Atlantic Crossing

[Liam]

The guy actually bought out a thick photo album. I thought great, let's see some of these 5m waves, and the 40 - 50 knot winds.

 

Nope... 3 pictures in all. One moored up, one with it's sails up with a cliff for a background and one along the roof of the boat with nothing but water ahead, which, by the way, was far too calm to be the Atlantic. I've jumped over bigger waves on Anglesey's beaches.

[NB Willawaw]

Its interesting that apart from the Irish Inland Waterways News and the Pennine website there is nothing on the Internet about this. I have searched the BBC, Reuters and CNN and nada....

[Alastair]

It's true. I've seen the boat, and read the reports. The owner/designer is a naval architect.

 

It *isn't* a narrowboat. The only resemblence between this and a narrowboat is the beam and length. The hull is a V shape and is ballasted with a keel. They used a square rig sail.

[John Orentas]

It's true. I've seen the boat, and read the reports. The owner/designer is a naval architect.

 

 

 

I remember when they found a Lancaster Bomber on the moon. I saw the photographs.

[ChrisPy]

if you like a good yarn then Tristan Jones is your author. .............. also unbelievable for the most part

[Yoda]

It's true. I've seen the boat, and read the reports. The owner/designer is a naval architect.

 

 

.....and if it had a conning tower on it, you would be looking at a submarine?

[Breals]

I want to believe it.... I remember seeing photo's of NB Ocean Princess's tour around the Irish Sea and the Scottish Highlands, but this is in a different league...

[Yoda]

I want to believe it.... I remember seeing photo's of NB Ocean Princess's tour around the Irish Sea and the Scottish Highlands, but this is in a different league...

 

I know that was specially built for coastal work.

[MartinClark]

There are two things about this that I know to be definite facts.

1. I photographed this boat in Manchester in 2004.

2. My good friend Brian Goggin photographed the boat in Ireland in 2003.

 

Therefore the boat travelled between Ireland and England, by whatever means.

 

John - the reason you saw the same story two years ago is that it was 2 years ago when I put the story on Pennine Waterways and wrote the story in Waterways World.

 

Liam - whereabouts is the boat now? And do you know where it has been since 2004?

Edited October 16, 2006 by MartinClark

[NB Willawaw]

I want to believe it.

 

I'm sure the boat is quite capable of sailing across the Irish Sea or the English Channel even.

The question is - did it actually sail across the North Atlantic ??

 

Its very strange that nothing exists in the archives of the news agencies on this.

 

I remember a story of a guy a few years ago, who built his own boat and planned to do some solo voyage around the world. He sailed from the UK with great pomp, went quiet for several months and then sudenly arrived back in the UK announcing that he had done it - if I recall correctly, it turned out that he had been holed up somewhere in France the whole time.

Edited October 16, 2006 by NB Willawaw

[Yoda]

I want to believe it.

 

I'm sure the boat is quite capable of sailing across the Irish Sea or the English Channel even.

The question is - did it actually sail across the North Atlantic ??

 

Its very strange that nothing exists in the archives of the news agencies on this.

 

I remember a story of a guy a few years ago, who built his own boat and planned to do some solo voyage around the world. He sailed from the UK with great pomp, went quiet for several months and then sudenly arrived back in the UK announcing that he had done it - if I recall correctly, it turned out that he had been holed up somewhere in France the whole time.

 

Yes, where was the great farewell? Must be some pictures of that. Or was it very foggy?

[Grumpy Bear]

I am not sure about the Atlantic, but there is a well documented trip that a chap made in a narrowboat along the south coast to the Scilly Isles.

 

Full details at:

 

http://www.canalholidays.co.uk/waterside/Ocean.htm

[blackrose]

I am not sure about the Atlantic, but there is a well documented trip that a chap made in a narrowboat along the south coast to the Scilly Isles.

 

Full details at:

 

http://www.canalholidays.co.uk/waterside/Ocean.htm

 

Interesting, but the South coast is a different kettle of fish to the North Atlantic.

 

To all intents & purposes the I Frances is a narrowboat with a V shaped hull & short (though full length) keel.

 

Where are the photos of her at sea? Why no pictures under sail? You think they'd want to show something spectacular on their publicity PDF and they must have had some accompanying vessels for at least a part of the journey to take some pictures.

 

Show me the evidence & I'll believe it, otherwise it's bollox.

Edited October 16, 2006 by blackrose

[Liam]

Liam - whereabouts is the boat now? And do you know where it has been since 2004?

 

I beleive it has been on the Leeds & Liverpool Canal for a couple of years. They are now on their way south I beleive.

 

When I was speaking to them they were on the Bridgewater Canal near Waters Meeting.

[MartinClark]

Where are the photos of her at sea? Why no pictures under sail? You think they'd want to show something spectacular on their publicity PDF...

