Cook Strait Ferries Megathread

[awayatc]

Sorry but insurance conciders ferry a railway crossing....and will not pay out..If you don't believe me please ring your insurance and ask. Plenty of heartbroken car owners have found out the hard way, ask any sailor who worked on those ferries......

[NiggleC]

Been across Cook Strait dozens of times. Uninsured apparently!! Anyway put your bike on its side stand, in gear and move onto compression (the rear wheel locks up)and get a couple of rubber chocks on the rear wheel. if i am on the ferry during a Rusty Nuts event (ie lots of other bikes) i use my own tie downs but if heading up to the Cold Kiwi for example i have made up some webbing loops (old car seat belts are ideal) and use these to wrap around the handlebars both sides and from near the pillion pegs both sides. then use their tie downs.You'll need to wash your hands afterwards. BlueBridge have good staff who will come over and see if you are coping ok. Interislander couldn't give a stuff. Latest ferry Kaitaki has next to no facilities or tie downs suitable for bikes so if you are booked on that take your own. Arahunga you are squeezed in between the trucks at the backon a wet slippery floor. Aratika you are put at the front of the upstairs car park. keep your helmet on or your earplugs in as the bikes are put next to a massive air intake and its bloody noisy. I have never had one fall over. even when in 3 metre seas on the Lynz still going full noise with the waves breaking over us. Not that i could have cared - too busy feeding the fishes!!

[cynna]

keep your helmet on or your earplugs in as the bikes are put next to a massive air intake and its bloody noisy

that noise adds to the stress level as you are trying to tie your bike down.....i

[warewolf]

People fret about their bikes on the ferries, seem to think that it gets really rough. The ferry staff just laugh, they reckon if it gets rough enough to need 4 tie-downs then there's a shitload more to worry about than your bike! Like several hundred souls...

I use the ropes/straps provided, passed over the lower triple-clamp, holding the bike upright like in a trailer. Use a chock either end (one end could be the rail or whatever) to stop the fore/aft rocking. On the Interislander I do a truckies hitch but the Bluebridge has straps with mechanical locking devices. One more at the rear end just to triangulate things a bit, and on the 640 Adventure to compress the rear end to stop it hopping around. Can't see the point in carry the weight and bulk of my own tie-downs while I'm on tour, but if you are travelling with a group then resources may become scarce so bringing you own could be useful.

Park up the bike on the stand, affix the LHS tie-down such that when the bike is taken off the stand the bike is held upright but leaning to the RHS - just like when you put a bike on a trailer single-handed. Or if your bike has a side stand, you can do the LHS tie-down firm [edit: not slack, not tight], then do the RHS, pulling the bike vertical ie off the stand.

You don't have to eliminate all movement; you do have to eliminate movement that will loosen the tie-downs.

My service experience is opposite to NiggleC's. Bluebridge were next to useless - they just don't have their shit sorted. In fact the overall experience was so poor I doubt I'll be back by preference. They have some staff that try really hard but they don't make up for everyone else, or the facilities etc.

PS The Kaitaki is a big boat (sorry, ship; boats are picked up and carried on ships) it is the only one that sails in rough conditions, it gets thrown around much less than the others.

[Skinny_Birdman]

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The crew are really helpfull ask if your unsure, however they wont take as much care with your motorcycle as what you will.

[rant]I've never been on Bluebridge but after my first experience on the Interislander I am now reluctant to let any crew member within 5m of my bike. I tend to tie my bikes down onto the side stand (ie side stand side first). Without getting into a discussion of the merits of various methods.... after I had secured the stand side, and was just cranking down the opposite side, a 'friendly' Interislander crew member who had offered to 'help' slackened off the strop on the stand side because he thought he saw a better place to secure it.The bike (a fully faired CBR600) immediately and violently tipped over onto the steel deck, just missing me. Given that, as several people have pointed out already in this thread, the ferry companies operate on the principal of 'all care, no responsibility' (quite reasonably as someone has also pointed out) it is far better to tie the bike down yourself, because (a) It is more fragile than the other cargo that the crews of road/rail ferries tend to deal with, (c) as the owner of the bike you will tend to treat it with a bit more respect, and (b) If they fuck it up, the best you can hope for is an apology. [/rant]

[zxcvbnm]

I'm prolly going to the Cold Kiwi then heading towards the bottom of NZ, then up the other side. What sort of stuff will I need for the crossing, like tie downs etc.

[Ixion]

Only for Honda riders I presume, this crossing.

[zxcvbnm]

It will be my lone trip, but others can join and leave as they please. It will be done with the least expenditure possible with hide or free camping where available.

[puddytat]

If its not a busy time on the "fairy", then there'll be heaps of things to tie them down with, more of a problem of what to tie it to sometimes

[pete376403]

They're being mean to you (BTW it's "ferry")
Take your own tie downs, sometimes there are some available on the boats but more often than not, nothing. Thats all you need.

[gammaguy]

i do about thirty or so crossings a year on the ferries,all on bikes.(tough job,someones gotta do it)

the interislander provided tie downs for us bikers,but some assholes stole most of them,and the word i get from the guys there is they wont be replaced-cant really blame them huh.

the bluebridge boats are about the same cost,have far better food,cabins to sleep in that are FREE if you are lucky,much better coffeeand generally a far better experience.you can take your own tie downs but ropes are provided.and tie your own bike down cos then you wont have to worry about expensive bits getting scratched/broken etc.

either way,its a great trip,just make sure you take your favorite brew of 2T oil with you cos the good stuff is few and far between round these parts,which is why i keep a 200 litre stash of fully synthetic for personal use

[chanceyy]

i do about thirty or so crossings a year on the ferries,all on bikes.(tough job,someones gotta do it)

the interislander provided tie downs for us bikers,but some assholes stole most of them,and the word i get from the guys there is they wont be replaced-cant really blame them huh.

the bluebridge boats are about the same cost,have far better food,cabins to sleep in that are FREE if you are lucky,much better coffeeand generally a far better experience.you can take your own tie downs but ropes are provided.and tie your own bike down cos then you wont have to worry about expensive bits getting scratched/broken etc.

either way,its a great trip,just make sure you take your favorite brew of 2T oil with you cos the good stuff is few and far between round these parts,which is why i keep a 200 litre stash of fully synthetic for personal use

and if you get on Bluebridge (currently Monte Stello) when dogsnbikes is working then you will get looked after really well

I have travelled on the Bluebridge & staff are really helpful good tie down points & chock for the wheel to help anchor it down - If you have a fully faired bike I would invest in a handlebar bra (oxford product) keeps the tie downs well away from the fairings

[Ixion]

Sigh. Pearls before swine, that's what it is.

[raftn]

I have Tie downs you are welcome to borrow, if you dont want to buy some, I used them at christmas when i went across.

[Squiggles]

Just get some tie downs, if you're heading down on the nsr they can double as a way of tieing your gear to the bike. Lock it down properly on the ferry, in gear, tie down so the forks are partially compressed etc