Speaking from years of experience skippering fishing boats on the East coast and North UK, the decision to head for shore when you felt you should was a true mark of seamanship, Alan was designed to handle much much worse than you were experiencing but knowing your limits and erring on the side of caution will keep you safe. Very impressive. 👍
I've so much respect for fishing vessels of the north sea. I've got to echo what they've said though. You'll give up long before the boat does. If I had the misfortune of being in a storm 10 at sea. I'd rather be in your boat that my sailboat - yours was made with self-righting and survival in mind
@@Chadok89 would you say the weight would have shifted higher? I'd imagine a bunch of 85kg wet through ship's crew at the waterline might be heavier than the retrofitted gear 🤔 I'd guess it evens out
@@captain-Dan nah, I'm just thinking the things he installed inside aren't meant to go past 90°. It's not about if the boat would sink but more if there will be damages on his equipments.
I grew up on mountains with my parents always saying the call to pull pin for safety if you are worried is always the best decision. Better to get home safe than to push and get home injured or in a small pine box. Good call dude.
I know its not what you wanted but welcome to Hartlepool, hopefully you will be able to replace your lost boat and i will keep an eye out as i walk along the beach.
I once owned a GRP ships life boat with a hull form similar to Alan. My worst experience was crossing Caernarfon Bar at the wrong time and at the wrong speed, the boat broached rolled over to about 45" through me of my helming position, when I gathered my self together she had sorted her self out she hadn't shipped a drop of sea and was gentled motoring into the quite considerable waves giving me another chance to make my approach slower and under control. I learnt a valuable lesson that day and my faith in my lovely boat grew too. Life boats are uncomfortable but very good sea boats. Good luck with your voyage and always go with you gut feeling there is always another day and your safety is paramount.
I would be open to buying you a victron quattro or some other multi function inverter. If you can fit a starter motor to your diesel generator, the quattro can automatically start your generator when the batteries get low. It also has separate inputs for generator and shore power. You don't seem to have a lot of AC loads so I'm not sure how important it is, but it's a nice piece of kit. My van is entirely 12 volt, but the quattro can charge the batteries at up to 220 amps. This is nearly magical when I have a lot of DC loads.
Thanks - although the batteries are really full when running (in float most the time) due to the new charge sharing Victron. I want to avoid running the genset at sea. Certainly some other tech I could do with! (bowthrusters!)
7:14 just remember that hot vs cold will vary significantly now vs in the arctic. Right now you probably need an air conditioner. Also, Have you considered an autopilot yet? Having to man the helm 24/7 could be a lot of effort once you get outside of shipping lanes.
I would agree with some other commentors, Alan can probably handle significantly worse than that, but just because he can, doesn't mean he should except in an emergency. You had an out and you correctly took it. Better safe than sorry. Here's to future safe travels.
Cheers. Yes, Alan and occupants could SURVIVE much, much worse, but probably with damage to contents, or loss of power to the engine and all that follows near a coastline.
Thanks for the updates. Trusting that you have a Captain’s Log in some electronic format that will allow you to capture screen images of weather and equipment readings for future review and possible publication. Wishing you and your crew smooth sailing and restful evenings. Hopefully Son of Alan is discovered, salvageable and returned. Peace brother.
Alex as much as you think Alan was at his limits they are made to take much worst, I had an interesting trip in an all but empty 65 man lifeboat from a commercial wharf to a military base to carry out a hook service, which meant motoring into bad weather in Bass Straight south of Victoria Australia and the only thing that saved myself and the transfer crew of 3 was strapping into the seatbelts to keep from bouncing our heads off the inside of the roof shell. Give him more credit and be happy for the ballast!
It was the proximity of a lee shore and potential embarrassment of bouncing helplessly along the sea defenses into notoriety that would galvanize any skipper into taking the safe route home.
Along with damage to contents, yes I was most concerned about extreme pitching and rolling causing loss of power, and in that case with a strong onshore wind....
First, I was thinking that you are in a liferaft that is never going to sink because it's made mostly of foam, but then you mentioned that if the motor breaks down due to heavy waves or angles you would be unable to manoeuvre and that would have been a huge problem and danger. So right decision to divert.👍🏻
I don't know if you've mentioned this or not, but make sure you have a bona-fide EPIRB and immersion suits as you get into colder waters. A commercial satellite messenger is NOT enough.
I'm no expert , but from the comments on here from those with actual experience who agree with you following your gut feeling , and heading for cover early , was the right decision . Safety first ! Hope you get your boat back .
Always follow ur gut lost a friend who had worked on and owned trawlers all his life but was sadly lost to the sea massive respect for the rnli that searched for 3 days to try and find him
This Makes Me Want To Live Full Time In A Off-Grid Land Drivable 100 Person Enclosed Bunker Tiny Home Lifeboat Built/Parked Inside Of A Seagoing Ship That Can Still Float On Water If Need Be + I Love YA UA-cam A Lot
Alanson notwithstanding, Alan and all of his modifications held up to the battering as designed, and that’s the important thing. Maybe Alanson will send you a post card from Belgium.
