Your longest open sea crossing

[Balthazar]

Hi all,

What was your longest open sea crossing or longest trip on a rib? I know the fuel is the only limiting factor for mad men on inflatable boats 😎

I plan to go next year from London to Norway and wander on the fjords, thinking to do it in 4-5 legs. My rib is a Humber Ocean Pro 6.5m and she should be up to the task in my opinion.

Anyone to share long trips experiences? Cheers

[jwalker]

Sea conditions will largely determine your experience at sea. Carrying enough fuel is the next limiter - sea conditions and distance will matter.

You get to the point where the weight of fuel is so great you use almost as much extra fuel to carry the extra fuel!

In good sea conditions at 30knots you could easily be across the North Sea in short day.

Our UK winds are predominantly west to south west so it's a following sea going...but you need to come home... You wouldn't be the first crew to leave the boat in Norway. You could, of course, travel the long way and kinda hop along the coast.

[Poly]

Originally Posted by jwalker

In good sea conditions at 30knots you could easily be across the North Sea in short day.

Would you go straight across? 8hrs from Aberdeen --> Stravanger? Or are you thinking England --> Netherlands --> Denmark --> Norway which is still a long way but not quite so epic.

[Maximus]

Originally Posted by Balthazar

Hi all,

What was your longest open sea crossing or longest trip on a rib? I know the fuel is the only limiting factor for mad men on inflatable boats ��

I plan to go next year from London to Norway and wander on the fjords, thinking to do it in 4-5 legs. My rib is a Humber Ocean Pro 6.5m and she should be up to the task in my opinion.

Anyone to share long trips experiences? Cheers

Nice trip I'd like to do myself sometime!

For me not the longest Cruise....but 90+miles cross channel (out of sight of land for most of the time because of conditions) from Poole to St Vaast
Oh and in a Force 8...Spicy ..thrilling.. and great fun (4-up in an RC 6.8) ...and took 9hrs

For what you have planned?..well founded serviced and reliable trusted 6.5=no problem.
I take it you wont be too far offshore anyway.
Securing fuel cans safely (quality plastic are best with lower centre of gravity if poss) and securely is a top priority...and a large diameter Jigle pipe will help a lot... de-canting and should be practised in all conditions...definatly a two crew job when it's lumpy.

Go at your pace ...Work around the weather ....On that type of trip Plan passage but also plan to be flexible.
I.e plan for the worse and hope for the best.....(All the usuall safty gear obviously...and Dry suits carried and used if in ANY doubt ....plenty of warm layered clothing) things like energy gels/sweets would be my tip...if you do hit BAD weather on a longish leg you won't have time to re-plenish ANY other way ...believe me!

[jwalker]

Originally Posted by Poly

Would you go straight across? 8hrs from Aberdeen --> Stravanger? Or are you thinking England --> Netherlands --> Denmark --> Norway which is still a long way but not quite so epic.

Well starting from London there's the option you've suggested which I called the long way but there's also the possibility of travelling up the UK coast in more sheltered waters and leaving from Peterhead - 300 miles across though. 200 from Shetland.... Always bearing in mind that, as ocean's go, the North sea is fairly shallow with holes and humps on the seabed so it can be seriously uncomfortable.

Also that's a lot of petrol carrying! You'd have long arms by the time you got home!

When I was building Coot, the tank volume was set to make that crossing feasible - 300 miles with a bit of fuel to spare, at 25kts leave at 8am and arrive for an evening meal - but some serious stuff got in the way and I never did it. Nowadays my view of Norway has changed and I've lost the notion anyway.

[willk]

Originally Posted by Balthazar

Hi all,

What was your longest open sea crossing or longest trip on a rib? I know the fuel is the only limiting factor for mad men on inflatable boats ��...

Anyone to share long trips experiences? Cheers

Donegal to Stornoway in a single leg - 200Nm in around 8hrs.

Yeah, fuel is a limiting factor but in our case we have a 300Nm range and TBH, the main limiting factor is my left knee. Maxi is bang on with the drysuits and gels. Keeping the crew fed and happy and focused is paramount. Fuel and safety are givens.

[neil.mccrirrick]

10 hours or so the Scillies to padstow. That was never the plan but plan for all.

[neil.mccrirrick]

240 litres of fuel. You can never have too much

[Andre]

Helgoland to Den Helden to Felixstowe

The leg lasted 15 hours
A 225 L underdeck fuel tank And a number number of plastic fuel tanks on deck and used a hand pump to transfer fuel. Don’t remember how much fuel we used for that leg of our cruise from Gdynia Poland to Southampton U.K. in 2009

The rib was a 9 mtr Parker RS with single 350 HP diesel stern drive engine

[jakew009]

Originally Posted by neil.mccrirrick

10 hours or so the Scillies to padstow. That was never the plan but plan for all.

How did it end up taking so long?

[neil.mccrirrick]

Aluminium rib heavily loaded. Forecast was f3 which became an f5 to 6. Keel split which let water in and was too much for the bilge, no trunk on this boat

Displacement speed fir a while until the bilge pump cooled and kicked in, then died again, repeat

Long crossing and some lessons learned but fabulous memories [emoji23][emoji1][emoji106]

[Maximus]

Originally Posted by neil.mccrirrick

Aluminium rib heavily loaded. Forecast was f3 which became an f5 to 6. Keel split which let water in and was too much for the bilge, no trunk on this boat

Displacement speed fir a while until the bilge pump cooled and kicked in, then died again, repeat

Long crossing and some lessons learned but fabulous memories [emoji23][emoji1][emoji106]

What doesn't kill you makes you stronger eh!
You and Amanda "The Great" ....earned your stripes and overcame all obstacles that day for sure Mate!.....
...Team/Crew Work at the highest level
Fabulous week in the Scillies ....Life lived to the full!.... And Great shared memories.

[Voodoo]

Maximus is spot on, its not really the amount of fuel you take extra to your own tanks, but the ability to transfer it safely under all conditions. You can bet you will need to add fuel just when the sea state and wind start to get much worse. (Murphys Law). Jiggle pipes are really great and there are other siphoning systems but it can get very tricky indeed.