ShipSpotting.com Forum
Shipspotters all over the world => Shipping News and information => Topic started by: rjdg14 on April 28, 2015, 03:54:37 PM
-
What would the worst ferry crossing be that you've ever been on? What was the experience like in terms of how it seemed/felt in port, the movement out at sea, and whether the shops and restaurants were operating. All the crossings that I'm old enough to remember were in decent weather (wind usually 5-15mph, 40 at worst), but what is the experience like on a really rough day?
-
Back in the late 1970's , we were onboard a Cross Channel ferry having left Dover destined for Calais. One hour out , the wind and sea got up to a force 10 from the north east. We could tell the ship wasn't moving fast and slowing to 'tread water'. Over the tannoy , the message wasn't good. The ship couldn't get into Calais on the rising flood tide. We had to divert to Le Harve further down the French coast. In all , we spent just over 24 hours onboard pitching and tossing but eventually we did gain our 'sealegs'.
-
There's a couple of YouTube videos that might give you a clue.
Try http://youtu.be/MyX3lZ5pycY
The video clips have been "uploaded" to this site, but I can't find them here . .
-
It's bloody awful......I had a short spell on trawlers around 1970, as a radio operator, and we got thrown around all over the place. It wasn't too bad if we were fishing, but if we were dodging the weather, or running to or from the grounds off Norway it was bad. No so much seasick, as you get your sea legs, but no sleep, no hot food, difficult to wash or even go to the toilet, for days on end.
Funnily enough the only time I was really seasick was on a crossing from Hull to Zeebrugge on the old Norwave. There was a long swell running after a big blow, and it just caught me wrong, was sick all the way across.
When I worked for a major Norwegian Oil and Chemical company as Uk Shipping Manager, we had a captain of one of our LPG ships, who had been at sea for nearly 40 years, but he was seasick for the first 24 hours after any leave, regardless of the weather!!!
-
The weather can be an issue here but, sometimes, the season can be the cause of a bad crossing. Personnaly, it never happened to me but, during the winter, the trip of the Qu
-
Stuck off Dover once for 5 hours in a force 9 as unable to enter the port, e eventually moved round the coast a little for shelter but for those hours all you had was screaming kids and folks throwing up.
We enjoy the ride, Had a few beers and a decent roast chicken meal on the house !
Not a good experience though.
-
Pride of Porstmouth, Portsmouth to Bilbao was the roughest I've been on, several broken limbs among the passengers. The bar, which was in the very stern of the ship, was full of customers who were hanging on to their drinks with one hand and the bar with the other. The entertainer was having a hard time keeping her footing, but kept on singing. A real trooper. The ship was pitching so severely that the acceleration force in the stern probably reached several Gs.
It was quite exciting even with water washing in under doors to the outer decks creating slippery footing.
I can say I enjoyed it, since I have an iron stomach and no tendencies toward mal de mer, but I may have been in a minority.
My only regret was that I was on the ship and therefore could not get a picture.
-
This video shows how extreme it can be: http://gcaptain.com/oceans-wrath-summed-up-in-four-epic-minutes-video/ Enjoy!
Tom
-
The worst I've ever been on was last December between Dover and Calais on the Pride of Canterbury. Normally P&O captains have a brilliant ability to understate just how bad the weather is in their pre-crossing talk but even he said "the weather is extremely bad" and "the vessel will move around considerably". Having previously been tossed around when the captain said that it was "a little choppy", I knew we were in for a rough ride. Crossing lasted about two hours but the ship moved around quite violently from the minute we moved outside the Calais harbour walls. At first most passengers were cheering but after about 10 minutes they were throwing up all over the place.
This video is also rather eye-opening with the damage shots
-
I had a summer job on a Miki-Miki, towing barges from Seattle to Alaska (Alaska Freight Lines.) I defined a "rough crossing" of the Gulf of Alaska as being, "The Higher the Wave, the Lower the appetite!"
http://www.oil-electric.com/2013/12/oil-electrics-2014-calendar.html (http://www.oil-electric.com/2013/12/oil-electrics-2014-calendar.html)
-
Had a westerley f9-10 crossing from Jersey to Poole on the Rozel some years back - leaving st. Helier was fine with the sea being thrown either side of the bow, then we turned North and started the rolling...
Then a trip to Cuxhaven from Immingham on the Dana Cimbria turned me very ill. The weather wasn't too bad but she had a 'corkscrew' type movement that knocked me for six. Recovered enough by the time we reached the German coast though, on the way back no problem.
Strangest of all, sailing from Hull to Rotterdam on one of the big Prides, forecast was sw19 gusting 11-12, I was expecting a very poor crossing but hardly felt a thing. Woke up in the early hours and looked out to see the spray rising vertically past the window! It felt like we was hove to as well, no way on. Entering Europoort we were crabbing up the waterway with tugs in attendance - the decks were sealed off out of bounds.