Crossing English channel in a SIB

[Limecc]

Originally Posted by Pikey Dave

Doesn’t that also apply to everyone that ventures out of their armchair & onto the water? Even the best planned & prepared for ventures go wrong. You have to wonder if some of the nay-sayer’s boats ever get wet.

But you won't see the well-prepared on tv very often. I remember one episode involving two cabin cruisers in the Bristol channel, one had double engine failure and light was fading. Dumb owners never thought to put one in tow (maybe no tow line?) and the guys in orange were called out. How sad.

[Fender]

Originally Posted by Limecc

But you won't see the well-prepared on tv very often. I remember one episode involving two cabin cruisers in the Bristol channel, one had double engine failure and light was fading. Dumb owners never thought to put one in tow (maybe no tow line?) and the boys in orange were called out. How sad.

No matter how well u prepare nor where you are, you can't fix stupid its just the way some people are - say 0.5 % of the UK population are muppets, that's near a third of a million people, some will take to the seas

[willk]

Originally Posted by Obsidian

...shame I can't remember his name as the number of trips he made was legendary

https://www.rib.net/forum/members/gj0kyz-6111.html

You're welcome

[Poly]

Originally Posted by Mikefule

Most of all, the RNLI are volunteers, not a free service

strange thing to say - because it very much is a free service. The French lifeboat may not be. That not to say people should go ill prepared and expect to need them - but it won’t make any difference whether you are 18 miles out at sea or 18 miles along a rocky cost and only .5 miles off - if you breakdown and have no backup plan you’ll need help.

I strongly recommend that you try something all within one legal jurisdiction,

I think the legal jurisdiction is the least of the concerns - it’s a well trodden route with plenty of advice on what is needed which for a British ship does not mean it has to comply with French rules.

and away from busy shipping lanes — or at least where the shipping expects there to be small boats all over the place... a trip round the toe of Cornwall, or some exploring of the Western Isles and sea lochs of Scotland.

Originally Posted by Steve509926

If you want to do a long distance sea crossing why not Scotland to Northern Ireland, may I suggest Portpatrick to Bangor. No passport needed, not a busy crossing, won't be accused of people trafficking!

I’m not sure where people are getting the idea that the North Channel, the Western Isles or the exposed Cornish coast are necessarily safer - maybe less traffic but all still get big ships, big seas and potentially less help around if it was needed.

I think the answer for the OP is actually quite simple - will the boat make it? Yes there’s no reason a well prepped boat in sensible conditions with an experienced helm can’t make that journey BUT will you want to turn around and make the return journey the same/next day - perhaps not! And since you can’t plan weather windows a week in advance you might want to think about contingency like bringing it home on the ferry or leaving it there for a few weeks till you can go again etc...

[Mikefule]

Originally Posted by Poly

strange thing to say - because it very much is a free service. The French lifeboat may not be.

When I wrote "The RNLI is manned by volunteers and not a free service" I meant it is not just a free service that is there to be exploited/used/relied upon. It is not something that you should feel entitled to use. It is not your free back up plan. It is not your get out of jail free card.

Of course it costs you nothing to "use" the RNLI. If you run into difficulties, those volunteers give up their own time, and take their own risks to come out to you in boats that are paid for by charitable donations, often raised by hard working volunteers.

The RNLI started as a way of saving mariners in distress: people who worked at sea and sometimes ran into difficulties. It has come to be treated as a safety net for leisure boaters, people walking across muddy beaches, climbing cliffs, not checking the tide times etc.

Every call out of the RNLI costs time, money and personal risk for someone.

I was once involved in assisting with a rescue (I was aboard a charter boat when some divers from another boat became lost) and we found them after they had been drifting for an hour or so and handed them over when the lifeboat came alongside. I also know 2 people who have been assisted by the RNLI: one was a very experienced sailor who took all precautions but was unlucky, and one was an irresponsible idiot he cost the RNLI 2 launches in one day because he didn't do the basics. I have the highest possible regard for the RNLI.

Just because the RNLI is completely reliable, doesn't mean we should completely rely on them.

[GuyC]

I've never been across in a SIB but I've been across a lot as a WAFI between the Solent and the Channel Islands / Cherbourg Peninsula. As others have said the traffic, which looks horrendous on AIS, isn't too bad so long as you understand the traffic separation schemes and err on the side of caution when deciding whether you are going to nip across in front of that tanker.

If you are going across the Dover Strait, I'd try and pick a route off to one side of the cross channel ferry route. Looking at the chart, there are quite a few very well buoyed banks. You could use these buoys as a waypoint and it would give you something to aim at if things started to go awry.

