So how bad has your boating summer been.?

Not that great in that the MBM CI cruise in May we'd be so looking forward to was completely canned due to weather, and so was the replacement they set up in August. Neither did we get to Dartmouth which was a target for this year. All due to the weather. OTOH we have had two full weeks on the boat bimbling round the Solent and as far as Weymouth, all very enjoyable, as well as a number of weekends away, but several cancelled due to wind.

Partly as a result of the growing family and spending longer on board, we finally decided what boat to buy next (viewing boats during over those windy weekends) and have taken advantage of the market to negotiate a great deal.... I just hope I can sell the Seawings in a reasonable length of time. (All sensible offers considered!) I don't want to be "AdeOlly two boats" for too long!!


so come on then, what have you bought? :)
 
so come on then, what have you bought? :)

Sorry to say it's not another Hardy..... we mulled over a Seawings 355 for many hours. I even travelled to Plymouth from Sussex to look at one that turned out to not be quite what I expected..... :mad:

The ink's not quite dry yet, so you'll have to wait another week or so just in case there's a last minute hitch. One thing's for sure though, DAKA won't like it and will consider it to be marina bound in 'GF4' despite the twin pantograph wipers :D:D
 
I've enjoyed my boat this summer but my frustration has been balancing work and other family events. With 2 teenage daughters, there always seems to a party somewhere. Sometimes we get a free weekend and it rains non stop..

Would love to berth in the Med but downside would be getting there, at the moment, I can be on my boat in less than an hour and be chilled out instantly (regardless of the weather).
 
Nothing "wrong" about this summer,just over 170 hours so far and a good few weekends to go yet. Done more this year than ever before.
West India a couple of times
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Thames Rally last weekend
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Ramsgate
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Up the Medway as far as we can go
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A barge race or two
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Trip into the the muddy delights of Conyer creek
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A trip up Olde Father Thames
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Then there was a few fishing days out and picking up the boat from Burnham :)

Course there was always trips out on other peoples boats
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A river festival
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A day out on a sailing barge
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Visit to a submarine
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The club Admirals cruise
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Winter..... yup no problem either
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fantastic pics. brings back memories of my time in Conyer Creek
 
WE have tried to use the boat all the year round and this year we were off to a good start with St Peter Port twice in March and once in April. St Malo April and long trips through to July and then for us the weather turned unpredictable and unstttled when we were on board. Just come back from 6 days going no where really due to high winds and always on the nose.
Cant complain though and we still have lots more trips before xmas
 
today was brilliant..

Had some great days, first season with my boat too, I am lucky I work for myself at home only 15 minutes from the marina, so if the weather is good, the tide is right and I have the time I can just go!!
Today was actually one of the best days ever, sea was like a mill pond over to the Isle of wight in a flash!! it was great fun, but I did use rather alot of petrol !
Looking forward to next season, so much so thinking of upgarding already.
I reckon a few more days left this month for time on the water.
happy days.
 
This has been my first full season back in boating, didnt have my mooring back in april when the weather was warm, but from may onwards we or i have been out just about every weekend day except about once a month when the boat is moored on mud all day long.

Im feeling quite good about the amount of fun i had and the tan i got when i hear everyone saying what a bad summer it was (wind wise i agree unless you use flappy bits for propulsion) I think we found more sun because we wanted to go out than we would have if we had been boatless and just pottered around the garden.

Looking forward to a decent summer hopefully next year and maybe even an upgrade.
 
So has it been as bad as some say for you or just a different summer to normal.
Neither, just another pretty decent summer. Oh, and it has not "been", it's rather still being.
I would post a small clip taken not later than yesterday to prove that, if Firefly hadn't cautioned me against doing so... :D
 
started at Easter/May Bank holiday with 6 full days boating on the River Shannon using T15 & our rib, trailed rib to Cardiff Bay in August for a long w/e attending a classic speedboat rally, going this w/e to Lough Allen ( Co Leitrim ) with rib for a 2 day powerboat meet,

in the cruiser: cruising todate about 130/140 hours on the inland waterways of Ireland which included a 16 day on the boat holiday at the start of June ( approx 85 hours cruising ) on Upper Lough Erne > the Shannon-Erne Waterway > the River Shannon & return.

plan is: few more w/es on the water before mid Nov.
 
