Jump to content

It doesn't get much better!


Recommended Posts

Im going to check with Broom to make sure ours is suitable for estuary/offshore trips as it spent all of its life until 2013 cruising around in Ireland.

Ive got the original build number and hull/boat id numbers so im pretty sure they could tell me.

Also have noticed that all off the outlet and vents are located at or near the top of the side of the hull just below deck level and draws around 3 feet in water very similar to a haines offshore design.

Will keep you posted John of the results as it does look nice out there.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 1 month later...

You can take ANY boat out to sea in the right conditions, even a rowing boat or canoe. However, those conditions could change very quickly, so you will need to plan very carefully. Also, you may not be covered under your insurance for estuary/coastal, especially on what is essnsially a "river cruiser". It`s also worth remembering that although your boat may do 7-8 knots on the broads, if there`s even a slight swell or motion when coastal, that speed will probably be drastically reduced, rendering your chances of a quick bolt to a safe haven impossible.

 

If yo are interrested in taking you boat coastal, get in touch with Griff (Broad Ambition) as he`s done it, and at night, and in a swell, so he should be well placed to give you some advice.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

As much as I value Griffs opinion and respect his experience, I would like to know from a professional whether or not my hull and superstructure were designed with off shore capabilities in mind.

The original Elysian spec was for offshore use. Designed to take twin engines and with a top speed of 17 knots she would be more at home in the salt than the fresh.The Bounty however, whilst sharing the same hull design, is I believe constructed differently, possibly with less internal reinforcement.

I fully accept that any boat can go to sea, but for some designs it is inadvisable. Where does mine lie in this "food chain"

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Im going to check with Broom to make sure ours is suitable for estuary/offshore trips as it spent all of its life until 2013 cruising around in Ireland.

Ive got the original build number and hull/boat id numbers so im pretty sure they could tell me.

Also have noticed that all off the outlet and vents are located at or near the top of the side of the hull just below deck level and draws around 3 feet in water very similar to a haines offshore design.

Will keep you posted John of the results as it does look nice out there.

Hi John. ...had a chat with Brooms and have been told that my boat is class B and is most capable for offshore use....I'm told it's to do mainly with hull and superstructure material thickness, weight and design.

Even the thickness of the glass windows and frame design are slightly different.

So might venture out next year after I do that vhf radio test thing.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

There has been a great debate elsewhere on this subject, and it eventually became somewhat grubby, but of course we are well above that sort of thing!

 

Unless a boat has been designed and built specifically for the Broads I suspect it will be at least capable of estuary cruising. I say that because most builders want the widest possible market for their product. At least that was especially so with older boats.

 

Is your boat up to it? Probably, but are you? Most boats can take far more than the crew can. I recently took one of my son-in-laws out in my Drascombe. To me it seemed to be less than a doddle, bit of a popple outside of Lowestoft harbour, part of the fun of it. But my daughter tells me that he has admitted to being scared stiff and won't be coming out with me again. 

 

A simple cruise in company from Yarmouth to Lowestoft might well be the confidence builder that you need but I wouldn't advise a first time trip without an experienced eye being nearby or onboard.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Some great photos there, love how blue the sea is too!

 

If the weather is calm there will be no swell and if there is no swell then the only difference is the water is salty not fresh.  Conditions can change quickly though, for example you leave with the wind behind you and all is calm and nice but the tide turns and wind stays where it is and now in a matter of hours conditions have changed even though ‘the weather’ has not really and the sea is getting confused.

 

Next up knowing where you are – I’d certainly like to go on a few courses to learn about charts, navigation and how tides effect things so without getting in any kind of flap I’d calmly and confidentially be able to say ‘I am here and I am headed there’.

 

If you know where you are, how much water is under you, where you are going and what the weather is doing then lastly I would worry about what the boat is capable of. 

 

We don’t have it so much in our part Norfolk, but there are so many places around the UK where you see lots of little weekend sailing boats 19 -25 foot long with a perky little outboard on the back and yet they often pop out of a harbour or estuary when the sea is calm and have a great day so from my point of view class of boat is less important than weather and knowing where you are and are going.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Interesting comments, thank you. Yes the fuel tank would need a clean and I'd need to put the gin bottle somewhere safe (not to mention the rum, whisky, southern comfort, pernod and brandy) as well as the plates etc.

I would only do this in a CinC situation but given all the prep, maybe 2016. or 17!

Any further comment on my part might be misinterpreted so... nuff said!

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Robin, we owned an 18ft saily that could go to sea. They can be tough little things, ours was double skinned 'unsinkable' with draining cockpit and chain locker etc. I would have wanted more than a 4 hp on the back though before trying her out.

We did sail the Whimp (see avatar) at Falmouth, just oars and sails. :)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

As a youngster my father used to take me sea-fishing in the launch, central foreground of this picture:

 

OultonBroadPostCards3.jpg

 

No lifejackets, mobile phones or radio, just a compass in case the  fog came in. Morris Vedette engine, single prop.

 

Morris Mynah. the rating difference between one Elysian and another might be nothing more than the size of the engine. 

 

Re sea trips, I wouldn't have gone on the recent cruise in company that was highlighted in Anglia Afloat. Not to do with seaworthiness or weather, quite simply because I would have been flogging the tide all the way to Lowestoft. I like the tide to be my friend!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

For some reason I'm not able to edit the above. I just wanted to make the point that as a sailing boat, with a max speed of about six miles per hour flogging a foul tide is hard work, not a problem for the bigger boats though.

 

Re that cod fishing, quite a flotilla of small boats used to go out from Oulton Broad each Sunday for the cod back in the 1950's & 60's. We kept an eye on each other, thirty plus cod in half a tide was good fishing. Sadly those days are long past.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

For some reason I'm not able to edit the above. I just wanted to make the point that as a sailing boat, with a max speed of about six miles per hour flogging a foul tide is hard work, not a problem for the bigger boats though.

 

Absolutely, Peter. In our Freeward 30 anything else but a following tide betwixt Lowestoft and Harwich and return was a real No-No.

At our best speed of 6kts with a Spring Tide of 2kts you are looking at an average SOG of either 4kts or 8 kts... not to be trifled with over 35nm!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Restore formatting

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

  • Sponsors

    Norfolk Broads Network is run by volunteers - You can help us run it by making a donation

×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

For details of our Guidelines, please take a look at the Terms of Use here.