not taking him (her?) for a Troll.

OP appears to be on a learning curve, that's OK. If we wait until we are totally, finally ready for something, we will never start.

Time for some feedback. I am wondering why OP wants to sail across the Channel. If the answer is "because it's there" well fine I will bow out. To sail across to attend a regatta or some other specific boat-related event on the continent seems alright to me.

All that traffic, even not in the zones, I just think why inflict that on yourself?

If the OP wants to experience sailing a long distance on open water, why not sail out into the North Sea to some arbitrary point, turn around and come back again to Suffolk? I have realised, I do not ever want to be bothered with all the compliance of sailing into a foreign port. I am seriously thinking of satisfying my desire to sail on an ocean by sailing east from Australia a couple of hundred miles, turning around and sailing back.

I would not want to have a support boat except as part of the preparatory experience. If that makes it foolhardy to sail through heavily traffic'd waters, then I would not sail.
 
BobPrell said:
If the OP wants to experience sailing a long distance on open water, why not sail out into the North Sea to some arbitrary point, turn around and come back again to Suffolk? I have realised, I do not ever want to be bothered with all the compliance of sailing into a foreign port. I am seriously thinking of satisfying my desire to sail on an ocean by sailing east from Australia a couple of hundred miles, turning around and sailing back.
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Each to thier own, I suppose. For me the whole point making a passage across the North Sea or the English Channel is to arrive at a foreign port.
 
I always fancied doing something similar when I was a teenager, but never quite got round to it.

It is not as safe as sitting on the sofa at home, but for a little perspective; people have crossed the atlantic on Hobie cats. By that I don't mean you should be flipant about safety; but you're not attempting the impossible

3 up in a graduate, laden with food and water will be quite slow. Slow means you're more likely to be exposed to unforecast weather, and that you need to carry even more stuff. Also check the boat thoroughly - I once had a 505 sink on me.

If it were me, I'd build it up in increasing steps - maybe cross the Thames Estuary first, for instance. Have a go at eating, peeing etc while underway.

The weather forecast is obviously critical; too little is as bad as too much when you come to cross the shipping lanes. Don't be too proud to call it off if the weather is anything other than perfect.

The French may be a bit annoyed by your audacity, but I doubt they'd send you back. Perhaps they'll show their annoyance by issuing you with some sort paperwork which you can frame when you get home.

Let us know how you get on.
 
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I have a Grad on a lake, but I would hesitate to take it onto the sea, mainly because the freeboard will be rather low, but it will be pretty stable 3-up. A Wayfarer is better from that point of view, but if it does capsize, it's a lot more difficult than the Grad to right (guess how I know that). As many others have said, try some sea-sailing first - across the Thames estuary would be good, and you'll get a flavour of crossing shipping lanes.

Get a handheld VHF (and one of you do the course to use it), preferably one that floats. Tell Thames CG what you are doing, and they'll keep an eye out for you (probably after advising you not to do it!). Add a radar reflector to make sure they can track where you are. Work out the tides so you do not spend too much time sailing backwards or sideways!

I hope it works out - even if it doesn't, you'll have racked up some pretty good experience and had a lot of fun first - but don't drown - we'd not have encouraged you if we thought you might drown!
 
if I may

I know I'll get plenty of "stick" for writing what follows but I don't care, I am used to it...
You have a "Project"? Whatever it is, go for it. Prepare it (not too much, count on your inventive brains to sort things out as they happen), think what could happen and when you feel ready, go for it. Society NEEDS people like that, doing things without safety nets because in the end, even if you fail, YOU will have experienced something that will make YOU different from this crowd of sheeps that makes the vast majority of us and take them a step forward. French authorities wont be a problem and if they are what can they do? Just be responsable for your actions and be ready to pay the price for them (even the ultimate one...) I first ran away from home when I was nine and did it eleven times before being seventeen and each time it's been a great adventure (all over Europe with Interpol looking for me...), some were crazy, but the "limit" is a lot further than you think when you start. GO GO GO and report here to share it with us, failure is always a success so what have you got to lose. Crossing the Chanel in a dinguy is not easy but if you think you can do it, do it, otherwise your question will be forever without an answer and your life will be poorer for it... Most will tell you don't do it but do not let others decide for you. Good luck. Al
 
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What have you got to lose?

