One of the benefits of a displacement hull is it will plod on through the rough sea that a planing hull struggles with. I used to fish the Geogie porgie wreck which is about 10 miles east of the Tyne, but only on a flat sea and a good forecast, in a 17ft pilot 5-20 (17ft) and with the company of another boat. Regarding boats venturing out further on the south coast, there are a lot more people boating down there, and help would never be too far away, unlike here, when there is sometimes not a boat in sight. Arthur:red: