Back in Poole - the follow up
Been back a few days now and back into the instructional swing of things. Evolution is alongside at Cobbs as we’ve given it a good clean and whilst a big RIB I look at it and compare it to some of the large boats here and it seems so small. It did us really proud though and proved its ability as a first class sea boat. Some thoughts on some of the kit we used:
Evolution: As described a first class bit of kit. Scorpions are not cheap but you tend to get what you pay for in life and in Evolution we had a RIB that was always capable even in the roughest conditions. We had issues with the steering and the leg will be stripped down this week as its making a strange noise however that’s perhaps a historic issue anyway. The only possible criticism I could levy is that it can take a while to wind the turbo up to the 2000 revs required to get real grunt so in rougher conditions you have to work the turbo to ensure you have instantaneous power. You get used to it and work round it most of the time.
The flowscan system was essential in accurately assessing fuel levels as the gauge fitted (as per many) was worse than useless. It proved very accurate throughout the trip.
Electronics: The Raymarine E120 widescreen was excellent and the extra width was useful. I would like to see a 2/3 to 1/3 split though as the rolling road doesn’t need ½ screen whereas having a bigger view of the chart screen would be useful on occasions. The plotter did drop out a few times so we need to keep an eye on it. One of the two Icom 505s is down but I’m unclear whether this is a radio or aerial issue. I was very impressed with the SPOT Tracker system we used. It has a use beyond boating which makes it a bit more useful although the annual fee certainly will make it very dear over a five - seven year period if comparing it to a standard EPIRB. Of course the EPIRB doesn’t offer the tracking functions although I’d be a bit more comfortable in a distress situation with an EPIRB than then SPOT system until it is more proven.
Personal kit: I love my Musto HPX drysuit! I wore it every leg except for the run into Portland and it was great. My only regrets were i) Not fitting a fly opening to it - I will probably send it away for one to be fitted ii) The ‘socks’ are overly large to accommodate all feet sizes so scrunch up in whatever shoes you are wearing leading to numb toes after a while. I will probably get the feet resized too. The suits are not cheap but really are the business. The Baltic Winner lifejacket was great although the strap is all folded over and struggles to hold a VHF, PLB and personal flare. I’m not sure there is a solution to this without changing from this jacket though.
The Nike Airs combined with the “Sea Shocks” impact matting (
www.seashocks.com/) were a massive positive. During the 250 mile passage I tried 125 miles or so without the shock matting and the rest with it. With it was far easier although the downside was that the matting raised me by about 3cm which reduced the support available from the seat backs. The nett result is that if I was designing a RIB for me from new I would design in the shock mats from the outset adjusting the helm position accordingly. I used a large Delta RIB the other week that had trays containing the impact matting running fore aft either side of the jockey seats and this worked very well.
Portland to Falmouth
Miles: 108
Fuel used: 128.1 litres
Hours run: 5.7
Falmouth to Cork
Miles: 195
Fuel used: 247.7 litres
Hours run: 13.4
Cork to Kilmore
Miles: 72
Fuel used: 98.4 litres
Hours run: 4.6
Kilmore to Bangor
Miles: 184
Fuel used: 188.5 litres
Hours run: 7.2
Bangor to Oban
Miles: 124
Fuel used: 133 litres
Hours run: 7.4
Oban to Portree
Miles: 103
Fuel used: 158.9 litres
Hours run: 5.0
Portree to Stromness
Miles: 168
Fuel used: 177.4 litres
Hours run: 9.0
Stromness to Newcastle
Miles: 250
Fuel used: 302.6 litres
Hours run: 10.1
Newcastle to Ipswich
Miles: 230
Fuel used: 263.3 litres
Hours run: 8.3
Ipswich to Brighton
Miles: 116
Fuel used: 137.7 litres
Hours run: 4.9
Brighton to Portland
Miles: 93
Fuel used: 113 litres
Hours run: 4.7
Totals
Miles: 1643
Fuel used: 1948.6 litres
Hours run: 80.3
Average fuel used: 1.1 litres per mile
So would I do it again? Probably like childbirth at the time it doesn’t seem that appealing yet shortly afterwards you forget the bits that hurt and remember the great things. In short I might do a trip like this again but I would like to spend more time exploring the individual places we went. Presently I’m tempted to take a small RIB to the highlands to explore around there.
Thanks again to Patrick Byrne and the team from Scorpion for making it happen. Thanks to Biboa and Chris Strickland for taking on the event. Thanks to the other RIBs and the truly great people that crewed them - we’ve made some good friends. Thanks to the those we left at home and work for taking on the extra burden that my absence created and finally thanks to Andrew for providing the RIB and great company. I’m just sorry you missed so many of the best bits.
PS: The photos. Sorry I had problems uploading photos hence the block upload when I was back. Dealing with each relevant post:
Post No1 (All at Portland) L to R
Skellig of Sark, Rooster, Quickflash, David & RIB, Seahound
Post No2 L to R
Quickflash, various, Blue Thunder (?), Evolution at Eddystone Lighthouse, Quickflash at Mylore Harbour
Post No3 L to R
Seahound, Trinity & Quickflash at Mylor, Mylor at sunrise
Post No6 L to R
Crosshaven RNLI Station
Post No7 L to R
Seal at Kilmore, Evolution and Rooster at Kilmore, Entrance to Howth with ‘Ireland’s Eye’ in background, Evolution’s wake north of Howth, Lighthouse north of Howth
Post No14 L to R
Evolution and Quickflash at Bangor, Bluewater Raven at Redbay, Grey Ghost, 2 shots crossing the TSS towards Scotland north of Rathlin Island - 2nd one with Quickflash
Post No16 L to R
RNLI station at Port Askaig in the Sound of Islay, Port Askaig, Port Askaig, Grey Ghost (Or Trinity) entering Lock Tarbert, Dolphin in the Gulf of Corryvrecken
Post No33 L to R
Bluewater Raven and superyacht in Western Solent, Cool Runnings at the Needles, Trinity at St Albans Head, Trenity near Portland, Cool Runnings near Portland
Post No34 L to R
Various RIBs approaching Portland, Patrick Byrne, Us all, Jan Fawlowski, Tobbermory
Post No35 L to R
Seal at Farne Islands, Beachy Head, Patrick on Quickflash, Evolution and Trinity at Royal Quays Marina (Newcastle),
Post No36 L to R
Evolution at Dun Ban Bay at the southern end of the Sound of Sleat (I think!), Bluewater Raven, same as No1, Portree, North Sea Gas Rig
Post No37 L to R
Lock out from Royal Quays, Andrew on Evolution, My Pleasure, Grey Ghost, Seahound
Post No378 L to R
Jan Fawloski and Hugo Montgomery Swan (RIB International), Chris Strickland