Hi Alex, you've made fantastic progress with your project pal and lovely to see you finally on your travel missions. I see you did not take me up on my advice I gave you several months ago to always attach a secondary line to the dingy when towing during passage! Keep safe pal, thoroughly enjoying your content as always. Gavin
With respect Gavin, I can't act on every bit of advice from every one of thousands of comments. I had changed the roping system on the tender to split the load between the three anchor loops. The tow anchor/s failed in this case, probably through age, and so a second backup line would have released too. The rope didn't fail.
20:37 I can't remember your bilge pump setup. But you will never regret having too many bilge pumps. When the coast guard tries to save a sinking vessel, one of the things they do is drop gasoline (petrol) powered bilge pumps from an airplane onto the ship. Obviously Alan is hard to sink due to the foam construction, but a few bilge pumps might make the difference between the engine or electrics becoming inoperative. I'd personally get two of the highest output bilge pumps you can find and mount them in the lowest point of the bilge. If a through-hull fitting breaks open, you'll be fine as long as you can pump water faster.
To be frank (and from experience) it is a false sense of security. Yes of course you need bilge pumps but you can spend crazy amounts of money installing bilge pumps and they still may not be able to cope with hull breaches - it is a better investment to have a good range of damage control equipment (bungs sized to though hulls, wedges anything to stem flow).
Almost certainly Alan was no where near his limits however always better to err on the side of caution. BTW basic physic's Alan's seakeeping will be improved if you top up with diesel this will lower the COG a fraction.
@@AlexHibbertOriginalsI guess Alan was designed to propel itself far enough away from a sinking ship or burning oil platform ... after that, all it needed to do was stay afloat with everyone strapped down inside ... no matter how unpleasant it got inside 🤮
Alex, I have a suggestion for Alan's engine bay. make an air intake duct and keep the one you already have, so you can maintain a constant flow of fresh and new air to the engine. keep that air exhaust at the back of the Alan and place the new air intake facing the bow of the Alan. Thus, the headwind helps in the exchange of air! Hope this helps Alan's engine. Good luck for you!
Just a suggestion.... Grimsby as you likely know was THE fishing boat mecca....so a picture of old Grimsby loaded with trawlers and one now with it fitted with finger piers and sailboats (making a face whilst saying sailboats) ....ok then...best of luck n god bless you n Alans travels 👍🇺🇲
In an earlier ep you tied the tender via the central plastic ring, instead of the two stainlesssteal rings. Might be the issue. (one i learnt the same way...)
I did heed this warning - I fear the central ring failed, and then pulled at an extreme angle, the tender tumbled (twists in the rope evident), ploughed, and then the SS ring's plastic welds failed.
@@AlexHibbertOriginals Not necessarily. A formed band that encircles the whole vessel approximately amidships, fiber glassed into place, for a set of mounts that dual retractable outrigger arms attach to. You would still have a lot of up and down but not so much of the slam into bulkhead. Your videos are excellent.
Hope you recover Alanson. Don't worry about the limits of Alan. Those Lifeboats are designed to cope with increadable rough seas. ie the vicious North sea foul weather. I think it is only your inexperience as a sailor that is your concern. Trust Alan's Safety capabilities and your confidence will grow and you will stress a lot less and be amazed at what Alan will, and can handle. Regards from South 2
An 'experienced' sailor would have pushed on, risked a large roll sucking air into the fuel pickup pipe, and ended up powerless on a rocky coastline with an onshore wind? Doubt it.
9:20. The blades flex like that so that there is less surface area producing force. And therefore The velocity of the blade is slowed. Preventing the blade from spinning faster than any velocity then it can withstand. Well being allowed to spin. In too high of a velocity wind. They're prevented from spinning all together.
Good decision lots of respect for your expedition I was wondering about the boat if the stability of the boat would increase substantially if she would carry more ballast. Since she has been designed to carry 68 persons considering one person weight is 70 kg total is 4760 kh Consequently she would lie much of a deeper in the water and would be much more stable especially navigating at higher speeds
@@AlexHibbertOriginals trying to reach the rear stag horn to rig a drogue with a following sea looks like it might be tricky. They are effective but generate a huge amount of line tension and bollard strain. Maybe worth trying on a calm then moderate day to see how it all works?
Adding ballast can increase roll: keels, balance gyros, fluid ballast tanks; they can all fail. Thankyou for the narrative, a video Captains log could be standard :)
Oh no….Allanson….😳 thankfully that was you’re only issue, those breakers were rather large, a very wise decision to take shelter early…..safe onwards sailing 👍🇮🇲👌
Interesting. Three other boats, only one being a leisure boat, diverted to the fish dock as well as us, and a group of sailors on the headland considered calling the coastguard as they saw us approach. Clearly all those involved were pathetic by your lofty standards of seamanship. Fool.
