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FRANCE ANYONE?

Rebotco

By Rebotco
in General Boating

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blackrose Veteran II

blackrose

Posted
Posted (edited)

No, Yes, Lots

 

And, this isn't bloody Top Gear you know

 

Richard

 

People swim across the channel, and as you alluded to - Clarkeson and those other two idiots did it in modified road vehicles (well, I think at least one vehicle made it across?)

 

If anyone's interested Terry and Monica Darlington kindly sent me the text of an article detailing their preparation for the crossing (originally printed in Canal and Riverboat magazine in June 2005), which I will gladly forward to anyone who PMs me (with an email address).

 

Mike

Edited by blackrose
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bargemast Influencer

bargemast

Posted
Posted

Would anyone consider trying a Channel crossing on their narrowboat? Has it been done before? What extra precautions would be needed (besides a large dose of insanity).

 

Brian :unsure:

 

 

By using the search option, you will read : "Your search for the term "channel crossing narrowboats" returned 22 results"

 

Peter.

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RLWP Veteran II

RLWP

Posted
Posted

<snip>

 

If anyone's interested Terry and Monica Darlington kindly sent me the text of an article detailing their preparation for the crossing (originally printed in Canal and Riverboat magazine in June 2005), which I will gladly forward to anyone who PMs me (with an email address).

 

Mike

 

Thanks Mike, I would recommend that the OP gets a copy from you

 

A couple of bits from the summary:

 

 

Would we sail the Channel again? No – we were lucky and there is no point running the risk again. We would rather find a new narrowboat adventure, ...<snip>...

 

Would we recommend the Channel crossing to others? I don’t see how we can – if someone wants to do a parachute jump, or run a marathon, or climb a mountain, that’s grand, but it is their choice, their personal challenge, their risk. As a Frenchman said to us on arrival in Calais – sans doute c’était un défi personnel – without doubt it was a personal defiance!

 

Any adventure contains risk, otherwise it is probably not much of an adventure. But for any adventure it is essential you pay your dues in research, advice, preparation, and training. Do your homework and take out all the risk you can. Remember we took two years to prepare, and jolly hard work it was too!

 

 

Richard

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blackrose Veteran II

blackrose

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Posted

There's a Japanese proverb that says "He who climbs Mount Fuji is a wise man, he who climbs twice is a fool".

 

And having climbed it (once) I can certainly say that although it involves a lot of physical effort, it's a lot less risky than crossing the channel in a narrow boat, so I can quite understand why they wouldn't do it again.

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Guest

Guest

Posted
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If a boat can sink on the Aire & Calder Navigation in high winds why would anybody be daft enough to attempt a channel crossing in a NB - OK yes it can be done as it clearly has been but clearly safer to have it lifted out and carried over surely....

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ravenspell Gongoozler

ravenspell

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Posted

Im sure I have seen a book from someone who has done this before.If five foot waves from cross channel ferries doesnt put you off then the risk of loosing your boat should.I doubt if you could get insurance plus the costs of various bits of equipment to be used once plus extra engine power needed it will be cheaper to have your boat carried over.

Just because we can do something doesnt mean we should.

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Guest

Guest

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Wheres the Dunkirk spirit gone, Lifes a pointless excercise in the main and anything that makes it more exciting should be encouraged, if all those ships pass through it everyday it cant be all that bad :P

 

Maybe well yes if we ever go to war again with the bos©h and they once again invade France I will happily pop over on a calm day to bring a good few Tommy's back on 'The Dog House', however as a leisure pursuit - no chance...

 

To be honset, for me that was the downfall of the book. I got bored of reading about that damn dog - I wanted more details about the boating.

 

I was trying to avoid commenting on the book as when I did last time I think world war three kicked off... but your're right

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Albion Influencer

Albion

Posted
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Wheres the Dunkirk spirit gone, Lifes a pointless excercise in the main and anything that makes it more exciting should be encouraged, if all those ships pass through it everyday it cant be all that bad :P

 

Supertanker Watch: "Sir, was that a bump and scrape I heard?"

Supertanker Captain: : "Don't worry about it, the waves can be a bit lively hereabouts"

Supertanker Watch: "Are you sure Sir? Shortly afterwards I thought I heard a slight rattle from our props"

Supertanker Captain: "Nothing to worry about; and anyway we have a schedule to keep"

:o:help:

Roger

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Guest

Guest

Posted
Posted

By 'eck, those washing machines and cookers have got it coming to them!

"Boche" perhaps?

 

Googled it and that is not the spelling it came up with

 

- anyway we once had a Bosch dishwaher and it was crap so they deserve it.... :P

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The Pipe Rising Star

The Pipe

Posted
Posted

Wheres the Dunkirk spirit gone, Lifes a pointless excercise in the main and anything that makes it more exciting should be encouraged, if all those ships pass through it everyday it cant be all that bad :P

Great so when do we go then? Your boat of cause.

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Athy Veteran II

AthyDonate to Canal World

Posted
Posted

Googled it and that is not the spelling it came up with

 

- anyway we once had a Bosch dishwaher and it was crap so they deserve it.... :P

 

"Boche" is certainly the French spelling, rarely used in the singular, though come to think of it a German who taught at the same lycee as me in France was generally known as "Superboche" as he was quite well liked.

If you look on Wikipaedia there is a whole long article about nicknames for Germans. It lists terms from many countries and is a very entertaining read. The one which tickles me is the Italian "Mangiacrauti", which I assume means "Cabbage eaters".

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