Watching a repeat topgear on bbc3 and theyve just gone across the channel in the Nizzn. James May at the start said people go across in dingies. can anyone confirm this and if so do they have to have radios etc for it to be legal ?
crossing the channel in a dingy
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Soldato
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As far as I know you only have to register if you want to take your boat or whatever onto rivers/canals etc. You can take whatever craft you want out on the sea and take whatever risk you want to, I'm sure the coast guard would have a word if they saw you doing such a stupid thing but I don't think it's actually illegal.
Please don't even think about doing it!
It's a ridiculously busy shipping channel. Dinghy's shouldn't be allowed further than 20 meters from the shore. Unless it's got a big engine, and you've got lots of sea experience, just don't!
And it's not law (yet), but if you ever go out, take a radio, a phone, life jackets and flares. At the minimum.
It's a ridiculously busy shipping channel. Dinghy's shouldn't be allowed further than 20 meters from the shore. Unless it's got a big engine, and you've got lots of sea experience, just don't!
And it's not law (yet), but if you ever go out, take a radio, a phone, life jackets and flares. At the minimum.
none of which will help you when your run down by a 100,000+ ton tanker you didn't know was coming.
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I say do it, record it, put it on youtube.
+1 (have someone on hand to upload it if you dont make it back tho)
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Having gone out into the channel many times on chartered fishing boats, the last thing I would be doing is going out in a dingy
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Surely you would see a big boat coming and could just paddle a bit quicker to move out of the way?
You'd be constantly avoiding ships as it's an extremely busy shipping lane (busiest in the world I believe).
I can't remember the last time I went to the beach (half mile away) and didn't see a large tanker on the horizon.
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Really?
Never realised that tbh - so to make it you have to work out times that boats are not going to be chugging through? Like that Little Britain bloke who swam across?
All things like that (swims, Top Gear) are very carefully planned - tides, weather, conditions, shipping traffic etc. They'd have informed Falmouth Coastguard, they'd have all the correct gear including support boats.
The channel is one of the busiest shipping lanes in the world.
A dinghy is just asking for trouble.
The channel is one of the busiest shipping lanes in the world.
A dinghy is just asking for trouble.
This is a great site which shows just how busy it is:
http://www.marinetraffic.com/
It shows the live position of any ship in the world, along with it's details and destination.
http://www.marinetraffic.com/
It shows the live position of any ship in the world, along with it's details and destination.
i can assure you its very busy. the amount of boats we see when out fishing round this area is quite a lot. and looking at that live shipping map, shows how many boats are out there, even now. doing it in an unpowered dinghy is highly un advisable 
my girlfriends dad has his own boat, and is so cautious when going out in it he takes spare propeller blades too (amongst a ton of other stuff, just incase)
my girlfriends dad has his own boat, and is so cautious when going out in it he takes spare propeller blades too (amongst a ton of other stuff, just incase)
Awesome site. The net never stops amazing me!
How much is delivery?!
About £32 for 6 green Tesco crates of shopping. Most of which contain 2 carrier bags
i can assure you its very busy. the amount of boats we see when out fishing round this area is quite a lot. and looking at that live shipping map, shows how many boats are out there, even now. doing it in an unpowered dinghy is highly un advisable
my girlfriends dad has his own boat, and is so cautious when going out in it he takes spare propeller blades too (amongst a ton of other stuff, just incase)
How on earth do you change a prop on an outboard when you're at sea? Must be quite difficult! I don't think I know anyone that keeps a spare prop on board
apparently when using the motor in reverse it has been known for the propeller to "unscrew" itself, and come off (i think thats how he put it, i was told this a while back). apparently it happened to them once when they were moored up at a dock in france somewhere. he dived in to try and fetch it but couldn't find it in the sand and grit.
anyway long story short... lesson learnt. he keeps a couple spare on the boat at all times.
i'll edit for a second here. when im talking about using the engine in reverse this might not apply to all boat motors, so he may have a problem with his lol.
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