@AlexHibbertOriginals no, not a fool, not an armchair mariner. You were clearly stressed, so it was right that you took shelter, but there really was no need to be stressed in the first place. Your estimation of sea height, which I think underpinned your decision, was out. And yes, I take account of how cameras flatten all sea states. You made reference to a 2m significant wave height, but it quite clearly wasn't. In fact, the windspeed wasn't even enough to result in a 2m wave height. White horses appear from Bf 3 to 4, and become progressively more pronounced, so no, I don't think the safe haven was needed. Your boat, your decisions, and all's well that ends well. But it really did look like perfectly good weather for a day on the water, it was not anywhere near the limits of the boat, and with plenty of gentle sloping holding grounds, to address your catastrophisation of engine failure and ending up on the rocks, one simply drops the pick and fixes the engine. How do you think ships manage? So, the only question that remains is whether your stress was genuine or dramatic? I suspect dramatic, hence my post.
How do I think ships manage in difficult seas when they have an onshore wind or tide, and have engine problems? Most have multiple engines. Also, pre-planned pilot or tug support, and for those ships all that fails for, well, they run aground as dozens have done along our coastlines. Your non-constructive comment had one single purpose - to make yourself feel big and clever. I assure you, the big and clever do not post snide, anonymous digs.
@AlexHibbertOriginals It may have come across as that, understandably. I was too harsh about the dramatics, maybe you were entirely genuine and not playing it up for the views. I don't know. Regardless, it doesn't change my opinion about the weather conditions on that day on the basis of what you showed us, although of course maybe there was something we didn't see. And lastly, I don't look to UA-cam for validation. I don't share my name publicly as it isn't wise but it is not to hide from you. What my experience, knowledge, and skill are, you'll just have to assume, but I averr that I am more than qualified to comment on this.
That's not really how it works though. For example, right now the waves on the open Barents Sea are 1.5m, but in the sheltered waters around Jutland, they are 5m.
Hope you manage to retrieve Alanson. I know it is difficult but if you need a dinghy then towing is not viable for longer passages. Maybe an open rack or strapping points - deflate dinghy - install high volume low pressure compressor?
New Subscriber, brilliant stuff! In regards to the rolling shots, it might be worth finding a cheap gimbal and mounting it to the top bars! nothing worse than big video file transfers and compression haha!
@@AlexHibbertOriginals Perhaps there was a misplaced joke in my comment … alas it seems the harrowing journey has gotten to your sense of humor. Safe travels and I still think you need to register the “checked pattern” of the PJs as Alan’s offical tartan. Heck, you could even add promotional items onto the web site … a kilt???
G'day mate enjoyed this episode and glad that Alan made it - a few questions, any thoughts to ducting warm air to the cox'ns seat during arctic transit and during passage any thoughts to removing your external heater cowl so that it doesn't catch any big waves and gets damaged. Once again mate a sterling episode from not so warm Tassie.
I have a beading surface treatment on the front facing window that works well. It was a test, so I'll try it on the others. That beaded water clip was a side window, and I guess just for cinematic variety!
Maybe there’s no choice but to deflate and bring Alanson onboard when he is recovered. If Alanson is not found, and you get a new tender, we will christen it as as “Alan Parson” 😊
@@PinkLittleElephant a canister raft is at least £1k I think and it will also take quite a bit of space on the side of Alan. But I suspect there is no other choice.
@@AlexHibbertOriginals ah, I’d still advise having a look at gyroflow. It tends to do a really good job, and it’s free. I’m new here, but love your content. I dream of buying an Alan someday
Question, with your experience with Alan , how do you sense these boat's efficiency at keeping distressed passengers safe as a lifeboat on the high seas ?
@@AlexHibbertOriginals thank you .. yes designed for survivability , that is what makes this so interesting . Will continue to follow ... good channel . Best wishes and God Bless !!
Hopefully Alans "son" will be found and returned as your YT channel has over 50k subscribers and Alan is becoming something of a celebrity curiosity. Definitely made the right call going into Hartlepool.
So I don’t mean to cast dispersions on you and Alan, but if you were so uncomfortable in medium seas so close to numerous safe harbours, how can you be confident with your longer legs in far more remote areas?
Not all seas have the combination of a strong onshore wind, shallows that grow waves, rocky shores, and no ice to attenuate waves. Each scenario is different and the British coast is notoriously trickier than it may appear.
@@AlexHibbertOriginals definitely not cool, but much better to learn in the North Sea than the Arctic Ocean. Have you got a life raft for your life raft? Alan²?
We have home insulation that you can use in homes that is sound,water,and fireproof among other things I'm sure it's spun from liquified rock, lava if you will. Called Rockwool. Check it out to see if its a thing, you could get away with less then a roll I would assume.
I thought that life rafts were safe as houses, no matter the weather? But I suppose that's in circumstances where there's nothing loose in the cabin and all of the passengers are wearing five-point harnesses. Was this the concern or does Alan have some seaworthiness issues? Great adventure anyway :)
The concern was the rolling angles causing a fuel supply issue, loss of power, and an onshore wind onto rocks. Alan can't sink, but can break up on rocks.
