Salty dog turns mobo greenhorn

[Corrado100]

Fed up with the overcrowding and expense of trying to sail in the solent we've sold the boat here and bought a little Flyer 6 (outdrive) on a trailer for weekending (longer periods are still kept for sailing in Brittany).
Now, although we've got 20 yrs experience with sticks and string, and have worked out which end of the new boat is which, we (I) have got no real mobo experience....so here goes with the naive questions which should make you chuckle:
1. i'm beginning to think it's more 'mobile' than trailerable - i.e is the trailer just to take it away for winter storage, or can I expect to be able to launch and recover this type of boat with just two people on a (narrow and windy) public slipway? If not I suppose it's dryboating in a marina? Around public slipways, parking of truck and trailer becomes a problem I expect.
2. I'd like to find somewhere cheap to store her (bit big for the drive of my semi) - if necessary a yard's charges for storage on trailer look bearable for 6 months.
3. It's petrol driven which appears to mean visiting the boat with a 20 litre jerry can every day for 10 days - or can you drive into a garage with the boat and fill 'er up (presumably the tank inlet is up too high on the deck). From postings on this subject no-one sells 'marine' petrol - in the Solent area at any rate?
4. Am I right in thinking we don't need a qualification in Uk (although I'll do the necessary to qualify for a CofC in order to take her back to France for winter use.

It never ceases to amaze me how some people who buy boats haven't the slightest clue....

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[Talbot]

Certainly have filled up a rib in a garage before.

There is a publication which tells you where all the slipways around UK are, and would be surprised if that does not talk about where to park as well.

slipway work with two people is possible, it is even possible with one person provided there is no great wind, wave, and the trailer is set up for it.

Why not have a chat with a local farmer about storage, or even a caravan storage facility. the one near me has several boats in it.

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[Solitaire]

May I suggest you look to do a Level 2 powerboat course. It will give you parctiacl tips on how to launch sfaely and effectively, not too mention basic slow boat handling skills. And perhaps most relavant is it will give you your ICC as part of the course on completion. PM me if you need more details. I see your Solent based - so am I. Could arrange a Level 2 on your own boat if interested.

<hr width=100% size=1>Boating is <A target="_blank" HREF=http://www.powerboattraininguk.co.uk>Serious Fun</A>

 

[Wiggo]

At under a ton and a half, and 20' length, it's eminently trailable, and two people should be able to launch and recover with no difficulty. No end of places will do winter storage, so it's just a case of where do you want to base her.

Most public slips have plenty of car/trailer parking available, though Christchurch f'rinstance, costs about £12 a day to launch/park. Have you considered dry racking, if you don't want to manhandle her on and off the trailer?

As Talbot says, just drive in to the petrol station and fill up. You may have to climb aboard to do it, but Tesco (or wherever) is a lot cheaper than on-water petrol (available at plenty of places in the Solent - Poole, Yarmouth, Port Hamble to my knowledge).

<hr width=100% size=1>Nihil curo de ista tua stulta superstitione.

 

[Nick_H]

info on all UK slipways here:

http://www.boatlaunch.co.uk/

Used to fill up my 21' ski boat in petrol stations all the time - cheaper than marine fuel berths, and often less queuing. Don't know a "flyer 6", but if that means its 6 metres should be no problem to launch and retrieve off the trailer, particularly if you have a drive on trailor. Boatyard launch and recovery service, or dry stack is more convenient but more expensive. Better still is a marina berth, nothing matches parking your car, stepping onto your boat and heading off without all the hassles of launching and then finding somewhere to store your car. Of course marina is a much more expensive option, and you also have the cost of anti-foul.

