Round Britain/ amazing boaty ideas

andyjcox1 · 16 November 2015, 16:53

Hi all,

A dark miserable Monday afternoon at work and a need to do stupid fun stuff is a dangerous combination.....

Next year I am hoping to pre empt my midlife crisis at turning 40 and plan a trip(s) of a lifetime.

I am currently in the planning stage, subject to me getting the time off work.

The existing plan would be to go around Britain by rib for a month, stopping off at interesting places and go clockwise from Poole, most likely in June or July.

Budget for the boat is about 20-30k max. I want a cabin of some sort as I want to be able to kip onboard should the need arise. I don't mind roughing it.

Currently considering the following:

Shearwater 860- love this boat but it's got a 2 stroke Mercury which puts me off a little.

Redbay 7.4 and 8.4 wrap around: I've seen both outboard and inboards in my price range. Downside is sleeping in it may be a squeeze.

The big question is fuel. I would prefer to not have the hassle of land support so is a petrol boat out of the question and would diesel make things a lot easier?

OR

Any other boaty ideas for equally fun trips, maybe a bareboat charter round the med/Caribbean/Scottish islands etc....

What would you do given a budget of 5k excluding the purchase of the boat?

Cheers, Andy

jeffstevens763@g · 16 November 2015, 17:23

For me I would cross the North Sea to Norway & up to the artic.

Callum Stewart · 16 November 2015, 17:33

I would go for a Redbay

I did River Forth to Cherbourg to River Clyde doing between 100 to 175 miles per day & round Ireland ( Largs to Cushendall back to Cushendall anti-clockwise ) in a RB 7mtr with closed bow as the attached picture. Yamaha 275 hp will burn about 1 ltr per mile at 30kn

All the best Callum.

Pikey Dave · 16 November 2015, 20:27

I'd go somewhere warm..........for a change😏

.....sh1t happens.......

John Kennett · 16 November 2015, 21:27

Quote:

Originally Posted by andyjcox1

The big question is fuel. I would prefer to not have the hassle of land support so is a petrol boat out of the question and would diesel make things a lot easier?

I wouldn't want to do it with a petrol boat. It's doable, but it would be considerably less hassle (and therefore more enjoyable) with a diesel.

Quote:

Any other boaty ideas for equally fun trips, maybe a bareboat charter round the med/Caribbean/Scottish islands etc....

See how Ryan's getting on with his plans for the Bahamas?

http://www.rib.net/forum/f45/digging...ons-69321.html

Bigtalljv · 16 November 2015, 23:18

Quote:

Originally Posted by Pikey Dave

I'd go somewhere warm..........for a change😏

.....sh1t happens.......

Second!

Jason

willk · 17 November 2015, 00:45

Hmmmm. Interesting one. A few random thoughts:

For a round Britain with no ground support - certainly diesel is much easier.

You don't get a fresh diesel boat for £20-30k - you get a nice boat that will need a few quid spent on her. Diesels like to spend your money in units of around 5k

Spending a month living on a "cabin RIB" wouldn't be my idea of fun. If I was worried about being stuck somewhere - I'd pack a tent - the experience is much the same but the tent is bigger. I have a cabin RIB btw, and I'm not knocking the experience, but the value is in the weather protection and storage (which is awesome), not the accommodation (which is sh1t)

If you want awesome, why not take the Ribeye, drysuits and a pile of jerry cans? Stay in B&B/Inns/hotels. Eat & drink like Kings! You have a month, use RIBnet to drum up some shore support - I'd happily do a fuel run for you if you showed up in Donegal (I've done it before for people I don't know), especially if there was a free lunch in it for me. I might even take you to see some local sights - you get the picture. You could get a list of helpers first and plan your stops from that.

Just one request - do it for yourself, I'd quicker help someone honestly out to enjoy themselves than for some charidee

Brian · 17 November 2015, 09:23

I agree 100% with what willk says.
If you want some help in planning a route-just let me know.

Maximus · 17 November 2015, 13:41

Quote:

Originally Posted by willk

Hmmmm. Interesting one. A few random thoughts:

For a round Britain with no ground support - certainly diesel is much easier.

You don't get a fresh diesel boat for £20-30k - you get a nice boat that will need a few quid spent on her. Diesels like to spend your money in units of around 5k

Spending a month living on a "cabin RIB" wouldn't be my idea of fun. If I was worried about being stuck somewhere - I'd pack a tent - the experience is much the same but the tent is bigger. I have a cabin RIB btw, and I'm not knocking the experience, but the value is in the weather protection and storage (which is awesome), not the accommodation (which is sh1t)

If you want awesome, why not take the Ribeye, drysuits and a pile of jerry cans? Stay in B&B/Inns/hotels. Eat & drink like Kings! You have a month, use RIBnet to drum up some shore support - I'd happily do a fuel run for you if you showed up in Donegal (I've done it before for people I don't know), especially if there was a free lunch in it for me. I might even take you to see some local sights - you get the picture. You could get a list of helpers first and plan your stops from that.

Just one request - do it for yourself, I'd quicker help someone honestly out to enjoy themselves than for some charidee

Nice one Wilk!

I'd be up for helping out on any Leg nr me as well.
The Guys in "Contentment" and "Teal" did a R.B.with Petrol powered RIBs and didn't seem to suffer too much...you can see thier Blog and Videos on line....which may well be of help.
One thing for sure...the longer you have/give yourself the more you will enjoy it!

Poly · 19 November 2015, 08:19

Quote:

Originally Posted by andyjcox1

Any other boaty ideas for equally fun trips, maybe a bareboat charter round the med/Caribbean/Scottish islands etc....

What would you do given a budget of 5k excluding the purchase of the boat?

I think you can still bareboat charter integrity (11m redbay - link on Redbay site). It's not cheap though.

personally if you gave me the sort of boat you are looking at and the time off work / family commitments then I'd probably not go round Britain - Just for the sake of it. I am sure those who like hot weather might head south, but with a month and a diesel rib there must be some adventures to visit the CI's, Scillies, West of Ireland, Outer hebredies, Northern Isles, inner hebredies, Wales...

If you are clever you could maybe do that as several smaller trips just leaving the boat at each point and flying home if work won't give a solid month off...

andyjcox1 · 19 November 2015, 11:08

Thanks for all the great replies,

The petrol vs. diesel debate pretty much confirmed what I was thinking. Doable in a petrol but easier in a diesel. The question is can I afford the extra boat cost vs. the extra hassle of finding petrol.

Wilk, I think you hit the nail on the head with your post. I would have the cabin as a back up and not live out of the rib, but I like the thought of having the option to kip on the boat rather than hunt around for campsites/B&Bs if they are hard to come by. There are plenty here who do the charity thing better than I ever could so this trip would be purely for my enjoyment.

Polly, the idea of lots of smaller trips to interesting places does appeal, rather than spending along time on legs with not much to see. I will look into that further although something in my mind likes he idea of saying I have been around Britain.

I am abit of a sun worshipper too, so I am very tempted to go somewhere warm. Island hoping in the med appeals, and could trailer my own boat down there. Also it would remove the need for a cabin to some extent as camping would be an easier option. Due to the rubbish British summer, the only sure thing for a sunny trip would be to rig up a sunbed canopy.

I think I have abit more investigation to do as to what to go for.