13:39 You said RockSteady so I assume you have a DJI. The Osmo Action 3 has a feature called horizon leveling, that would take out all the roll, but not the rest, since you have quite long motions. I would shoot realtime and stabilize it in software. This should take only a few minutes extra render time, since it is only zooming in and shifting the frame. Softwares have a button for that.
![Talamex Highline 230 Air Floor inflatable first impression. Expedition Lifeboat Conversion Ep94 [4K]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/ilkXx1_zj1M/mqdefault.jpg)
![Talamex Highline 230 Air Floor inflatable first impression. Expedition Lifeboat Conversion Ep94 [4K]](/img/tr.png)
![Alan the lifeboat heads north LEG 4 (pt2): Lindisfarne to Edinburgh - beached & MAYDAY call Ep98[4K]](/img/n.gif)
Speaking from years of experience skippering fishing boats on the East coast and North UK, the decision to head for shore when you felt you should was a true mark of seamanship, Alan was designed to handle much much worse than you were experiencing but knowing your limits and erring on the side of caution will keep you safe. Very impressive. 👍
Cheers - that's appreciated.
I've so much respect for fishing vessels of the north sea. I've got to echo what they've said though. You'll give up long before the boat does. If I had the misfortune of being in a storm 10 at sea. I'd rather be in your boat that my sailboat - yours was made with self-righting and survival in mind
To be fair, the boat is made to survive much worse, but not the interior design changes.
@@Chadok89 would you say the weight would have shifted higher? I'd imagine a bunch of 85kg wet through ship's crew at the waterline might be heavier than the retrofitted gear 🤔 I'd guess it evens out
@@captain-Dan nah, I'm just thinking the things he installed inside aren't meant to go past 90°.
It's not about if the boat would sink but more if there will be damages on his equipments.
I hope the lost son will return.
I grew up on mountains with my parents always saying the call to pull pin for safety if you are worried is always the best decision. Better to get home safe than to push and get home injured or in a small pine box. Good call dude.
This right here!!! I hope Alanson will be found by a friend and we see him again
LOVING these regular updates
First the anglegrinder - now Alanson ... 2023 is a tough one O.o
why add salt to the wound now i cant stop the tears...
I know its not what you wanted but welcome to Hartlepool, hopefully you will be able to replace your lost boat and i will keep an eye out as i walk along the beach.
Cheers. Seems a nice place.
Alan and Goodwin, my two favorite boats on UA-cam.
I once owned a GRP ships life boat with a hull form similar to Alan. My worst experience was crossing Caernarfon Bar at the wrong time and at the wrong speed, the boat broached rolled over to about 45" through me of my helming position, when I gathered my self together she had sorted her self out she hadn't shipped a drop of sea and was gentled motoring into the quite considerable waves giving me another chance to make my approach slower and under control. I learnt a valuable lesson that day and my faith in my lovely boat grew too. Life boats are uncomfortable but very good sea boats. Good luck with your voyage and always go with you gut feeling there is always another day and your safety is paramount.
Cheers - it's good to hear reports from those delineating safety and comfort.
I would be open to buying you a victron quattro or some other multi function inverter. If you can fit a starter motor to your diesel generator, the quattro can automatically start your generator when the batteries get low. It also has separate inputs for generator and shore power. You don't seem to have a lot of AC loads so I'm not sure how important it is, but it's a nice piece of kit. My van is entirely 12 volt, but the quattro can charge the batteries at up to 220 amps. This is nearly magical when I have a lot of DC loads.
Very generous offer of you.🫶🏻
Thanks - although the batteries are really full when running (in float most the time) due to the new charge sharing Victron. I want to avoid running the genset at sea. Certainly some other tech I could do with! (bowthrusters!)
7:14 just remember that hot vs cold will vary significantly now vs in the arctic. Right now you probably need an air conditioner.
Also, Have you considered an autopilot yet? Having to man the helm 24/7 could be a lot of effort once you get outside of shipping lanes.
Autopilot sitting in a box really to install! I finally saved up for it.
I would agree with some other commentors, Alan can probably handle significantly worse than that, but just because he can, doesn't mean he should except in an emergency. You had an out and you correctly took it. Better safe than sorry. Here's to future safe travels.
Cheers. Yes, Alan and occupants could SURVIVE much, much worse, but probably with damage to contents, or loss of power to the engine and all that follows near a coastline.
Thanks for the updates. Trusting that you have a Captain’s Log in some electronic format that will allow you to capture screen images of weather and equipment readings for future review and possible publication.
Wishing you and your crew smooth sailing and restful evenings. Hopefully Son of Alan is discovered, salvageable and returned. Peace brother.
Cheers.
