Bay of Biscay via motorboat

TheAnalyst_

How feasible is it to go from north spain to Ireland? I have a new 38ft motor cruiser with twin engines.

AndyBoBandy

What’s the boats range on full tanks? And what’s it’s cruising speed?

a decent enough weather window and RPM set an an efficient speed and you should be fine… plenty of options for fuelling stops along the way too…

TheAnalyst_

About 700km at cruising speed 25knots but tbh I don't expect to be on the plane in those seas. This is my rough plan.

bigroad

Sounds like an interesting journey.

Plenty cash for fuel and some good weather .

AndyBoBandy

When are you looking to do it….

if it was me, I’d probably be waiting til next Spring at this stage….

I certainly wouldn’t be doing it this weekend!!!

AndyBoBandy

It looks like around about a 560nm trip, and if you could maintain 18 kts, you’d do it in about ~31 hours….

So the big question is what’s your fuel consumption and what’s your fuel capacity?

bigroad

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121321079#Comment_121321079

How many Kms is that journey as you have it on the map,if you dont mind me asking.

TheAnalyst_

That’s two 500km legs.

AndyBoBandy

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121321140#Comment_121321140

I’m seeing it as over 1,000km….

bigroad

So if it averages out at say 20 kmph it works out at 40 hours say two days.Just wondering would a sailboat do that journey in the same time or a bit less.

TheAnalyst_

id definitely aim for faster. Maybe 25-30kph but my fear is the monotony or getting anxious about slams. Also engine failure even though they are relatively new.

AndyBoBandy

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121321230#Comment_121321230

Would you have done many passages like this before?

TheAnalyst_

Never. It’s a balance of adventure and being idiotic I suppose.

AndyBoBandy

I would highly recommend hiring a delivery skipper then. As that’s not a journey to be taken lightly….

There would be a lot of planning required in a trip like that… a lot of planning. You’d be out of sight of land for the vast majority of that passage… would you be trying to go in daylight hours only? Or non stop? Does the boat have AIS, GPS/Plotter, DSC VHF etc…..

The boats top speed might be 25 kts, but it would be wrong to assume you could achieve even close to that on average for a trip like that… then you could be half way across the Bay if Biscay and realise you are consuming too much fuel and you won’t make it to your fuelling stop… There are just so many variables…. And an experienced skipper would do all that planning for you… and if you were going along, you’d pick up a wealth of experience…if

Flipperdipper

That's one hell of a trip in a new boat. If you have the time why not do a series of coastal hops and get used to your boat's handling characteristics ? When you get to Brittany you can then decide if you have the confidence in your vessel and yourself to go direct to Ireland or stop off at the Isles of Scilly.

Isles of Scilly are lovely, Lundy is interesting. Belle Ile en Mer is a delightful stop where you can hire an electric bike or use the bus service. Lots of terrific islands like Ouessant, tons of them. Tides are strong and complex around Brittany, so be sure to make navigation calculations to factor in all those variables.

HeidiHeidi

Just saw this thread for the first time. I thought at first it was Irl-Spain, now I see it's Spain - Ireland.

I've done Ireland to La Coruna 3 times sailing - twice direct, once with a stopover in the Scilly Isles. Best time was 72 hours exactly from Cork direct, one tack the whole way on a broad reach. That will never, ever happen going north.

I've known plenty who've come back to Ireland from Spain and northern France, against the prevailing wind and seas, and nobody had an easy ride of it. I don't ever plan to do Biscay south to north!! I did Brittany to Ireland once, and won't be volunteering for that again in a hurry.

I agree with Andy who suggested a delivery skipper - that is a serious passage(s) to take on if you're inexperienced - if you try to go straight (would that even be possible in a motor boat?) you're a long way from land a lot of the time, and if you coast hop you get into the tides around Brittany/northern France, which are frankly nuts.

Alkers

Even with a delivery skipper id be bringing two other reasonably competent crew with me also.

AndyBoBandy

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121648059#Comment_121648059

I'd say most delivery skippers would insist on bringing at least 1-2 experienced hands with them on a trip of this nature..

When I brought my boat back from the Solent in 2018, it was at fairly short notice, and the skipper I hired couldn't get anyone else so it was just himself and myself on the trip, which ended up fine as I had done trips like this before (though 20+ years before and maybe not as far as from The Solent), but the guy I hired is a Yachtmaster Ocean/Offshore instructor and probably considered as a bit of a legend in the industry... so it was great experience for me to do that trip with him, and see the amount of planning that a trip like that needs... and how the plan could change due to various circumstances...

Coming up from Spain, in a motor boat.. thats a very significant passage..

AndyBoBandy

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121321230#Comment_121321230

even though they are relatively new

That's probably when you'd want to be most concerned about engine failure in my opinion, when they are new... especially when they are new!

Will they have ever been run before for 12-24-36 hours nonstop? or will they only ever have done small hops in and out of harbours for a few hours in the sun?