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First half of the season we avoided the boat so the kids could concentrate on their exams, results were worth it. Second half all hell broke loose at work so we have decided to write this year off & get things more organised so we can catch up next year,we hope. I remember several frustrated occasions I would sooner have been on the boat & very few when I was glad we weren't, so weather cant have been that bad.:confused:
 
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"That's why people keep their boats in the Algarve and many can get here as quickly as they can get to the boat in the UK"

Really.......

Up at 4am bit of breakfast and out of the house by 5am.
Hours drive to airport if your lucky so lets a call it 1 hour and 30 mins cos you gotta park.
Park car,walk to bus stop wait for bus another 30 mins.
Need to be there an hour before take off so add one hour.
If it takes off on time 2 hours flight poss more and hour to clear customs and collect hire car.
Another hour to marina ?
Six hours so far plus and airfare £100 but not high season and £80.00 for parking plus fuel.
Lets say your a family man and theres 4 of you so nearly £500 quid merely to get there and then find its blowing a gale and unlikey to go away for a couple of days at least .
Then of course the joys of that last flight out of Faro at 00.30 getting you back around god knows what in the morning,finding your ice covered car in that normous car park and the M11 is close due to roadworks and youve got to be at work 7am.:)
Plus diesel at road prices...and nearly forgot about the mossies.
 
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"That's why people keep their boats in the Algarve and many can get here as quickly as they can get to the boat in the UK"

Really.......

Up at 4am bit of breakfast and out of the house by 5am.
Hours drive to airport if your lucky so lets a call it 1 hour and 30 mins cos you gotta park.
Park car,walk to bus stop wait for bus another 30 mins.
Need to be there an hour before take off so add one hour.
If it takes off on time 2 hours flight poss more and hour to clear customs and collect hire car.
Another hour to marina ?
Six hours so far plus and airfare £100 but not high season and £80.00 for parking plus fuel.
Lets say your a family man and theres 4 of you so nearly £500 quid merely to get there and then find its blowing a gale and unlikey to go away for a couple of days at least .
Then of course the joys of that last flight out of Faro at 00.30 getting you back around god knows what in the morning,finding your ice covered car in that normous car park and the M11 is close due to roadworks and youve got to be at work 7am.:)
Plus diesel at road prices...and nearly forgot about the mossies.

I'm guessing your air fare prices are not for peak times. I have never seen a ticket to Europe going out on a Friday night and coming back on a Sunday for as little as £100. Also, international flights request that you check-in 2 hours before the flight and you have to allow time for the inevitable traffic jams getting to the airports. Of course there will also be a queue at the other end to get your hire car.

I would love to be able to make regular weekend trips to the Alps for skiing in the winter, but the air fare costs deter me every time.

To answer the OP's question. Well, it couldn't really have been much worse, but not because of the weather and I'll say no more ;)
 
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Lots of one trip wonders posting here, concidering i have a tiny bowrider that sinks on every outing and have to buy a new one ackording to the 'big' boaters we have done well.

Have drowned about 16 times but am feeling better now, roll on the next crappy summer
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Have drowned about 16 times but am feeling better now
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drowing aint clever and should be avoided where possible.. only consider drowning as a last resort Warpa, there's plenty you can do to mitigate the risk of drowning too many times.. I'd recommend putting this safety kit on your xmas wish list for starters

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Lots of one trip wonders posting here, concidering i have a tiny bowrider that sinks on every outing and have to buy a new one ackording to the 'big' boaters we have done well.

Have drowned about 16 times but am feeling better now, roll on the next crappy summer
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LOL.... :D:D

We have had quite a good year so far. Sure the weather has messed it up a few times but overall we have some great (if short) passages about. lots overnight/2 day stops. As others have said, no major complaints here - we have had great fun.
 
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