Alex as much as you think Alan was at his limits they are made to take much worst, I had an interesting trip in an all but empty 65 man lifeboat from a commercial wharf to a military base to carry out a hook service, which meant motoring into bad weather in Bass Straight south of Victoria Australia and the only thing that saved myself and the transfer crew of 3 was strapping into the seatbelts to keep from bouncing our heads off the inside of the roof shell. Give him more credit and be happy for the ballast!
It was the proximity of a lee shore and potential embarrassment of bouncing helplessly along the sea defenses into notoriety that would galvanize any skipper into taking the safe route home.
Along with damage to contents, yes I was most concerned about extreme pitching and rolling causing loss of power, and in that case with a strong onshore wind....
Just stumbled across this vid. Really enjoying your adventure. Looking forward to seeing you complete your voyage.
Thanks
Way to listen to your gut, man. I hope Alanson finds his way home soon! Best of luck on the continuation of the journey.
Cheers
Well done, Alex! That was some tough running
You have given me some great least for my keel thanks and memory looks fantastic
First, I was thinking that you are in a liferaft that is never going to sink because it's made mostly of foam, but then you mentioned that if the motor breaks down due to heavy waves or angles you would be unable to manoeuvre and that would have been a huge problem and danger. So right decision to divert.👍🏻
Good to meet you today Alan at Hartlepool. Loom Ng forward to following your expeditions ! ☺️ Henry and Sheila from Wetherby.
Cheers! Great to meet you both.
@@AlexHibbertOriginals sorry I called you Alan! 🤭
Congratulations on 50k subs!
Cheers
I don't know if you've mentioned this or not, but make sure you have a bona-fide EPIRB and immersion suits as you get into colder waters. A commercial satellite messenger is NOT enough.
We have floating EPLB onboard. Immersion suits for colder waters, agreed.
I'm no expert , but from the comments on here from those with actual experience who agree with you following your gut feeling , and heading for cover early , was the right decision . Safety first ! Hope you get your boat back .
Good call bailing out when you did. Alanson’s replacement definitely has to be Alansdottir!!😁😁
Always follow ur gut lost a friend who had worked on and owned trawlers all his life but was sadly lost to the sea massive respect for the rnli that searched for 3 days to try and find him
A sad tale. RNLI respect shared here.
is the weather in the arctic known for being nice calm and navigable? will Alan be able to handle voyages when the weather gets bad?
Around sea ice, waves are very limited, but yes, the passages to and from need to be patiently and carefully timed.
Shame for Alanson's disappearance. Great leg once again.
That is some Sea - never looks the same on camera - good shout skipper!
Not all agree, but thank you!
This Makes Me Want To Live Full Time In A Off-Grid Land Drivable 100 Person Enclosed Bunker Tiny Home Lifeboat Built/Parked Inside Of A Seagoing Ship That Can Still Float On Water If Need Be + I Love YA UA-cam A Lot
You are nuts love this venture so much
Alanson notwithstanding, Alan and all of his modifications held up to the battering as designed, and that’s the important thing. Maybe Alanson will send you a post card from Belgium.
Rule 1. Two lines on a tender. Always.
Great video.
Hi Alex, you've made fantastic progress with your project pal and lovely to see you finally on your travel missions. I see you did not take me up on my advice I gave you several months ago to always attach a secondary line to the dingy when towing during passage! Keep safe pal, thoroughly enjoying your content as always. Gavin
With respect Gavin, I can't act on every bit of advice from every one of thousands of comments. I had changed the roping system on the tender to split the load between the three anchor loops. The tow anchor/s failed in this case, probably through age, and so a second backup line would have released too. The rope didn't fail.
Mate heading in because your not comfortable is always the right decision
Keep it up friend!
What an enjoyable watch. I have subscribed.
Cheers
You need a smaller orange lifeboat for your lifeboat.
😅😅
And a smaller one for that and smaller one for that...
@@ptonpc 😅😅
20:37 I can't remember your bilge pump setup. But you will never regret having too many bilge pumps. When the coast guard tries to save a sinking vessel, one of the things they do is drop gasoline (petrol) powered bilge pumps from an airplane onto the ship. Obviously Alan is hard to sink due to the foam construction, but a few bilge pumps might make the difference between the engine or electrics becoming inoperative. I'd personally get two of the highest output bilge pumps you can find and mount them in the lowest point of the bilge.
If a through-hull fitting breaks open, you'll be fine as long as you can pump water faster.
You're likely correct - bilge pumps are something I could upgrade.
To be frank (and from experience) it is a false sense of security. Yes of course you need bilge pumps but you can spend crazy amounts of money installing bilge pumps and they still may not be able to cope with hull breaches - it is a better investment to have a good range of damage control equipment (bungs sized to though hulls, wedges anything to stem flow).
I have a bag full of various sized bungs too.
Just looking at those white tops, yes you made the right decision. Sorry to hear about Alanson but it could have been worse.
Cheers
Great job, right decision 👌
Almost certainly Alan was no where near his limits however always better to err on the side of caution. BTW basic physic's Alan's seakeeping will be improved if you top up with diesel this will lower the COG a fraction.
Survival limits, for sure, but we could have lost power or damaged contents.