<hr width=100% size=1>He who dies with the most toys, wins

 

[Dave_Snelson]

Welcome aboard Paul. I do hope you get a good deal of enjoyment from your Flyer 6. To answer your questions simplistically;

If the trailer fits trailer regs, then its trailable, providing your car will tow it. You just need to grow your own technique for launch and recovery. Or do a PB 1&2 course that will teach you this as part of the curriculum. Very useful anyway. As for manouevering, go very slow in a marina or harbour, MoBo'd don't handle like yachts at slow speed (no keel / no rudder). Again PB 1&2 would teach you this.

As for filling up, you can fill at a garage - it will take ordinary unleaded. No such thing as "marine petrol".

As for quals - thats up to you. But I do recommend PB 1&2, which gives you automatic entitlement to ICC (International Certificate of Competance) which is required for Europe.

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[Corrado100]

thx to you all in the insomniacs club for the useful (and reassuringly consistent) advice - I was beginning to think 'uh oh, what have I done?'. I definitely don't want a marina berth here again though - the whole point of this is to do it more cheaply - besides I'm horrified how quickly anodes (and some drive legs) are eaten away in Portsmouth.
So to paraphrase - the advice is 'get trained, get stored, get hitched, go by my local garage, get afloat, get parked. Then presumably get to my destination, get anchored and get merry.
Normally I just get shafted paying for a berth, get a bad back from pulling on all the bits of string, get in to wherever I'm going later than anyone else (and get annoyed 'cos there's no space left to moor), and then get going early next morning to arrive home in time for tea.
It can't be this easy, if so I think I'm going to enjoy this. Thanks again everyone


But there's one question that's puzzling me after some recent advice I was given: "an outdrive boat's not very manoeuvrable until you're on the plane". Does this mean I need to arrive on a berth still doing 15+ kts and master the mobo equivalent of a handbrake turn, or should I just fit a centreboard?


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[BrendanS]

A planing boat has no keel, so tends to wander back and forth a bit at slow speeds. Not a huge problem, and you'll soon get used to it

<hr width=100% size=1>Me transmitte sursum, caledoni

 

[Dave_Snelson]

Very funny!

That tickled me. You could turn into a motorboat hooligan in one easy move! As I said, close quarters stuff is nothing like a yacht with keel and rudder. I watch in amazement as yachts return to our harbour and "park-up" with deftness and accuracy that my twin engine boat would never achieve (even with a good skipper!).

So...the answer is dead slow - and you look like a pro
Too quick - and you look like a **ck

The rest of it is as much fun as you describe!

Enjoy

<hr width=100% size=1>Madoc Yacht Club
<A target="_blank" HREF=http://www.madocyachtclub.co.uk>http://www.madocyachtclub.co.uk</A>

 

[Corrado100]

Re: Very funny!

thx for your encouragement Dave, and I'm glad you saw the funny side (you'll notice someone else took me a bit seriously...). I really do feel like that about the Solent tho'.

best regards

Paul

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[tcm]

Re: jeez!

no, erm, cars might (?)handle better at 30 mph but not advisable to do that in the carpark. Make 5 knots you limit in a harbour, and better 2 knots when manoevering into a space.

incidetnaly, altho you cd trailer to and fro, your 20 footer wd make a fab item for fun in the sun. I recommend the port a sec in cannes - fab idea wd be to dry berth it there for a season, wham around a bit, easyjet there and back and drag it home at end of season mebe?

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[Corrado100]

Re: jeez!

Ok, ok, won't be a hooligan I promise. It's just that after a lifetime at an average 4 knots I'm naturally excited....it's like taking your Porsche on a german autobahn (I imagine).
Sorry, Cannes is out (no tides make life less interesting), as is dryboating (this first year at any rate). I'd like to see how cheaply it can be done, although I'll probably just discover how inconveniently it can be done.
And for me, France (atlantic France anyway) is for sailing because there's space and 10 decent destinations within a day's sailing (Brittany, bay of Quiberon). Incidentally, the french side of the family think Brittany is the best of british and french.
No this boat's an experiment to see whether I can get on the water at weekends and have fun, cheaply (it's a relative thing), in one of the world's busiest seaways.

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