I've only felt uncomfortable a couple of times due to traffic whilst crossing the channel. A ship played chicken with us. We altered course to make sure we'd go round the back of it. He subsequently altered course to put us on a collision course again. This continued until we turned through 180 degress. He avoided us by about 50m.

The second was in thick fog and no wind when we could hear and feel some mahusive ship. We turned the engine on, prayed that we were visible on his radar and put a VHF call out on Ch 16 to say that there were yachts in the vicinity of our position. We never received a response but the owner did buy a radar after that.

A bit of prep and planning for both you and the boat and it's entirely do-able. It's probably not the best use of a SIB though.

[Poly]

Mikefule- I know what you are trying to say, I still don’t think you are actually saying what you think you are. The OP never suggested (nor has anyone else) that it would all be OK and the RNLI would bail him out (and for what it’s worth I wouldn’t make any assumption that any rescue service will be totally reliable and save your skin, paid or volunteers, if we can screw things up and end up in trouble so can they). However I’m quite sure that the RNLI or the SNSM would not be unhappy at being called out* to a well prepared, competent skipper on a very adventurous passage that they sought advice about and worked up to and planned carefully and something goes wrong. Sounds like at least as deserving a case as someone who buys a boat and gets internet advice to stay close to home in it and then runs into bother... having not planned, trained or prepared because “I’m not going far”.

*theoretically for a lifeboat service the perfect year involves 0 call outs. In reality recruiting, motivating and maintaining a lifeboat and its crew that never gets used is near impossible; we shouldn’t be intentionally putting ourselves in harms way but we shouldn’t be embarrassed if having prepared well we have to call on assistance.

[Fender]

Originally Posted by Poly

Mikefule- I know what you are trying to say, I still don’t think you are actually saying what you think you are. The OP never suggested (nor has anyone else) that it would all be OK and the RNLI would bail him out (and for what it’s worth I wouldn’t make any assumption that any rescue service will be totally reliable and save your skin, paid or volunteers, if we can screw things up and end up in trouble so can they). However I’m quite sure that the RNLI or the SNSM would not be unhappy at being called out* to a well prepared, competent skipper on a very adventurous passage that they sought advice about and worked up to and planned carefully and something goes wrong. Sounds like at least as deserving a case as someone who buys a boat and gets internet advice to stay close to home in it and then runs into bother... having not planned, trained or prepared because “I’m not going far”.

*theoretically for a lifeboat service the perfect year involves 0 call outs. In reality recruiting, motivating and maintaining a lifeboat and its crew that never gets used is near impossible; we shouldn’t be intentionally putting ourselves in harms way but we shouldn’t be embarrassed if having prepared well we have to call on assistance.

I'd also add the emergency services are generally pro-active, monitoring 16 I've heard on a number of occasions a skipper talking to coastguard about a issue, no pan pan or mayday called - then you hear the CG has made the call and tasked an asset to the boat- better safe than sorry

[Mikefule]

If only I could get just one colleague to pay as much close attention to the exact wording and meaning of any important email I send at work.

[Pikey Dave]

Originally Posted by Mikefule

If only I could get just one colleague to pay as much close attention to the exact wording and meaning of any important email I send at work.

Maybe you need to be more clear & concise[emoji6]

[sunsport350]

Just to chip in, I recently sought advice from my local RNLI and he told me not to worry about calling them out as they like to have a shout. Same as soldiers training and wanting to go to war.

[willk]

Originally Posted by sunsport350

Just to chip in, I recently sought advice from my local RNLI and he told me not to worry about calling them out as they like to have a shout. Same as soldiers training and wanting to go to war.

^

My crowd are the same. You shoulda seen the puss on them the day I told them I'd towed a FUBAR boat in so's not to disturb them...

[HDAV]

Originally Posted by willk

^

My crowd are the same. You shoulda seen the puss on them the day I told them I'd towed a FUBAR boat in so's not to disturb them...

They don’t join to not go out and play on the big orange boat........

While no one should go out expecting to be bailed out, but you don’t have a service you don’t need.....

[Obsidian]

Originally Posted by willk

https://www.rib.net/forum/members/gj0kyz-6111.html

You're welcome

[Allye]

Originally Posted by sunsport350

Just to chip in, I recently sought advice from my local RNLI and he told me not to worry about calling them out as they like to have a shout. Same as soldiers training and wanting to go to war.

I can tell you this is absolutely 100% accurate!

They bloody love a shout, some stations don’t have many either so jump at the opportunity!