Trip to the Scilly Isles.

[Mike Garside]

Thanks for that Brian. I'll go check out Kelkoo, Unbeatable.co and the rest to see who, pricewise, can cut the mustard.

Jason, I'll sort the piccies ASP. Today we discover that our chemist, the only source in St Mawes no longer can fix D&P. So it's a couple of trips to Falmouth and back by ferry. Could all now take a while... but I'm on the case.

[jools]

Sony also do waterproof cases for their range of digital still and video cameras

Maybe worth a look (I'm looking for a video case!)

Jools

[Brian]

Jools
I have a Sony underwater housing (going v. cheap) plus lights plus charger for lights.
If you are interested I will send piccies and more tech info.
Brian

[Richard B]

Sounds like a great party, guys.

Just to add another angle to the photography stuff, I'm a follower of the "cheap and cheerful" school of thought...

I use a Fuji @xia ix-100 which costs under £100 - at that price I can afford the risk of it dropping overboard. It's a 1.3 megapixel camera, so probably not as nice piccies as a Canon Powershot, but I'll post some pictures (gallery section) taken off Salcombe last weekend so you can see for yourself.

[RobertJL]

Charity and I very much enjoyed meeting everyone and we both say 'Thank you very much' to Brian for organising it. It was good cruising in company. Returning to Helford River was the longest passage I have made.

Yes the overfalls off the Lizard were interesting.

This time with Charity on board, (and similar occasion by myself off the Needles), I have treated them more or less the same as I would a big breaking wave in a kayak - get on the top, and let them subside underneath rather than power over them/ surf down the face. Then power out of the trough up the next one. (Well, not quite like a kayak - you can't 'power up' the back of a big wave with a paddle in your hand!) Doing this, SOG was around 8 knots when on top of the wave.

Is this the right technique? Seems a bit sort of passive to me, but I am nervous of being more adventurous without a demo/ guidance from a more experienced RIBster. Or a video!

Mike - looking forward to your pictures! The easiest way to distribute them would be to ask your friendly D&P shop to put them onto a CDrom as well as giving you the negatives/ prints. Then you could post selected images onto the Forum, or email them direct.

[Mike Garside]

Robert - I am absolutely the LAST person who should be replying to your post on driving a RIB with a following sea. My experience is virtually NIL. However, I do have a bit of time doing the same thing in different types of sail boat and there are probably parallels.

The first time I tried and used what had to be the wrong technique was 22 years ago. I was bringing my new heavy displacement yacht into Bridport - a narrow harbour entrance if ever there was one - with a heavy sea breaking behind me. I figured that surfing down the front of the waves using the (very small) engine to assist, was the right way to go. It wasn't. I very nearly killed Di who was sitting on the bow, and almost destoyed the boat as she broached between the two pier ends of the harbour.

The next time, a year later, off the East coast of Australia I was crossing a sand bar with a breaking following sea. and I used the engine, this time in reverse, to slow me down and let the waves pass me. This allowed me to hold a straight course, safely.

Conversly, driving a very light displacement race boat in huge Southern Ocean folowing seas I soon discovered that the best technique was to sail them fast and use max power of the wind and surfing acceleration to power down the front of waves. The key was to do so diagonally so you did not plow into the back of the wave you were overtaking and come to a shuddering halt before being pooped by the next following sea.

This flies in the face of the accepted wisdom of using sea anchors or wharps to slow one down, letting the seas overtake. But this technique of using speed to avoid danger, provided you can prevent the boat from broaching, has become accepted practice amongst sailors that race in big following seas.

On our trip home the other day the waves were not big and so being pooped was not a concern. Nevertheless, the sea was big enough to increase speed on the front of a wave or to slow down seriously as a wave passed beneath one. When driving Bryan's RIB, I found the most fun was to accelerate off the top, diagonally towards the trough, easing back on the throttle as I did so. It was then necessary to power up again to avoid being caught by the following wave and get to the top ready to surf again.

No idea if this is accepted practice but it was someting the power of the engine allowed me to do in a light boat. It worked and was fun.

Anyone out there now ready to tell me the RIGHT way it should be done?

