Taking Wide Boat across channel to France

[Alan de Enfield]

23 minutes ago, carlt said:

What has price got to do with it?

I crossed the North Sea on a boat that cost £300 (well I swapped it for a motorbike that cost me £300).

I seem to remember the RYA "Competent Crew" course I took cost me more than the boat.

The Channel is easy...On leaving the Thames turn right at Margate then follow a ferry.

Only Fools & Horses - "To Hull & Back"

"Just follow the ferry"

[carlt]

1 minute ago, Alan de Enfield said:

Only Fools & Horses - "To Hull & Back"

"Just follow the ferry"

I am now saddened and shamed that I appear to have plagiarised a sit-com that I hated with a passion.

[SUIGENERIS]

Best to buy a copy of "Through Europe at 4 Knots".  Very entertaining but does show just what is achieveable on a small budget and with determination and an adventurous spirit.

 

Recommended reading.

 

Cheers. Mick

[Murflynn]

13 hours ago, Alan de Enfield said:

That was not posted before the 1st 7 replies were made.

so what?    I was commenting on a post made later.

[JamesFrance]

On 3/13/2018 at 21:13, Alan de Enfield said:

Just as an aside - I would not go with a single engine.

I would not want a twin engine boat for inland use and when I went to sea with a friend with a twin screw boat both engines stopped with dirty fuel, so we had to be towed in by a single engined fishing boat.

I hope the OP hasn't been frightened off as I crossed the channel several times in the past without ever having any qualifications. The ICC is a joke and no substitute for experience which comes from actually cruising.   Yes lots to learn through reading but a perfectly good plan once the current regulations have been covered.

[Alan de Enfield]

1 minute ago, JamesFrance said:

I would not want a twin engine boat for inland use and when I went to sea with a friend with a twin screw boat both engines stopped with dirty fuel, so we had to be towed in by a single engined fishing boat.

Just as a 'balance' to that, I had a twin engine boat and, on one engine the lifting-eye 'fell off' and dropped down onto the starter motor terminals and wedged in between the starter motor and the engine - the wire harness totally melted 'smoke, flames and nasty fumes', the battery was very hot and the engine US.

I got back on the other (unaffected) engine.

[Naughty Cal]

1 hour ago, JamesFrance said:

I would not want a twin engine boat for inland use and when I went to sea with a friend with a twin screw boat both engines stopped with dirty fuel, so we had to be towed in by a single engined fishing boat.

I hope the OP hasn't been frightened off as I crossed the channel several times in the past without ever having any qualifications. The ICC is a joke and no substitute for experience which comes from actually cruising.   Yes lots to learn through reading but a perfectly good plan once the current regulations have been covered.

We have had one breakdown over the last ten years that stopped our single engined boat getting home under her own power. A relay popped which sent the leg right to the top rendering the boat immobile. We had to be towed back in.

Had the boat been twin engined we would have got back fine on the other engine.

Just because your friend had dirty fuel which stopped both engines it doesn't mean that all twin engined boats will suffer the same fate. Far from it.

[JamesFrance]

I always had motorsailers so there was another way to get somewhere if the engine failed for any reason.   I did have a burst injector pipe when approaching l'Aberwrach one time which was rather exciting with all the rocks on the way in.

[Alan de Enfield]

13 minutes ago, JamesFrance said:

I always had motorsailers so there was another way to get somewhere if the engine failed for any reason.   I did have a burst injector pipe when approaching l'Aberwrach one time which was rather exciting with all the rocks on the way in.

I even have twin engines in my sailing boat (one in each hull), and it has separate fuel tanks (one in each hull)

[rusty69]

Just now, Alan de Enfield said:

I even have twin engines in my sailing boat (one in each hull), and it has separate fuel tanks (one in each hull)

Next you'll be telling us you have a spare boat,just in case one breaks down

[Bee]

4 hours ago, JamesFrance said:

I  The ICC is a joke and no substitute for experience which comes from actually cruising.   

Yeah but isn't it nice to say that you have been internationally recognised as being competent - various people now think I am competent in putting Ikea furniture together, minor surgery (splinters etc) trumping daft arguments in pubs and much more.

[Alan de Enfield]

2 minutes ago, rusty69 said:

Next you'll be telling us you have a spare boat,just in case one breaks down

Now you mention it - there is, it hangs on the back and even has its own little engine and separate fuel tank.

