Ferry ramps (1 Viewer)

Mikey RV

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Are the ramps on the ferry from Plymouth and Poole leval for getting on and off. Have just come back from Jersey in the car and the ramp was like going up a mountain, ok in the car but thought if we had the camper I would be bottoming out.
 

DBK

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You will be fine from Plymouth. I have seen monster MHs with massive overhangs get on and off without problem. Jersey has massive tides so I guess if you catch them wrong the ramp could be steep - and there were Spring Tides over the weekend so the range would have been bigger than normal.

Hadn't considered before having to consult a tide table before getting a ferry. :)
 

Traveller_HA5_3DOM

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If you five on at an angle i.e. one wheel at a time I always find it mounts ferry ramps much better than trying to meet it square on.

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irnbru

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What like is it getting on the ferries at Dover. I've already damaged my rear by bottoming out and dint want to make it worse.
 

DanielFord

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We have also never had problems at Dover, and we have a massive overhang. Plymouth also no problems. In fact the only ferry that was a bit dicey was the Isle of Wight ferry ramp at Southampton. Had to take that one very slowly indeed.

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LaMB

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I have in the past had them move the ramp to a 'reasonable' position before I would attempt to drive over it. They don't seem to like to bother to get the correct angle, but when you are holding up the loading they soon get it done.

I had an occasion when a ramp was badly angled, and we caught the ground, the guy was quite arsy with me at the time when I complained, but apologised when we were dis-embarking. As they tend to load us with the LGV's, which have better clearance, they don't realise what damage can be caused to our 'lower' vehicles.

So my advice is, if you are not happy, get it adjusted.

Martin
 

Badknee

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What like is it getting on the ferries at Dover. I've already damaged my rear by bottoming out and dint want to make it worse.
Sorry to hear about your rear, was it bruised? :whistle:
 
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Mikey RV

Mikey RV

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Cheers guys, if you see a long tailback it will be me having a standoff with the ferry man, getting him to lower it.

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TheBig1

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a mate of mine bent the towbar on his van loading at Portsmouth. the van had a huge overhang behind rear wheels though. ferry company couldnt care less
 
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I have in the past had them move the ramp to a 'reasonable' position before I would attempt to drive over it. They don't seem to like to bother to get the correct angle, but when you are holding up the loading they soon get it done.

I had an occasion when a ramp was badly angled, and we caught the ground, the guy was quite arsy with me at the time when I complained, but apologised when we were dis-embarking. As they tend to load us with the LGV's, which have better clearance, they don't realise what damage can be caused to our 'lower' vehicles.

So my advice is, if you are not happy, get it adjusted.

Martin

How do they adjust the ramp angle. The ship side is governed by the height of the water so is there some way of adjusting the dockside. Just wondering as we have a very low slung unit.
 

big map

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How do they adjust the ramp angle. The ship side is governed by the height of the water so is there some way of adjusting the dockside. Just wondering as we have a very low slung unit.

Initially a linkspan was a ramp that was attached to the pier at one end and was suspended above the water at the other. The height above the water was controlled either by hydraulic rams or cables, these types of linkspans were less well designed for the various conditions of the tide, wave and current and so were superseded by underwater tank linkspans that through compressed air can be adjusted for ferry ramp height and often need no adjustment for tidal height. The aim of all this is to have the linkspan at the roughly same height above the water as that of the car deck on whichever ferry happens to be docking at the time. All that is then needed is for a ramp (usually on the vessel) to be lowered, bridging the gap between the ferry and the linkspan.

Look how low the trailer is to the ground the dockers adjust otherwise it would ground

boat.jpg

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MicknPat

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Are the ramps on the ferry from Plymouth and Poole leval for getting on and off. Have just come back from Jersey in the car and the ramp was like going up a mountain, ok in the car but thought if we had the camper I would be bottoming out.

Where are you heading for, have been told that the ramp at Bilbao can be little tricky? We go Portsmouth to Santander no problem.(y)
 

mike mcglynn

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If the ramp is too steep refuse to use it and you may see a smaller pair of ramps which mysteriously appear from a locker and two sailors put them down for you if traffic backs up during unloading there will be a stewards enquiry from the bridge and somebody will get their ass kicked.:)

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Mikey RV

Mikey RV

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Where are you heading for, have been told that the ramp at Bilbao can be little tricky? We go Portsmouth to Santander no problem.(y)

Will be going Plymouth to Roscoff or St malo or Poole to Cherbourg and will not be getting on or off the ferry if I think it will bottom out. To them it's just another motorhome to me it's my baby.
 

Spud

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Recently crossed Holyhead to Dublin on the Stena Supperfast X with no problem. Returned on the Stena Aventurer tow hitch grounded out. Same ramp different ship!
(As an aside there is no difference in the crossing times of the ships despite the name).
Spud
 
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I fitted grounding rollers on the rear of my RV and they have done their job on the odd occasion.

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We did Portsmouth to Caen and Cherbourg to Poole out normal ferry and back fast ferry in our old VW Baywindow.
Outbound we bottomed it and tow bar took the brunt. We thought we was sat in the space shuttle it was that steep going up the ramp.
Coming back was better for the ramp but Brittany ferries packed us all in so close Side by side, I felt uneasy about having the van damaged.
However to be fair, there did look to be a few ramps in use, so will probably depend on which deck they load you on, as there were low loader trucks & trailers and they managed ok.
 

PP Bear

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What like is it getting on the ferries at Dover. I've already damaged my rear by bottoming out and dint want to make it worse.
My mind boggles at the thought of your damaged rear, especially after bottoming it out :ROFLMAO:;):giggler::*:wasntme:
 

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