@@AlexHibbertOriginalsI guess Alan was designed to propel itself far enough away from a sinking ship or burning oil platform ... after that, all it needed to do was stay afloat with everyone strapped down inside ... no matter how unpleasant it got inside 🤮
Alan is a old lifeboat I’m an old fisherman. What weather are you talking about?
@4:58 Stowaway! Bottom right corner! She's still there when the shot cuts, you have a passenger.
Alex, I have a suggestion for Alan's engine bay. make an air intake duct and keep the one you already have, so you can maintain a constant flow of fresh and new air to the engine. keep that air exhaust at the back of the Alan and place the new air intake facing the bow of the Alan. Thus, the headwind helps in the exchange of air! Hope this helps Alan's engine. Good luck for you!
That is actually not far from the system I have / am completing. The air for both the engine and the bay enters from the front.
Scariest part of the video was that spider moving back and forth between the light and the bow @ 4:59.
Just a suggestion.... Grimsby as you likely know was THE fishing boat mecca....so a picture of old Grimsby loaded with trawlers and one now with it fitted with finger piers and sailboats (making a face whilst saying sailboats) ....ok then...best of luck n god bless you n Alans travels 👍🇺🇲
I am enjoying this channel very much. Maybe the new addition called be called Steve. I hope Alanson find his way back.
i think the installation of windshield wipers might be a good idea
The front facing window has a hydrophobic treatment. I need to add it to the others.
Maybe someone already suggested, but if you put some passive stabilizers on de bottom of Alan?
Yes bilge keels are in final design stages.
In an earlier ep you tied the tender via the central plastic ring, instead of the two stainlesssteal rings. Might be the issue. (one i learnt the same way...)
I did heed this warning - I fear the central ring failed, and then pulled at an extreme angle, the tender tumbled (twists in the rope evident), ploughed, and then the SS ring's plastic welds failed.
Have you thought about adding an outrigger to Alan? It could help add stability in those hairy situations like this last approach:
It would be a massive structural job.
@@AlexHibbertOriginals Not necessarily. A formed band that encircles the whole vessel approximately amidships, fiber glassed into place, for a set of mounts that dual retractable outrigger arms attach to. You would still have a lot of up and down but not so much of the slam into bulkhead. Your videos are excellent.
Hope you recover Alanson. Don't worry about the limits of Alan. Those Lifeboats are designed to cope with increadable rough seas. ie the vicious North sea foul weather. I think it is only your inexperience as a sailor that is your concern. Trust Alan's Safety capabilities and your confidence will grow and you will stress a lot less and be amazed at what Alan will, and can handle.
Regards from South 2
An 'experienced' sailor would have pushed on, risked a large roll sucking air into the fuel pickup pipe, and ended up powerless on a rocky coastline with an onshore wind? Doubt it.
How about AlanAndra or AlanTvå to carry on the naming trend. Really looking forward to seeing Alan take on the northern waters. Am sure he upto it.
I'm from Grimsby and can imagine you were more than ready to get out of there lol
Just needs some investment. I found the people really welcoming.....ish.
17:50 "if I failed to time the turn correctly..." I had to listen to this at half speed. I tonight you were saying the engine DID conk out.
I think your hearing is going the way of your predictive text…… *thought not “tonight” 😅
9:20. The blades flex like that so that there is less surface area producing force. And therefore The velocity of the blade is slowed. Preventing the blade from spinning faster than any velocity then it can withstand. Well being allowed to spin.
In too high of a velocity wind. They're prevented from spinning all together.
Impressive tech
great videos!! question, do you know what sort of fuel economy you get at slow economic cruise speeds below hull speed? Thanks!!
At best 1.8L per hour, but in a moderate sea, not as good...
@AlexHibbertOriginals That's no bad. What is the typical speed you can go at that fuel burn rate?
Without help from the tide, about 6/7 knots, but not if fighting waves etc.
@AlexHibbertOriginals Thats very impressive!
Have you left keys in't box - Classic
What a heat wave we all had this year 🎉❤
I had to do a search for Bridlington after your comment.
If you think it's time to change plans... It's time to change plans.
5:33 do you hear the radio in both ears or just one ear? Mono vs stereo plugs are silly, and an adapter might help.
Both - I have a mono to stereo adapter.
Good decision lots of respect for your expedition
I was wondering about the boat if the stability of the boat would increase substantially if she would carry more ballast. Since she has been designed to carry 68 persons considering one person weight is 70 kg total is 4760 kh
Consequently she would lie much of a deeper in the water and would be much more stable especially navigating at higher speeds
I wonder if pontoon stabilizers are needed
Alanson was like nope, im out.
Jokes aside, hopefully someone finds and returns Alanson to you.
Thinking to the future, do you have a drogue that you can deploy to stop you getting broached in a following sea?
I do in a locker.
@@AlexHibbertOriginals trying to reach the rear stag horn to rig a drogue with a following sea looks like it might be tricky. They are effective but generate a huge amount of line tension and bollard strain. Maybe worth trying on a calm then moderate day to see how it all works?
