# Check sea state before boarding ferry



## LT Man (Nov 11, 2016)

See this video . Jump to 4.48 if you don't want to watch it all.






Now that would put a dampener my holiday.

LT Man


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## erneboy (Feb 8, 2007)

Closer to home. https://news.sky.com/story/lorries-...n-scotland-as-high-winds-wreak-havoc-11585065


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## Glandwr (Jun 12, 2006)

:laugh:Reminds me of a crossing from Holyhead to Dun Laoghaire some years ago. As we drove along the A55 North Wales coast road the sea was looking a bit choppy.

Boarded and it was not to bad for the first 20 mins. Got out of the Lee of Anglesey and it was as if all hell broke loose, no one could walk without clutching a wall. Went for breakfast and the woman serving was lying on the floor behind the counter. Help yourself she said I'm never going to sell all that indicating the fried food. I had the biggest plate of bacon and eggs I've ever had!:laugh:


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## LT Man (Nov 11, 2016)

Wow missed that one Erneboy . was on that one six months ago. On the bike, strapped down to deck but a movin truck would still have crushed it to destruction.

LT Man


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## barryd (May 9, 2008)

Maybe the new P&O ferries have advanced stabilisation I dont know but 2017 when we came back from France to Dover the water was like that. Blowing proper storm force winds but the ferry hardly moved. I was disappointed.


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## raynipper (Aug 4, 2008)

We did a booze run back in the early 90's and filing off the boat at Dover we passed a line of cars that most had been flattened. There must have been a dozen and asking what happened at customs it was the last weeks ferry where even though all the trucks had been chained down, it was still so rough the chains had broken and they fell onto the cars beside.


That was about the time of The Herald of Free Enterprise went down at Zebrugger. Again we had been on it the week before.



Ray.


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## jiwawa (Jun 22, 2007)

Just tell us your itinerary in future, so we can avoid following you Ray!!


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## raynipper (Aug 4, 2008)

I hardly go back to UK now Jean. Too many yellow lines and people.
But might manage a ferry to Greece later this coming year.



Ray.


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## TeamRienza (Sep 21, 2010)

This is probably the best known 'near miss' on the Ireland to France route. The Epsilon, an Irish Ferries boat. Too small tocall a ship. Did a good weather Dublin Holyhead run on it a few years ago and found it to be underwhelming, so avoided it ever since.

Photos of the devastation;

https://www.thejournal.ie/irish-ferry-damage-storm-imogen-2596991-Feb2016/

And the investigative report of the incident;

https://www.thejournal.ie/irish-ferries-mv-epsilon-storm-imogen-damage-4368428-Nov2018/

Hate to think of the cost. No indication as to wether heads rolled. There are also YouTube videos taken aboard at the time.

Davy


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## tugboat (Sep 14, 2013)

That first video is witness to disgraceful unprofessional procedure.

They are well used to bad weather in the Cook Straight.

If they can't secure vehicles against damage like that, knowing the weather they are going out into, they should space the vehicles further apart and add extra lashings.

Within the constraints of weight distribution, they should have kept commercial and domestic vehicles apart too.

Makes me proper cross that does. Look at the disruption to peoples' lives they caused by doing all that damage. I'm disgusted.


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## Pudsey_Bear (Sep 25, 2008)

One thing I noticed was that they used straps to tie down a truck, not chains and onto either a wheel nut or the wheel, which would come loose very easily, as Geoff said, crap procedures.


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## LT Man (Nov 11, 2016)

Ray if you off to Greece you might be lucky and get a free wash getting on and off the ferry

See here 




LT Man


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## raynipper (Aug 4, 2008)

I dare not let my wife see that LT.


Ray.


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## nicholsong (May 26, 2009)

raynipper said:


> I dare not let my wife see that LT.
> 
> Ray.


Ray

That only happens on the more exposed ferry quays and part of the waves are the result of the ferry itself, but I have seenn it severral times, particularly at Methana which has no mole protecting it.

Geoff


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## JanHank (Mar 29, 2015)

Did they provide wellies for the pedestrian passengers? 
Looks a bit dodgy for the motor bikes as well.

Didn't look like the ship swell to me Kapitän :frown2: 

I knew there must be a reason I don't want to go to Greece :grin2:


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## nicholsong (May 26, 2009)

JanHank said:


> Did they provide wellies for the pedestrian passengers?
> Looks a bit dodgy for the motor bikes as well.
> 
> *Didn't look like the ship swell to me Kapitän *:frown2:
> ...


I did say in part.

When a ferry is reversing onto a quay it then has to use its engines to arrest the sternway movement and this adds to the onshore waves. When the wind is blowing the vessel onto the quay more power is needed so the propwash effect is greater.


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## JanHank (Mar 29, 2015)

nicholsong said:


> I did say in part.
> 
> When a ferry is reversing onto a quay it then has to use its engines to arrest the sternway movement and this adds to the onshore waves. When the wind is blowing the vessel onto the quay more power is needed so the propwash effect is greater.


Oh Kapitän, you are so knowledgable, yes Hans did explain that, thank you.
What else will I learn today. :grin2:


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## barryd (May 9, 2008)

They dont mess about those Greeks do they? Can you imagine that here? There would just be wide spread panic and fear of getting the Chelsea tractor wheels covered in salt or maybe just fear full stop.


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## erneboy (Feb 8, 2007)

Any UK style risk assessment would rule that out completely.


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## barryd (May 9, 2008)

Hey! Doesnt that Greek Dock look a bit like Ramsgate is now? Just sayin.


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## nicholsong (May 26, 2009)

erneboy said:


> Any UK style risk assessment would rule that out completely.


Alan I think you would be correct in terms os the dock workers and passengers/vehicles.

However I saw nothing wrong in the handling of the ferry itself.

I think at the plannng stage a UK Risk Assessment would have concluded that the quay is too exposed and too low for the proposed operation in advese conditions.

British ferry ports, at least those within my experience, have been designed with moles and docking systems with adjustable ramps and huge fenders.

Greece does not have the infrastructure nor money, but for a lot of islanders the ferry is their lifeline, for food medicine etc. - do they take the chances with flooded quays or running or of insulin?

When I was first using Greek ferries 40+ years ago often they had to anchor in the bay and transfer passengers via the ramp to local fishing boats - that in a seaway was more dangerous as one could be straight into the water.

I once sat it out stern-on to the quay in a force 8 in Astypalea for 3 days.

Mhs are easy-peasy.

Geoff


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## erneboy (Feb 8, 2007)

I understand why they do it Geoff. I was merely remarking that despite both the UK and Greece being in the EU and thus, notionally at least, conforming to the same Health and Safety standards, the Greeks get on with doing something which would get the people responsible into a world of sh!±t in the UK should such a video come to light.

I spent my last 20 years at work trying, successfully luckily, to stay on the right side of the Health and Safety legislation. We even had one very serious dangerous occurrence involving a parked aircraft (or whatever the equivalent of parking is in aviation) in which nobody was injured. I was asked to produce my risk assessment and answered honestly, that the possibility that what had happened could possibly ever happen had not occurred to me. Thankfully my clients agreed that the possibility had never occurred to them either and left it there, after our insurance had paid for the damage of course.


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## raynipper (Aug 4, 2008)

Pity our Brexit masters haven't been asked the same requirements.


Ray.


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