Trailing a boat across the channel?

[Whitelighter]

I know people have trailed their boats to the SoF and Sapin, but how do you approach the ferry companies and what is the cost? All the ferry web sites say a 4x4 and 24ft boat on a trailer is too big. Do you have to use the commercial truck ferries?

 

[D3B]

Jez

surely not!
Caravans go on normal ferry services and they could be around 24 foot.
Though it might be cheaper to use commercial's.

Doug

 

[Whitelighter]

good point, hadn't thought of that.

 

[SilverTT]

Not long ago in the mag 3 24 ft'ers went SoF on trailers. Should be able to do a search. They normally include useful contact numbers etc in the articals

 

[gerbil]

My overall trailer / boat combination is just under 24ft and am booked on P&O standard Dover Calais route with 4x4 in July - £178 total for 2 week trip. Had problems with their online site though as if I called it a Caravan of that length and 3m height there was space but if I called it a trailer of those dimensions then there wasn't !

You might be longer I guess if your boat is 24ft on it's own without adding on the drawbar length ?

Dave

 

[Nautorius]

Jez,

I have done this several times. I have used the Ferrys and the Tunnel. I had no problem either side. The only issue with the Tunnel is that when you get off the train you have about 30 yards to get up speed to get up a long steep incline and at the top you have to slam on!

Both times just filled in Car with Trailer on website and was honest! I always got put with Trucks on the ferrys and coaches on the Tunnel.

No real problems encountered except cost!

Cheers

Paul /forums/images/graemlins/cool.gif

 

[andyball]

Jez

www.norfolkline.com do car + trailer - overall length up to 14m all one price, and ask you to specify if longer, so they should handle it ok. I've used em & think they're ace.

 

[duncan]

ditto but without any concerns about the ramp - didn't even need low ratio...........

in fairness the max I have taken was landcruiser + 22' boat (but large cuddy not flat bowrider) which was probably about 25' on top of the landcruiser.

travel on tunnel in the same space I had to go with landcruiser anyway! same with ferry.

 

[captainalex]

Had the same problem as gerbil with the p&o website, just booked over the phone. I was about 24ft in length all included and about 2.5m wide. I caught an early ferry (4.30am) which wasn't busy so just fitted in with the cars. Think the price was roughly what gerbil quoted.

 

[tangofour]

Car ( 5.5m ) and glider trailer ( 11m ) no problem. P and O occasionally do a deal 'trailers go free'. £180 rings a bell for Dover/Calais return with a couple of weeks in between.

You can also go on the ferry direct to Santander with a big trailer. Cost went up to around £1200 but that includes vehicle trailer and 4 persons in a cabin overnight both ways.

Towing a big boat I'd be tempted to go that way. A glider and trailer weight in at around 750kg so driving the roughly 2000 miles to Santander and back is not too onorous but with a large boat it would be really hard work!

 

[Whitelighter]

Norfolk lines £164 return to Dunquerk. Thanks for the pointer (their web iste is slow though!)

 

[andyball]

slow site yes, they are real helpful by phone, or were every time I called. also minimal fee ( actually never charged me, several times ) for changing a booking to extend a stay or get an earlier boat.

 

[Canboria]

A mate of mine regularly travels abroad from Dover competing in the European Water Ski Races, tows a 21 ft boat, overall the trailer is about 25ft, the tow vehicle is an American coach camper, never has any trouble booking

 

[dpb]

I have done this about 8 times, with a Range Rover and 25ft Searay Sundancer to a mondeo with an 18ft sportsboat. In each case have used the car and trailer combination options on the web sites without trouble, usually Calais Dover but this year booked on ND lines Portsmouth Le Harve.
In previous more skint years the length booked has been up to a 1.5m less than actual but have never been checked. (Sometimes this was due to the max length offered not being long enough) Do not skimp on height though as this could effect their loading on a busy ship where many areas have low head room.
Contrary to post above, the worst experience we ever had was with Norfolk Line, shan't bore you with the story but it was a truely wretched experience.
Something to bear in mind is that when using the main regular Dover Calais services such as P+O in particular but also Seafrance, is that if you miss the ferry you are booked on, the next one is never too much later. This is most usefull we find on the return trip when it can be hard to predict when you are going to arrive at the port. We therfore book a return for about 7.00 pm and turn up when we arrive which has been up to 3 or 4 hours either way. It is rare that we travel on the ferry that we booked but in 20 years of crossing twice a year have always got on the next available boat.

 

[Major Catastrophe]

Jez, when trailing a 21 to 24 foot boat over to France, does it need to be SSR registered?

 

[landlockedpirate]

Ahh but he didnt mention the 2500kg boat & cruising kit being towed behind a Saab 95 turbo............

Now you realise a run up was essential. /forums/images/graemlins/laugh.gif

 

[duncan]

any needs ssr

 

[Nautorius]

Or the fact I blew up the Turbo on the Saab 95 Turbo after towing the boat to SoF....I won't even mention what happened to the Terrano the following year! /forums/images/graemlins/blush.gif

Cheers

Paul /forums/images/graemlins/cool.gif