I suppose it would make sense to somehow improve your refueling system :) Cool adventures.
It works, but it's a bit of a faff when at sea. So, yes.
Adding ballast can increase roll: keels, balance gyros, fluid ballast tanks; they can all fail. Thankyou for the narrative, a video Captains log could be standard :)
Ahh English Summers !
Oh no….Allanson….😳 thankfully that was you’re only issue, those breakers were rather large, a very wise decision to take shelter early…..safe onwards sailing 👍🇮🇲👌
Talk about dramatisation... that was all lovely weather for being on the water.
Interesting. Three other boats, only one being a leisure boat, diverted to the fish dock as well as us, and a group of sailors on the headland considered calling the coastguard as they saw us approach. Clearly all those involved were pathetic by your lofty standards of seamanship.
Fool.
@AlexHibbertOriginals no, not a fool, not an armchair mariner. You were clearly stressed, so it was right that you took shelter, but there really was no need to be stressed in the first place.
Your estimation of sea height, which I think underpinned your decision, was out. And yes, I take account of how cameras flatten all sea states. You made reference to a 2m significant wave height, but it quite clearly wasn't. In fact, the windspeed wasn't even enough to result in a 2m wave height. White horses appear from Bf 3 to 4, and become progressively more pronounced, so no, I don't think the safe haven was needed.
Your boat, your decisions, and all's well that ends well. But it really did look like perfectly good weather for a day on the water, it was not anywhere near the limits of the boat, and with plenty of gentle sloping holding grounds, to address your catastrophisation of engine failure and ending up on the rocks, one simply drops the pick and fixes the engine. How do you think ships manage?
So, the only question that remains is whether your stress was genuine or dramatic? I suspect dramatic, hence my post.
How do I think ships manage in difficult seas when they have an onshore wind or tide, and have engine problems? Most have multiple engines. Also, pre-planned pilot or tug support, and for those ships all that fails for, well, they run aground as dozens have done along our coastlines.
Your non-constructive comment had one single purpose - to make yourself feel big and clever. I assure you, the big and clever do not post snide, anonymous digs.
@AlexHibbertOriginals It may have come across as that, understandably. I was too harsh about the dramatics, maybe you were entirely genuine and not playing it up for the views. I don't know.
Regardless, it doesn't change my opinion about the weather conditions on that day on the basis of what you showed us, although of course maybe there was something we didn't see.
And lastly, I don't look to UA-cam for validation. I don't share my name publicly as it isn't wise but it is not to hide from you. What my experience, knowledge, and skill are, you'll just have to assume, but I averr that I am more than qualified to comment on this.
I geel that you will be encountering mountainous waves as you head more to open waters. Will make the journey so far look like a mill pond.
That's not really how it works though. For example, right now the waves on the open Barents Sea are 1.5m, but in the sheltered waters around Jutland, they are 5m.
It's a stupid question, but does a lifeboat need / require to carry life raft ?
Offshore it should. Fire is still a risk.
@@AlexHibbertOriginalsGood luck with your adventure
Maybe a gimbal would help with the rocky timelapses?
I'm not sure, as a gimbal can't reduce the angles between subject (Alan and the horizon)
Do you ever get bigger ships checking that you aren’t actually a life boat from a rig or ship? I.e. actually in trouble?
Not yet! We have AIS and radio.
Hope you manage to retrieve Alanson. I know it is difficult but if you need a dinghy then towing is not viable for longer passages.
Maybe an open rack or strapping points - deflate dinghy - install high volume low pressure compressor?
New Subscriber, brilliant stuff! In regards to the rolling shots, it might be worth finding a cheap gimbal and mounting it to the top bars! nothing worse than big video file transfers and compression haha!
I think a hyperlapse over timelapse setting might help counteract the angle of roll, but will experiment!
Isn’t “checked pattern” to be referred to as a tartan? Perhaps you need to register the pajamas as Alan’s tartan!
Tartan is a specific celtic pattern than denotes clan membership I think.
@@AlexHibbertOriginals Perhaps there was a misplaced joke in my comment … alas it seems the harrowing journey has gotten to your sense of humor. Safe travels and I still think you need to register the “checked pattern” of the PJs as Alan’s offical tartan. Heck, you could even add promotional items onto the web site … a kilt???
Is the wind generator operational? It appears the brake is on but that could be the go pro creating the ilussion.
I would assume it's not operational/turned on.
Why would it be with the engine running or with shore power plugged-in?
It's cable tied up at the moment as it's not connected to anything. I have more DC power than I know what to do with. It's more for winter use.
G'day mate enjoyed this episode and glad that Alan made it - a few questions, any thoughts to ducting warm air to the cox'ns seat during arctic transit and during passage any thoughts to removing your external heater cowl so that it doesn't catch any big waves and gets damaged. Once again mate a sterling episode from not so warm Tassie.