[ditchcrawler]

Why do you need an engine https://www.google.co.uk/imgres?imgurl=http://t3.gstatic.com/images?q%3Dtbn:ANd9GcT6zDcv4woNxbAWMf5kxoUZC9zfAC87TbKSskItqJW3G4n_vT2i&imgrefurl=https://books.google.com/books/about/The_Unlikely_Voyage_of_Jack_De_Crow.html?id%3DJJH2CwAAQBAJ%26source%3Dkp_cover&h=1080&w=703&tbnid=K25H6ZROQUa4jM:&tbnh=160&tbnw=104&usg=__Yp_bgWoWDi1qOGYcLareLS0JpYs%3D&vet=10ahUKEwjC-Mal5e7ZAhXqLcAKHQBFAloQ_B0IkwEwEA..i&docid=IIbiELDyUcUioM&itg=1&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjC-Mal5e7ZAhXqLcAKHQBFAloQ_B0IkwEwEA

[Alan de Enfield]

9 minutes ago, ditchcrawler said:

Why do you need an engine https://www.google.co.uk/imgres?imgurl=http://t3.gstatic.com/images?q%3Dtbn:ANd9GcT6zDcv4woNxbAWMf5kxoUZC9zfAC87TbKSskItqJW3G4n_vT2i&imgrefurl=https://books.google.com/books/about/The_Unlikely_Voyage_of_Jack_De_Crow.html?id%3DJJH2CwAAQBAJ%26source%3Dkp_cover&h=1080&w=703&tbnid=K25H6ZROQUa4jM:&tbnh=160&tbnw=104&usg=__Yp_bgWoWDi1qOGYcLareLS0JpYs%3D&vet=10ahUKEwjC-Mal5e7ZAhXqLcAKHQBFAloQ_B0IkwEwEA..i&docid=IIbiELDyUcUioM&itg=1&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjC-Mal5e7ZAhXqLcAKHQBFAloQ_B0IkwEwEA

That looks to me, very much as if he had an engine* (of sorts) and could not rely on wind power.

*An engine simply "converts power to motion"

[X Alan W]

Just a thought could buying a boat in France  more suitable for the Euro canal/river systems be less hassle than the UK buy /start route?

[ditchcrawler]

Has the OP been back

[howardang]

3 hours ago, Bee said:

Yeah but isn't it nice to say that you have been internationally recognised as being competent - various people now think I am competent in putting Ikea furniture together, minor surgery (splinters etc) trumping daft arguments in pubs and much more.

I wouldn 't say that an ICC Is the answer. It is a very small first step towards competency and no more, and like a lot of this type of certification it should'nt be given too much credence. Experience is also very important together with a basic knowledge of seamanship.

 

Howard

 

 

[Phil Ambrose]

3 hours ago, ditchcrawler said:

Has the OP been back

No

Phil 

[blackrose]

 

On 14/03/2018 at 09:01, Alan de Enfield said:

That was not posted before the 1st 7 replies were made.

I thought it was posted in the very first post? 

Edited March 17, 2018 by blackrose

[Alan de Enfield]

29 minutes ago, blackrose said:

 

I thought it was posted in the very first post? 

It was not originally - it was posted half-an-hour and half-a-dozen posts later as an amendment / edit

[Tony Brooks]

Just noticed this topic.

If its the same Terry that posted the question on the magazine forum he gave me more info:-

The size of cabin boat I have in mind is 8 meters long and 3 meters wide with 50 horse power diesel engine.

So almost certainly not a planing boat with a top speed of perhaps 6 knots. I told him pretty much the same as he was told here and he has not been back  there either.

[Alan de Enfield]

12 minutes ago, Tony Brooks said:

Just noticed this topic.

If its the same Terry that posted the question on the magazine forum he gave me more info:-

The size of cabin boat I have in mind is 8 meters long and 3 meters wide with 50 horse power diesel engine.

So almost certainly not a planing boat with a top speed of perhaps 6 knots. I told him pretty much the same as he was told here and he has not been back  there either.

What additional information did he give ?

[Tony Brooks]

2 hours ago, Alan de Enfield said:

What additional information did he give ?

I could swear I never saw the dimensions and power when I read his first post but there we are. Must be blind or something.

[Sea Dog]

17 hours ago, Tony Brooks said:

Just noticed this topic.

If its the same Terry that posted the question on the magazine forum he gave me more info:-

The size of cabin boat I have in mind is 8 meters long and 3 meters wide with 50 horse power diesel engine.

So almost certainly not a planing boat with a top speed of perhaps 6 knots. I told him pretty much the same as he was told here and he has not been back  there either.

Perhaps he's asking at different places til he gets an answer he likes. I noticed that there are now similar questions on the beekeepers forum and on the problem page in Cosmopolitan. 

[Tony Brooks]

1 hour ago, Sea Dog said:

Perhaps he's asking at different places til he gets an answer he likes. I noticed that there are now similar questions on the beekeepers forum and on the problem page in Cosmopolitan. 

I am sure he is, he asked it twice, once in both of the magazine forums. I wonder if he asked WWW as well.