 

It was not "their publicity PDF" - the .pdf file mentioned in the original post is from the Inland Waterways Associatioon of Ireland's web site. (IWAI) The photographs therefore were taken in Ireland.

 

If the boat's designer and owner Bryan Crutcher had been trying to gain a lot of publicity for his exploits then I agree that more evidence should be called for. But it seems that he has not particularly sought publicity and it is only people who are interested in waterways who have photographed the boat and talked to Bryan.

[blackrose]

It was not "their publicity PDF" - the .pdf file mentioned in the original post is from the Inland Waterways Associatioon of Ireland's web site. (IWAI) The photographs therefore were taken in Ireland.

 

If the boat's designer and owner Bryan Crutcher had been trying to gain a lot of publicity for his exploits then I agree that more evidence should be called for. But it seems that he has not particularly sought publicity and it is only people who are interested in waterways who have photographed the boat and talked to Bryan.

 

It seems he sought enough publicity to allow the IWAI to compile an info sheet on his boat and "the crossing."

 

Ok, I accept he's not seeking extensive publicity, but in simply by making such a claim I think you need to provide some evidence.

 

Strange that amongst all this interest there was nobody interested enough to take some pictures of his boat at sea.

 

(I'm prepared to accept pictures do exist but where are they? Some people on the forum have met this guy - have they seen any evidence of an Atlantic crossing?)

Edited October 17, 2006 by blackrose

[Rupert]

Hard to believe - but I just do not think that Brian Coggin would have been fooled easily.

[JohnOnTheWey]

Hard to believe - but I just do not think that Brian Coggin would have been fooled easily.

 

"Towards the end of the voyage the toilet paper ran out and paper towel had to be used."

 

- nah. Must be genuine with detail like that.

 

John

[tomsk]

North Atlanic crossing indeed..... I still maintain this is nonsense on rollerskates... Down with this sort of sillyness....I am prepared to be proved wrong but untill some evidence is provided I remain a naysayer

[Alastair]

I remember when they found a Lancaster Bomber on the moon. I saw the photographs.

 

Have you seen the boat, John?

 

Have you ever sailed or motored a barge at sea?

 

I have done both. I'd defer to your knowledge of many things narrowboat related, but in this instance, it may be that someone else knows more than you. A shocking prospect.

[nigel carton]

A single cylinder Yanmar, 8 horses! 5 knots max, I'd want an engine half the size of the boat, and that would be just to cross the English Channel

[Hairy-Neil]

A single cylinder Yanmar, 8 horses! 5 knots max, I'd want an engine half the size of the boat, and that would be just to cross the English Channel

 

There was a guy crossed the Atlantic some years ago in a Springer narrowboat with a bottle shaped superstructure. It had no sails, just a single BMC 1.8 diesel engine from a Sherpa Van. I understand he was also the first person to row across single handed.

 

I believe the same guy has made at least 5 single handed Atlantic crossings. He has twice taken the record for the shortest boat to make the crossing, the latter in a boat just 7 feet 9 inches long. His answer to the record being taken from him was to shorten the boat by 2 feet and set sail again.

[Breals]

I have just checked on Google, and apparently the Vikings and Celts who crossed the Atlantic so many centuries ago managed it without even a single cylinder Yanmar engine... or GPS, radios, canned food, gas to cook on, etc etc... So maybe this could be true?

[blackrose]

Have you seen the boat, John?

 

Have you ever sailed or motored a barge at sea?

 

I have done both. I'd defer to your knowledge of many things narrowboat related, but in this instance, it may be that someone else knows more than you. A shocking prospect.

 

We've all seen pictures of the boat. What is it that would have convinced us doubters had we seen it in the flesh?

 

I've crossed the channel in a steel sailing boat. It was rough and I wouldn't have wanted to be in anything less seaworthy. Rod Taylor who brought your barge across Alistair, admitted to me he'd almost sunk it. He'd done plenty of channel crossings as bringing barges across was his business, but on that occasion he said if he'd known it was going to be that bad he wouldn't have set out. And we are only talking about the English Channel here not the North Atlantic where you can't choose your what day you go out according to the weather.

 

I have just checked on Google, and apparently the Vikings and Celts who crossed the Atlantic so many centuries ago managed it without even a single cylinder Yanmar engine... or GPS, radios, canned food, gas to cook on, etc etc... So maybe this could be true?

 

I imagine quite a few Vikings & Celts perished too.

It could indeed be true, or it could be a hoax.

Edited October 17, 2006 by blackrose

[Alastair]

I've motored barges at sea and sailed them. Until I'd actually done it, I wouldn't have believed how much stability a sail offers to a barge.

 

When I saw this boat, it looked very different- the proportions were somehow different from a narrowboats, and the stern is very different. That, combined with the keel makes me believe it is possible.