trip on a bit bigger boat than normal (lots of photos)
Apr 7, 2022 9:53:30 GMT
peterboat, thebfg, and 8 more like this
Post by JohnV on Apr 7, 2022 9:53:30 GMT
As some of you know I have just had an interesting trip on a tug from Portland Harbour to Hull.
The tug is (was) called Wyke Castle, now renamed
27 metres long with a 9.3 metre beam 291 tons
Twin engines driving Schottel type thrusters.
I put a photo of the wheelhouse up a few days ago, I haven't ant photos of the tug from ashore myself but borrowed this one from t'internet
my thanks to the photographer
Picked the tug up from Portland Harbour which, for the benefit of any who have not been there is absolutely vast (and nearly empty)
The breakwaters are about 3 miles long and the harbour is around 2,500 acres. I had passed it many times a bit further off shore and had never realised just how vast it actually was until this visit.
This is a view from the bow after we had already left the berth and were heading for the entrance (that ship is an old RFA vessel)
views of the engine room
Engineers position and small workshop area
Electrical panel
The gearboxes and drives for the thrusters are in their own separate engine room under the aft deck
We were badly messed about by fuel suppliers at Portland, we travelled down the night before as we were expecting to bunker at 8am the next morning, on the way down we received a call to changing it until 10am and then another to change it to "around lunchtime" ..... we moved across to the bunker berth and waited
.... and waited and then were told it wouldn't be available until the next day. We then travelled to Weymouth where thanks to another tug firm we were able to get bunkers.
The delay meant that we were nearly 12 hours behind leaving Weymouth
The later time meant there were no photos of the trip along the South coast, and early morning had us over on the French side of the channel northbound in the separation scheme, well off shore in fairly choppy conditions. the weather improved rapidly by the time we were crossing the Thames estuary and heading up past Harwich, it was a flat calm.
by the time we were off the Norfolk coast itwas like a mirror but with a bit of fog
we arrived in the Humber that night and by the early hours were creepin in to th Albert Dock in Hull
good trip !!! I had been feeling very down about the amount of boating I have been able to do over the last year, Hopefully things might start improving a bit.