[Brian]

I think you do the following (I am going to be shot down in flames by people who REALLY know as soon as this is posted, of course):

Trim the nose of the boat up.
Go faster than the wave.
Take the power off just as you reach the crest of the wave, so the nose drops and you dont fly off the crest.
As soon as you begin to go "downhill", put power back on so you lift the nose, avoid broaching, and climb up the top of the next wave.
Take the power off just as you reach..........
and so on for about 10 hours !!

[RobertJL]

Mike, Brian,

Thank you for that advice.

I will let you know how it works for me!!

Regards, Robert

[MarkWildey]

For what its worth, and that isn’t a lot, here are my thoughts.

Brian is absolutely correct in the theory of what to do in a following sea.

In a really big sea, which I reckon is when you start wondering why you’re out there or when the waves are bigger than the boat, it is sometimes worth taking a zigzag course. On one occasion in my Scorpion I was going from Lymington to Poole in big seas, foaming/breaking crests, and I could still achieve 25-30knots by running up the waves and choosing when to cross over the other side and run down into the trough

If your unsure rather than take a head-on or following sea change the angle of attack to make the course more comfortable. I’ve had a couple of occasions when I’ve had to do this and although it makes the journey longer I have felt safer and in more control.

A couple of weeks ago on my way to Torquay we went through Portland Race and surfed on some of the breakers which in a 2.8 ton boat is extremely exhilarating. Unfortunately I couldn’t let go of the wheel & throttle to hang 10.

Also a final thought in a following sea, keep looking behind you !!!!

Regards

Mark

[Brian]

.....of course, thats the theory. I dont actually do that at all.
What I do, is get bored, light a fag, which takes my eyes off the sea and slows me down a bit. The following wave then catches me up and begins to push me sideways. I look up, panic, open the throttle and take off over the top of the wave in front. too late, I then realise I am hurtling, like an arrow, straight at the middle of the wall of the wave in front. The world then goes green.
The boats forward motion comes to an abrupt stop. I continue to hurtle forwards at 30 knots usually hitting something hard and sharp with my soft little body. The world becomes very cold and wet. Things float around inside boat and my fag goes out.
The brain slowly engages gear and I open the throttle again, only more gently this time. The boat points skyward and you wonder if your electric pumps have fused. Slowly things turn back to normal, the boat empties of water, speed picks up, the sun comes out. I dry one hand, by waving it in the air and light another fag.
This takes my eyes of the sea....... and so on for about 10 hours.
Mr. Marlboro loves me.

[Alan]

You all have the right of it when it comes to following seas but Marks parting comment about looking behind you is also key. The temptation can really be to "ride the roller" and not power down the face of a big sea. The risk in this case is that either you will not be going fast enough and the force of the wave, particularly if breaking might slew the boat sideways and broach, or that you might be caught up by the next wave coming along which you hadn't realised was so close behind!

It does take a certain amount of courage to power down a big sea but once you are comfortable with it it can be huge fun .... untl you inevitably get it wrong, stuff the bow into the next wave and get wet! Even then there are degrees of stuffing .... you know you've got it seriously wrong when you look up and its green water above you not white spray!!

Overfalls off points can be more fun still as they tend to come at you from every direction. Often in this case the only thing you can do is pick a relatively comfortable speed and plug through it. Brian you will recall a particularly unpleasant rounding of Lands End over Easter?!

Alan

[Mike Garside]

Well, we'd better come clean, I suppose, there was hardly a wave in sight on that Scillies trip. Better admit it now before you see for yourselves. The piccies of the trip are now up in the Gallery...

[Mike Garside]

And, Robert, just one thing. Now you've got the low down on how to do it right, just promise you won't go practicing in places like this...

[Allen]

Brian,

Good to meet you at our chance encounter off The Lizard, hope your boat's better soon!

[RobertJL]

Mike,

Nice water - but is that a mermaid standing on a rock in the top right of your picture?

Robert.

[HUMBER P4VWL]

Originally Posted by Crusher

Hong kong phooey! Now that takes me back!

Sent from my iPhone using Rib.net

love it

[kerny]

Originally Posted by HUMBER P4VWL

love it

How did you manage to get this on here H.P

[tony t]

Think he must have to much time on his hands ...!

Sent from my iPhone using Rib.net

[HUMBER P4VWL]

Tony T - Kerny- Brilliant, here's me searching for Scilly Isle trip info and come across my own 5yr old error post, which was Itself 9yrs after the thread. LOL