Rib Cruise from Poland to Littlehampton 27th April - 2 May 2011

Andre · 09 March 2011, 18:25

A few weeks ago I mentioned on another thread that I was planning to bring my next demo rib to the UK all the way by sea from Poland.
Well I am pleased to say that a time table has been set and it is a GO.

The rib known as “Black Magic” is an all Black Parker 650 powered by Cummins QSD 2.0 170HP with the Bravo One drive. The navigation equipment from Simrad ie the NX45 but I may change to the latest NSE12. I am also having AIS installed so we can be tracked on line.

I will be joined on this cruise by my friends Steve G & Mike C. Mike is only going to do the first two legs of the trip and leave us at the exit of the Kiel Canal.

We will all fly out to Berlin on Tuesday 26 April and then travel to Szczecin, Poland. The rib will have arrived by the morning of Wednesday 27th and after a good shake down we will set out for Germany. The factory will have clocked up the first 20 engine hours on the local lake and done the first service.

The idea is to take the inland waterway route from Szczecin to Der Strom, Peenemunde and across the sea to Stahlbrode then to the Kiel Canal. On Friday 29th April at the exit of the Kiel we will hopefully meet up with Jan (DNV) and say our goodbyes to Mike. From there Steve and myself will head for Helgoland , Norderney, Den Helder, Ijmuiden, Breskens, Dunkerque, Calais, Dover and Littlehampton. We will later move “Black Magic” to Southampton Dry Stack.

If the weather is good to us then we should arrive Littlehampton Monday 2 May late in the afternoon. HW is after 5PM so we should aim for that.

Once the cruise has been completed I will post some photos and advise of fuelling stops, fuel consumption, speeds, legs, hotels and marinas on route. I have already prepared a very comprehensive route plan and the only uncertain thing so far is the weather. I have even managed to obtain the mobile tel number to the fuel man on the isle of Norderney.

The distance which we will cover is about 750Nm

martini · 09 March 2011, 19:12

Good luck with the trip, hope the weather's a bit kinder to you than last time!

Especially as I'm planning a 650nm round trip up the Seine during the same week!

Andre · 10 March 2011, 07:14

Quote:

Originally Posted by martini

Good luck with the trip, hope the weather's a bit kinder to you than last time!

Especially as I'm planning a 650nm round trip up the Seine during the same week!

Hi Matt, you too best of luck and no doubt we will meet up at Seawork in June

Channel Ribs · 10 March 2011, 07:33

Sounds great

Andre · 20 April 2011, 20:35

Just to confirm to those who may wish to follow this thread - The cruise is on only it has been delayed by a few days as we will have to clock up the first 20hours before departure and then have the engine serviced. I estimate we will now depart Szczecin on Friday 29th April.
I only hope the weather is good to us.

Black Magic is near completion and I will post photos at the end of the week. She looks good.

Andre · 30 April 2011, 05:22

Quote:

Originally Posted by Andre

Just to confirm to those who may wish to follow this thread - The cruise is on only it has been delayed by a few days as we will have to clock up the first 20hours before departure and then have the engine serviced. I estimate we will now depart Szczecin on Friday 29th April.
I only hope the weather is good to us.

Black Magic is near completion and I will post photos at the end of the week. She looks good.

Just now managed to log on. Sadly the weather is against us. We have just spent 3 fantastic days ribbing in the Szczecin waters and the day before yesterday circumnavigated the island of Wolin. The sea part was a rough ride with most of the way F5 with the wind behind. The rib is fantastic and I take my hat off to scotseats. The seats are unbelievable and a great pity we will not make the passage but that was always in our mind. F4 to 5 max but anything above then no. We are today setting off on an inland cruise to Peenemunde where we will stay the night and of course visit the museum. See what the V1 and 2 were all about.
Mike and Steve will fly back on Tuesday. I will stay on and join the towing to Calais where we will launch and cross the channel and head for Littlehampton repeating the NautiBouy trip but hopefullly less the excitement that followed.

We are very disappointed but safety and common sense comes first

I will post some photos during the week when I have access to computer. This log in is via my blackberry

Steve_B · 30 April 2011, 19:50

What a dissapointment Andre, but a wise decision.

Keep us updated on the cross channel trip and hope customs leave you alone this time

Steve

Andre · 05 May 2011, 20:45

Quote:

Originally Posted by 250kts

What a dissapointment Andre, but a wise decision.

Keep us updated on the cross channel trip and hope customs leave you alone this time

Steve

towing to Calais tomorrow. hopefully we will cross the channel on saturday. Mike and Steve will come across on the ferry. This is also weather pending and traffic pending as i have a 700mile trip and HV is in the afternoon on Saturday. If i miss that window we tow all the way

Steve_B · 05 May 2011, 21:10

Good luck, hope all the timing work out and the guys get across to meet you
Steve

Andre · 08 May 2011, 07:39

Well we are back having had the rib towed from Szczecin Poland to Calais on Friday. Launched Black Magic on Saturday in Calais and was later joined by MIke and Steve

It took us just about 4 hours to get to Littlehampton and just in time before LW. Steve and I will be moving the rib today to Southampton Dry Stack

I will post some photos from various rib trips in the Galley. It is a shame we could not do the whole distance but there will always be another time.