Not much really, just your boat & possibly even your lives. Not at all important really. "If not duffers' won't drown" is fine on a lake, but 10 miles out at sea & capsized, or suffering from hypothermia or sunstroke is a bit of a different issue isn't it. Or it could just be a shroud fitting pulled out, rudder pintle failed, it's a long way to paddle with wind & tide to deal with.

By all means go for it, but don't be stupid. Scouts are taught to "be prepared", I would advise, "Be bloody well prepared"!
 
Follow Al's advice. 'Whatever it is, go for it'. He advises that you don't need a safety net, so a good start might be to jump off Beachy Head. After that I would single-hand across, don't take the other two. As Al advises 'the "limit" is a lot further than you think when you start'.
 
I raced Graduates as a kid in the Thames Estuary - not a very nice dinghy but it was all there was.

Given where you are starting from the idea is nothing more than a pipe dream. If you try and sail your Grad for 12 hours continuously - even inshore, you will have a tiny understanding of what this trip entails.

Try that and then decide if 3 people and stuff in a Graduate, offshore, looks like it might be difficult.
 
Sailfree said:
Go cruising in the sea first with something like the Wayfarer cruising association. The Wayfarer is one of the most durable sea boats. You will also learn how others stow equipment and what safety equipment you need.

They used to do a round the isle of wight cruise each year but after one year where there were problems they insisted on only more experienced sailors.

Make sure you have a dinghy where you can reef the sails.

We have raced a Wayfarer for some 18yrs but our racing sails don't reef. When racing we have been in conditions that other boats would not survive.

For the Wayfarer Internationals in 2006? 3 Wayfarers sailed across the N Sea to Holland to take part.

Weather can always catch you out. A few years ago I had a 38' Dufour boat on charter and the person checked the weather before sailing. Got caught out off France in a force 9 and boat and rigging were seriously damaged by knockdowns.

You must respect the sea.
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Better a wayfarer . Not sure but I think somebody sailed a wayfarer to iceland years ago , I think there was a book ?

Then again a graduate is better than an oppy :)
 
Sailfree said:
Hi Al - where are you now - we are still looking for you.


Interpol



:-)
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hi, still doing crazy things. Getting ready (55 a few days ago) for a 1800kms bike/walking trip (Normandy to Santiago de Compostella with just bike AND dog AND a knife... on ancient pilgrim's tracks...) before resuming boatbuilding this summer.
 
In France there are categories of navigation which stipulate that you are either a coastal vessel (limited to six miles from shelter) or oceanic. If oceanic you have an impressive list of mandatory equipment that you have to have including an oceanic liferaft - which is not light.

You may be able to ask for a derogation which I imagine would only be granted if you had an appropriate mother boat. I don't know what the penalties are if you do not respect the rules - but probably not a good idea in general.

I have been in thick fog / no wind in the traffic lanes (without radar) and it is not a pleasnat experience. At least I had a diesel engine to help me avoid a last second collision. The only trouble is it's more difficult to hear the other boat with your engine running...
 
sighmoon said:
But don't British flagged boats only need to spec'd to UK requirements?
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True, but is your French good enough to convince a demented HM of that, when his wife has given him a PMT bashing in the morning, and he has had problems with "idiotic Englishmen" not following his harbour's rules all day?

Good luck with that, on the other hand, maybe he will admire the Plucky English & admire their spirit & give them a bottle fo wine. Trouble is that you don't know which HM you will find until he reveals his mood!

It also assumes that you are able to make ANY harbour at all against a foul tide & falling breeze as the light fades . . . . & you face a night at anchor - 3 in a small over canvassed open dinghy.

As I said initially. Great trip if everything goes well - how often in real life does EVERYTHING go well?

I rest my case. :cool: Sure, hope for the best, but FFS, do plan for the worst. And the worst case could easily be a fatal outcome.
 
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