Heat buildup really is quite intense to be honest, and insulation very extensive. We'll see how the heat balance ends up once in the cold place.
I’m watching this from the red and yellow ship you can see at the 2:30 mark, whilst out at sea (in a windfarm!). Small world.
Wish we knew at the time!
Is it possible to add a gyroscopic stabilizer to Alan?
At vast cost.
The search for Alison is on
hey Alex, can i ask what Alan's manufacturer and model no are? great video! looking forward to seeing him in stonehaven!
NorMar Norway (no longer trading) and just their 7.5m model.
Would whipers on the cockpit windows improve your visibility?
I have a beading surface treatment on the front facing window that works well. It was a test, so I'll try it on the others. That beaded water clip was a side window, and I guess just for cinematic variety!
Alanson search party
Well done Alex. Maybe we could set up a find #Alanson campaign?
I do hope someone will find him on a local beach.
Maybe there’s no choice but to deflate and bring Alanson onboard when he is recovered. If Alanson is not found, and you get a new tender, we will christen it as as “Alan Parson” 😊
Well that's a Project... ;-)
This is a conundrum, as there's no space to store inflated, and our tender is currently a safety feature.
@@AlexHibbertOriginalsfor open sea crossings, you'll need something like a self-inflating life raft anyway ... any plans where to store that?
A canister raft on the stern face I suspect.
@@PinkLittleElephant a canister raft is at least £1k I think and it will also take quite a bit of space on the side of Alan. But I suspect there is no other choice.
If you are using gopros, i can advice you to use gyroflow to lock the horizon and stabilize the videos from the watery bobbing :)
Thanks. DJIs mostly, and I've now found the right setting...
@@AlexHibbertOriginals ah, I’d still advise having a look at gyroflow. It tends to do a really good job, and it’s free. I’m new here, but love your content. I dream of buying an Alan someday
Cheers. Will have a look. Hyper lapse on the DJI does a good job now but may need some help.
Question, with your experience with Alan , how do you sense these boat's efficiency at keeping distressed passengers safe as a lifeboat on the high seas ?
I think the capacity to keep them alive is exceptional. Happy? Less so.
@@AlexHibbertOriginals thank you .. yes designed for survivability , that is what makes this so interesting . Will continue to follow ... good channel . Best wishes and God Bless !!
Hopefully Alans "son" will be found and returned as your YT channel has over 50k subscribers and Alan is becoming something of a celebrity curiosity. Definitely made the right call going into Hartlepool.
Unless the finder realises the value of an Avon Redstart....
I think you’ll find that Allen could take bigger waves than that. It may feel a lot worse being on board but that’s what they were designed for.
Shell survivability for sure, but I had a single engine and a strong onshore wind to a rocky coast.
Do you have enough ballast? As a lifeboat, it was designed to be full of people... so Alan might be a bit too buoyant right now?
Could always use more....
So I don’t mean to cast dispersions on you and Alan, but if you were so uncomfortable in medium seas so close to numerous safe harbours, how can you be confident with your longer legs in far more remote areas?
Not all seas have the combination of a strong onshore wind, shallows that grow waves, rocky shores, and no ice to attenuate waves. Each scenario is different and the British coast is notoriously trickier than it may appear.
Bit of a bugger losing Alanson, but glad you made it as far as you did.
Yes, losing something is (for polar people as much for sailors) a real moment to reflect and change a system. Not cool.
@@AlexHibbertOriginals definitely not cool, but much better to learn in the North Sea than the Arctic Ocean. Have you got a life raft for your life raft? Alan²?
Not yet, but will do offshore
Have you thought having roll adaptors?
Many times!
5:43 what's the box on the lower left corner of the frame?
If I remember correctly it's a fender.
A fender indeed.
We have home insulation that you can use in homes that is sound,water,and fireproof among other things I'm sure it's spun from liquified rock, lava if you will. Called Rockwool. Check it out to see if its a thing, you could get away with less then a roll I would assume.
Mineral wool is pretty widespread, but certainly doesn't sound proof low frequencies very well - it's very low density.
I sure Alen can handle more then you think..
But Alan's engine can still draw air into the fuel line during a big roll, lose power, and be wrecked.
I thought that life rafts were safe as houses, no matter the weather? But I suppose that's in circumstances where there's nothing loose in the cabin and all of the passengers are wearing five-point harnesses. Was this the concern or does Alan have some seaworthiness issues? Great adventure anyway :)
The concern was the rolling angles causing a fuel supply issue, loss of power, and an onshore wind onto rocks. Alan can't sink, but can break up on rocks.
13:39 You said RockSteady so I assume you have a DJI. The Osmo Action 3 has a feature called horizon leveling, that would take out all the roll, but not the rest, since you have quite long motions.
I would shoot realtime and stabilize it in software. This should take only a few minutes extra render time, since it is only zooming in and shifting the frame. Softwares have a button for that.
Yeah that's my next move I think. The angles mean it can't work miracles, but I can bring more SD cards and speed it all up in post.