Triumphrat

The_Duck

Yup, thats my point. You either have to trust the ferry operators or keep an eye on the work of those around you. Hardly satisfactory.
It still strikes me as surprising that things have hardly changed/improved since my first crossing (in '81), with the possible exception of ratchet straps. (Much better than the knots I tie.)

Has anyone tried Superfast? They run the Rosyth to Zeebrugge. Despite their proximity I've never found their sailings suited, but will try again next spring.

blacktiger

I've used "Speed Ferries" Dover~Boulogne a few times now. Very good is the rating I'd give them. They use the old method of a ratchet strap over the seat to steel loops on the deck, bike in gear on side stand and a chock under the back wheel. And, they do it.
The price can be excellent. Like £9 each way (booked online) if you pick the right sailings! It'll never be any more tham £50 return though. The only down side is that they can only accomodate 8 bikes on each crossing so they fill up fast in summer.

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H
'02 Tiger955i in black.

clive955

Like a few of us this year i used Seafrance who had the V system for the front wheel which seemed ok but to be perfectly honest the best way I find to cross the water is by Eurostar, You actually stay with the bike and i have never had to strap it down on any of the crossings I have done with them.

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Green is Mean

TigerLilly

I think Colin has a point

Were Stena more liable because they had tied down my husbands bike insufficiently or were they less liable because they tried?

With a twist of the strapping the bike can still go up as a ferry crests on a swell.

Lil

[ This message was edited by: TigerLilly on 2006-09-27 01:14 ]

Pansmiker

Lil

What do you mean when you say "with a twist"?

My concern is real since I plan to go out of Cork on Saturday with Brittany Ferries and with the weather here this week I would expect to have a rough ride.

Paul

tcowjww

This is how I secured my Tiger on the Holyhead to Dun Laoghaire crossing via Stena (rubbish photo, but you can see it's just to the left of the white pillar). The seas weren't particularly smooth on that crossing and, as you can see, the bike parking area was fairly packed. The general format was parking on the sidestand and putting a single strap across the seat to two of the red mounting points visible on the deck.

There seemed to be loads of ratchet tie-downs available, but I was fairly confident with just the one. And I'm somebody who's normally suspicious of ratchet straps - when it comes to securing a bike on my bike trailer with ratchet straps, I don't take *any* chances!

There were no bike casualties that I know of. But seeing as it was the first time I've taken a bike on a ferry, maybe I was just lucky :wink:

Of course if I'd taken the GPz500 and it'd fallen over, I'd just have been giggling :-D

TigerLilly

Pansmiker. Yes I would use chocks if they are available but one ratchet strap is never going to secure something under all circumstances.

It wasn't the rolling backwards and forwards that brought the bike down, it was the boat being thrown up on the crest of a wave and smacking back down. On the bike damage crossing even people had been thrown up into the air. Perhaps one end of the bike dived more than the other and there was uneven pressure from the ratchet.

Think about it, put something like a roll of selotape side on/shiny (like a wheel) into the palm of your hand, then apply downward pressure with ther other hand (ratchet), sooner or later that pressure will not remain constant (ferry in rough weather), the pressure will favour one side or another and cause the tape to fall to one side or another (bike down).

As the bike falls to one side chocks may help but they won't stop this. Similarly keeping the break applied by use of ties may also help but it won't stop this either.

Best way to stop it is to be first in the queue for the ferry and make sure your bike is as close to the centre of the boat as you are allowed. Either end of the boat will have the most motion a la sea saw.

Anyway the lough is looking calm if a little grey today, so have a good weekend.


Lil


[ This message was edited by: TigerLilly on 2006-09-28 07:23 ]

The_Duck

Hi TigerLilly, to counter that possibility, on the last trip I used a second ratchet strap between the passengers footpeg and the deck. I reckoned that this should reduce the possibility of the bike flopping to its right, (if the suspension was being compressed during heavy seas and the reduction in tension allowing the bike to move under the strap).
Another help here would be to use more compression on the strap over the seat..but wary of how much tension to apply over the seat , I slipped the strap under the front of the seat to get a firmer compression over the frame. Seemed solid.

And the seas were rough! Most people were not too interested in breakfast. But all the bikes were fine.

TigerLilly

On that trip - 17 of us. I was the only one that was fine.

As to bikes I think the ferry companies are just into loading fast. They are happy to take a bit of wastage if they can fit another trip in that day. Of course that dosn't mix with our own view of our bike.


Lil

Pansmiker

Well back safe and sound.

last week went out of Cork on Brittany Ferries - centre stand, cushion on the seat, ratchet across seat and bike on centre stand. Rough crossings both ways no problems.

Paul