Boating at sea

[Pennie]

My OH, Ben, went to the coast the other day (lucky bum I haven't smelt the sea air in a couple of years) will get to experience the joy of the sea in the summer when we head to Lancashire.

First question - other than blackpool, is there are beach location that you can reach my narrow boat?

 

One day Ben and I would like (wish/dream, probably never possible or likely) to have a boat we could travel around the coast in.

 

How huge a leap from canal and river travel is sea travel? I expect a huge scary leap unlikely with someone of my confidence but my Ben is certainly curious and determined he wants to "travel the high seas" I know we need much much more experience on the canals before even thinking about the sea, but the Ben needs answers, what should I tell him (other than "sssshhh")

[john6767]

You don't get particularly near to Blackpool by boat, at least a narrowboat on an inland waterway which is what I assume you mean. You do get near to Morecambe bay on the Lancaster canal.

 

Another place where you get near to (sort of) sea is Sharpness on the Gloucester and Sharpness canal.

 

I take it that you have watched the Timothy Spall program!

[Rob-M]

You could take your narrowboat across the Wash and even stop on the beach.

[Paul C]

Depends what you call "seaside"! EVERY river leads to the sea, for example, possibly by another river (or MSC in the special case of Weaver). Shropshire Union comes within a couple of hundred yards of the tidal Dee, and the Mersey.

 

Simple answer re boating: you need a different kind of boat to do it properly.

[Guest]

It's a pity Naughty Cal doesn't participate in the forum any longer, she may have offered the OP the chance to have a taste of lumpy water boating on one of her trips to see if it appealed.

 

She certainly offered that to me when we were considering selling up in order we could help decide if we wanted to give up all types of boating all together.

[Phil Ambrose]

Likewise Paul NuLife4-2 who cruised offshore on his widebeam SeaOtter . There is a whole new skill set to learn for cruising at sea, at least if you wish to do it safely but a sensible person could attain those skills if they had a mind to.

Phil

Edited February 26, 2016 by Phil Ambrose

[Ray T]

 

 

How huge a leap from canal and river travel is sea travel? I expect a huge scary leap unlikely with someone of my confidence but my Ben is certainly curious and determined he wants to "travel the high seas" I know we need much much more experience on the canals before even thinking about the sea, but the Ben needs answers, what should I tell him (other than "sssshhh")

 

Firstly it depends what type of craft you intend to have a sea adventures on, motor boat or yacht. Then do you intend to just potter around an estuary, hop along the coast or go fully offshore?

 

This thread is worth looking at: http://www.canalworld.net/forums/index.php?showtopic=73174

 

Also make sure you pack Stugeron's.

Edited February 26, 2016 by Ray T

[Alan de Enfield]

Depending on what you mean by 'the sea' depends on how close it is to narrowboating on the canals.

 

If you want to do a bit of estuary cruising ( maybe 1/2 mile from land) its like converting from a bicycle to a moped, if you want to cross the sea to (say) Ireland, its like converting from a car to an articulated lorry, and if you want to cross the Atlantic its like going from 'walking' to flying a Jumbo Jet'.

 

We are (I believe) the only country in the world where you are allowed to buy any boat you want, have no insurance, no experience, no knowledge and no qualifications and just drive off into the sunset - however legal as it may be it is somewhat frowned upon by the rescue services.

There is currently a story in the 'lumpy water' press about two, 70+ year old American 'sailors' (I use the term loosely) who are attempting to cross the Atlantic. They have already called out the coastguard / lifeboats 7 times in the 6 months it taken then to try and find their way out of the North Sea and Irish Sea.

 

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-cornwall-35357137

 

Since then the have been 'rescued' again when a candle fell over and set the boat on fire.

 

Edit To Add :

 

Apparently its now 9 times.

Sir Robin Knox-Johnson has said that "it is now beyond a joke, its costing £8000 a time to keep rescuing them and they should be stopped as they are putting other lives at risk", their response :- "Robin Knox-Johnson needs to revisit history - we won the war, if they were not rescuing us they would be out practicing anyway".

Edited February 26, 2016 by Alan de Enfield

[Scholar Gypsy]

You could take your narrowboat across the Wash and even stop on the beach.

 

Here's a picture, last summer on the way from Boston to Wisbech.We stopped for about 90 minutes.

 

[bassplayer]

 

Here's a picture, last summer on the way from Boston to Wisbech.We stopped for about 90 minutes.

 

Great picture. Something I'd like to do but what about all that salty water?!

[nipper]

Likewise Paul NuLife4-2 who cruised offshore on his widebeam SeaOtter . There is a whole new skill set to learn for cruising at sea, at least if you wish to do it safely but a sensible person could attain those skills if they had a mind to.

Phil

Yes, I wonder what happened to Paul NuLife4-2 ?

 

It's been a while that he has been on. Aways seemed a sensible chap with something to offer!