The Scotseats proved themselves again. I am so pleased that Jonathan from Scotseats talked me into them. I will at a later time give more details about our rib trips in the superb waters of western Poland ansd eastern Germany

no doubt Mike and Steve will also give their accounts

Mike C · 08 May 2011, 23:02

If someone had told me, even 10 years ago that I would be speeding across the cold waters of a polish lake, dressed in a survival suit and wearing a black balaclava looking like a cross between a member of the SAS and a lifeboat man, I would never have believed them. Worse still that we would be crossing the international border between Poland and what was East Germany at 30 knots in a black boat, with no attempt to contact the authorities, heading for the place where Hitler built his 'Vengeance Weapon' rockets - Peenamunda!
But that's what I did with Andre and Steve last week. And all it took was the end of communism, Poland to join the EU and sign the Schengen agreement... and to meet Andre on RibNet Forums. Easy! (Our only contact with the authorities was a chat to a German ferry captain, when we stopped to eat a a Bratwurst!)

OK, we didn't do the whole planned trip but with Force 6 blowing in a very cold Baltic, we just couldn't. Even if we were 'tough', the slower speed needed would have taken us over our time limits. No matter, the sheltered waters in the lakes and rivers of this fantastic boating area provided a great few days ribbing before the decision to tow to Calais was made. With that strong wind blowing though, even these relatively sheltered waters were.... 'sporting'. The Zaleg lake is a good 25 miles across so it wasn't calm... and I agree Andre, without those Scott seats we would have had very aching knees. Its the first time I've been in 'bouncy' water at 30 knots and stayed sat down... and I didn't even get bruised when we landed sideways. The seat gave with me!

Many thanks Andre for the invitation. Your new boat is running very well indeed. I love the newly raised nose... and that new 2ltr diesel engine is noticeably more powerful than my Mercruiser 1.7... and it doesn't seem to use any more fuel!!!

You said you might have another go next year in a bigger boat to widen the weather window. Please put me down for that.... but only if you add those Scott seats!!!

Cheers,

Mike C

Andre · 09 May 2011, 12:02

Mike well said

here is a shot of us with a V1 in the background

the other two shots were taken in Kreslin Marina which is on the opposite side of Peenemunde. Very nice and modern marina. In the days of the DDR that was a naval base for the East German fleet

martini · 09 May 2011, 12:34

Great pics Andre

At least you fared slightly better than me

Robbie Diesel · 09 May 2011, 16:59

Andre, i really like the look of this boat!

Is it the same as the earlier hulls? The bow looks nice and high like it would take a good sea. What is the top speed with a light load & how is the fuel economy? I'm thinking diesel a lot more these days with spiralling fuel costs.

Nauti Buoy · 09 May 2011, 18:37

Looks really smart Andre!! Looking forward to a trip out :-))

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Andre · 09 May 2011, 19:06

Quote:

Originally Posted by UKPOWERBOAT

Looks really smart Andre!! Looking forward to a trip out :-))

Sent from my iPhone using Rib.net

Richard see you at Ribex, by the way the Calais harbour master had not forgotten NautiBouy. I filled him in with the details of our arrival. This time round no welcome party at Littlehampton

Nauti Buoy · 09 May 2011, 19:07

Quote:

Originally Posted by Andre

Richard see you at Ribex, by the way the Calais harbour master had not forgotten NautiBouy. I filled him in with the details of our arrival. This time round no welcome party at Littlehampton

Ha LOL I bet he still remembered it!!

We will not be at RIBEX, however will be at Sports Boat and Rib Show

Andre · 09 May 2011, 19:19

Quote:

Originally Posted by Robbie Diesel

Andre, i really like the look of this boat!

Is it the same as the earlier hulls? The bow looks nice and high like it would take a good sea. What is the top speed with a light load & how is the fuel economy? I'm thinking diesel a lot more these days with spiralling fuel costs.

Seahawk III already had the lifted bow. Last year we extended the hull to give an overall length of 650

top speed with full fuel - 150 ltrs and three persons is 37 knots. with a light load and the engine well run in possibly 39knots. By the way a 19" 4 blade s/steel prop is fitted

The average fuel consumption is 1 ltr per Nm. at 2300 RPM it consumes 12 ltrs / hour

The DTS controls are great and i would not have them any other way. the drive is Bravo 1 and it is well matched with the QSD 2.0 170HP

The Smartcraft vessel viewer is spot on in respect of fuel consumption. You actually put in whatever you have used to just about 0.5 of a liter

To give you a rough idea it is about 100 Nm from Calais to Littlehampton and we used 96 liters of diesel. Mike was driving most of the way and most of the way he kept the speed at 35 knots. Steve & I were the same

Nauti Buoy · 09 May 2011, 19:35

Quote:

Originally Posted by Andre

To give you a rough idea it is about 100 Nm from Calais to Littlehampton and we used 96 liters of diesel.

:-) similar consumption then to the trip we did in Nauti Buoy LOL - not!!! :-) think we did 300 litres on that leg of the trip!

Sent from my iPhone using Rib.net

Andre · 09 May 2011, 21:45

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mike C

You said you might have another go next year in a bigger boat to widen the weather window. Please put me down for that.... but only if you add those Scott seats!!!

Cheers,

Mike C

Mike, for sure but in a Parker 900 or 1000 Baltic stern drive and with Scotseats for sure