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[Varche]

Gulp.

Saw the Irish sea crossing to Cairnryan had tossed lorries onto their sides.

I had been planning on our next visit to England to have a mini trip to Ireland via Wales Holyhead and then back via Cairnryan.  I am not a great fan of ships - Calais Dover is plenty.

Is this tossing of vehicles normal and who pays for the repairs?   I thought they strapped vehicles down For rough crossings?

Anyone regularly use these two crossings?  Are the ferries bigger and more stable than the Dover Calais ones?  Are the fastest ferries the best even if possibly more money?

[Doctor Gollum]

Irish Ferries have form for not chaining stuff down properly...

I wonder if my old black Elite made it over to Ireland in one piece... The chap collected it Easter Sunday 2016... Plenty of vids on You tube of the crossing and aftermath... Several hours in the Irish sea trying to survive a hurricane 

[Migv6 le Frog Fan]

When the Irish sea decides to get rough, it gets really rough. I well remember one overnight crossing Belfast - Liverpool when I had several pints and then it got stormy. I was trying to get some kip lying in a corridor with rivers of vomit running up and down it. 
I haven't been by sea for a long time, but last time was cairnryan - Belfast on some big superfast thing which shot huge plumes of water out the back. Iirc it only took an hour and a half, so no matter how rough it gets, you wont be on there long.

[Doctor Gollum]

When the Irish sea decides to get rough, it gets really rough. I well remember one overnight crossing Belfast - Liverpool when I had several pints and then it got stormy. I was trying to get some kip lying in a corridor with rivers of vomit running up and down it. 
I haven't been by sea for a long time, but last time was cairnryan - Belfast on some big superfast thing which shot huge plumes of water out the back. Iirc it only took an hour and a half, so no matter how rough it gets, you wont be on there long.

Those seacat things don't do rough particularly well. One of the first crossings from Weymouth or Poole to Guernsey was during a late summer storm... Apparently it spent more time out of the water than on it, one passenger suffered a heart attack and several of the crew quit when it finally arrived in St Peter Port

[Doctor Gollum]

Not for the squeamish...

https://youtu.be/-QLWBtx8XbE

https://bfenthusiasts.com/bfe/topic/10724-irish-ferries-bad-weather-bad-decisions-epsilon-vissentini/

[Olympia5776]

I've did the Fishhgurd / Rosslare and the old Swansea /Cork crossings many times over the years.
I have had some rough trips but never seen damage as described however I have read òf such crossings.
The Irish seas are prone to extreme weather though  ,indeed if you could only hear the gale presently keeping me awake........It's possible that you could be unlucky at this time of year.
I'd read the small print on my ticket though .

[Keith ABS]

 Bloke I knew worked on P&O ferries from Scotland to Ireland
He was on one crossing that took 23 hours due to the weather

[aaronjb]

Those seacat things don't do rough particularly well. One of the first crossings from Weymouth or Poole to Guernsey was during a late summer storm... Apparently it spent more time out of the water than on it, one passenger suffered a heart attack and several of the crew quit when it finally arrived in St Peter Port

I've been on one when it was just shy of being cancelled - Harwich to Hoek van Holland.. it felt like one side of it was going up and down about 20' while the other side remained stationary. Fortunately for me I don't get seasick - most people around me didn't seem so fortunate and even I'll admit it's quite hard to hang on to your lunch when the smell of vomit is wafting past you

Iirc it only took an hour and a half, so no matter how rough it gets, you wont be on there long.

Many years ago, coming back from Dublin, our Dublin->Liverpool cat was cancelled due to high winds.. so we spent hours on the slow boat to Holyhead instead, and then had a much longer drive back to York. I may have had a few "long blinks" on the motorway but I was young and foolish.. and driving a battered Nissan Bluebird.

[Kevin Wood]

I've done Holyhead to Dún Laoghaire plenty of times, on both the "fast cat" and conventional ferry. It's never been exactly calm and on a few occasions there has been the sound of smashing crockery in the kitchen. Best to use the loo all you want before you set sail, too, as they do tend to fill with vomit readily.. 

Fortunately, I've always taken the Westfield, and it takes a fair bit to tip that over.

[Varche]

If your vehicle is damaged bysay a lorry falling on it or in the Westfields case , a car, who pays for the repairs? I presume the Ferry company but.... maybe the small print says user beware.?

Fastcat sounds good.  Cant wait till a tunnel is built and camt do Europe without Ireland. Dont want to fly and hire.

[Kevin Wood]

If your vehicle is damaged bysay a lorry falling on it or in the Westfields case , a car, who pays for the repairs? I presume the Ferry company but.... maybe the small print says user beware.?

Well, there is that..

Fastcat sounds good.  Cant wait till a tunnel is built and camt do Europe without Ireland. Dont want to fly and hire.

I think you feel the swell a bit more on the fast cat, but it's over quicker, and I'm not sure they operate in the heaviest seas. They may even be summer months only. IIRC the one that does Portsmouth to Cherbourg gets relocated to New Zealand in the winter.

[aaronjb]

I think you feel the swell a bit more on the fast cat, but it's over quicker, and I'm not sure they operate in the heaviest seas. They may even be summer months only. IIRC the one that does Portsmouth to Cherbourg gets relocated to New Zealand in the winter.

I bet that's a fun journey on a Cat!

[Kevin Wood]

I think you feel the swell a bit more on the fast cat, but it's over quicker, and I'm not sure they operate in the heaviest seas. They may even be summer months only. IIRC the one that does Portsmouth to Cherbourg gets relocated to New Zealand in the winter.

I bet that's a fun journey on a Cat!

Yep, nice little jolly for the crew, I should think. I wonder how many fuel stops it needs?

[Doctor Gollum]

I think you feel the swell a bit more on the fast cat, but it's over quicker, and I'm not sure they operate in the heaviest seas. They may even be summer months only. IIRC the one that does Portsmouth to Cherbourg gets relocated to New Zealand in the winter.

I bet that's a fun journey on a Cat!

Yep, nice little jolly for the crew, I should think. I wonder how many fuel stops it needs?

Might be for maintenance... As they're built over there.

Not sure re fuel, one of the first Hoverspeed (remember them) did the Blue Ribband run as part of its delivery trip...
https://www.niferry.co.uk/hsc-hoverspeed-great-britain-incat-025/

[biggriffin]

On all the crossing I've done dover-calais,drive onto truck deck, handbrake on,lock it and leave.  The only thing chained down were the
-un- accompanied trailers, everything else wasn't, reason being takes to long to put 4 chains on to every truck... Would think the Irish crossing is the same.