 

Even if it was just a doughnut!

 

In one of his last posts he mentioned that he hadn't been well, anyone know?

 

Nipper

[Alan de Enfield]

Great picture. Something I'd like to do but what about all that salty water?!

 

Plays havoc with fresh water anodes - they will need replacing after a week on salty stuff.

[Scholar Gypsy]

Great picture. Something I'd like to do but what about all that salty water?!

 

We had a full fresh water tank, 10L of drinking water in bottles, and quite a lot of beer.

 

Here are the various bits and bobs I assembled. The videos of the trip from Denver to Boston give you a flavour of the salty water - we had a lot of salt on the paintwork on the starboard side...

 

https://nbsg.wordpress.com/washing/

[Nine of Hearts]

We are (I believe) the only country in the world where you are allowed to buy any boat you want, have no insurance, no experience, no knowledge and no qualifications and just drive off into the sunset - however legal as it may be it is somewhat frowned upon by the rescue services.

 

This is correct, and as Alan says, highly inadvisable.

 

Enrol on an RYA course, they're on offer all around the country (google is your friend!). They're tend to be cheaper off season, too, when to my mind the experience is better because you get less predictable weather conditions. They tailor courses to sail or power, so take your pick. An added advantage to me was that the course I went on was mixed ability, so I got to see what was expected at more advanced levels.

[bassplayer]

 

We had a full fresh water tank, 10L of drinking water in bottles, and quite a lot of beer.

 

Here are the various bits and bobs I assembled. The videos of the trip from Denver to Boston give you a flavour of the salty water - we had a lot of salt on the paintwork on the starboard side...

 

https://nbsg.wordpress.com/washing/

Thanks for that, looks like a great read.

[blackrose]

This is the closest I got to the sea. Nice out there on a calm day.

 

Approaching Portishead

[John V]

QE 2 bridge by mudlarker2, on Flickr

 

QEII bridge over Thames East bound

 

 

 

Thames Estuary East bound of Blyth sands

 

bottom pic Border agency vessel off Southend Pier (Isle of Grain in background)

Edited February 26, 2016 by John V

[Alan de Enfield]

Update – 26 February 2016

An American sailor who has required rescue nine times in seven months — three times in Cornwall alone — may be throwing in the towel.

Steve Shapiro, 71, set off from Norway in July with sailing partner Bob Weise, also 71, for the US. They only made it as far as Cornwall, where, after rescues in Norway, Denmark and Ireland, they were assisted by the RNLI three times in a series of mishaps and have been stranded in Hayle since January.

The incidents the pair endured — including their yacht, Nora, tipping over and catching fire whilst moored — have racked up a $14,000 repair bill.

Weise has already chosen to abandon the journey and Shapiro may soon follow suit.

Shapiro told NBC News: “A lot of things need fixing and I’m not sure if I’m willing to put in the costs to solve it.

[John V]

Ok not in a narrowboat but a 25'6" narrow beam cruiser

[Giant]

A spot of lumpy water.

 

[nebulae]

Sadly,there is no substitute for experience when setting out to sea. Crewing for others is a great way to start. Training courses such as those sponsored by the R.Y.A.are valuable .Basics are a seaworthy vessel,good charts. VHF certificate and radio(And licence),lifejackets,reliable engine with plenty of fuel,flares and a direct debit made out in favour to the R.N.L.I .Even basic stuff like getting out of a dingy on to a moored vessel has caused fatalities in the past.

[blackrose]

I think this has got to be the classic video of what can happen to a barge at sea when things do go wrong.

 

I think the story is that one of their cooling pipes came adrift and they had to stop the engine to try to fix it and got swept along by the current. I'm not sure if they anchored before being rescued?

 

Edited February 26, 2016 by blackrose

[howardang]

I think this has got to be the classic video of what can happen to a barge at sea when things do go wrong.

 

I think the story is that one of their cooling pipes came adrift and they had to stop the engine to try to fix it and got swept along by the current. I'm not sure if they anchored before being rescued?

 

 

While having the greatest admiration for all the work that the RNLI do, I'm afraid that this also is a classic case of towing much too fast in adverse weather conditions with a tow line that is too short, which is often the cause of a parted towline, or worse, the foundering of a casualty.

 

Howard

[Dekazer]

You could take your narrowboat across the Wash and even stop on the beach.

 

It looks like such fun, although I reckon I'd be a bit terrified too

 

https://twitter.com/markcwalton/status/676156270425088000

[Keeping Up]

This is the closest I got to the sea. Nice out there on a calm day.

 

Approaching Portishead

 

 

It wasn't quite that calm when we went.

 

Very short bit of video here:

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=D7m3rDapx1o

 

(It had been a fair bit rougher but I was holding on too tightly to use the camera)

Edited February 26, 2016 by Keeping Up