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That's alright, she will just run a crowdfunder if it sinks and buy a 5000 berth cruise liner.

Thought I would put a video of my boat with it's little engine. Can't remember if I ever did after not being on here for a while.

If you compare the mechanical properties of HDPE with steel you can get some idea of the relative strength and how resistant to damage it will be -- bearing in mind that the sides are 15mm thick compared to typically 6mm for steel. Anyone who doesn't like maths, look away now... 😉 The Young's modulus (stiffness) and tensile strength of steel are both about 140x higher than HDPE, the elongation at yield is similar (about 15%) -- if you stretch either by more than this (e.g. bashing into a concrete lock corner in between the beams) it will stay stretched, so you'll get a dent. The fact that the HDPE is 2.5x thicker increases panel stiffness by 6.25x, so this means a 6mm steel hull is 23x stiffer in between the I-beams than HDPE, and has 56x more tensile strength. So if you bash the boat into something hard the HDPE will bend a lot more than steel (about 5x) but will spring back if you don't hit too hard; if you do hit too hard it will first bend permanently and then break. If you crunch the numbers and compare them to steel and work out how fast you can ram the concrete, the boat speed to cause a permanent dent for HDPE is 1/5 that of of steel and to make a hole the figure is 1/7, which are *huge* differences. I've seen a fair number of steel boats with dents in them, so presumably with HDPE the number would be a lot higher since they would happen at a much slower speed. I don't think many steel canal boats have been holed by impacts (though I bet some have...) but the difference here is even bigger, so the risk of holing an HDPE boat in a collision must be *much* higher. GRP is *much* stiffer than HDPE but also can't stretch as much, so boats built from this are less robust than steel (hence why their owners don't like them hitting things or being hit by them e.g. steel boats) -- but nowhere near as bad as HDPE. I hope Shaun has taken all this into account, because it suggests that HDPE in these thicknesses isn't a good choice for big heavy boats in the rough-and-tumble canal environment -- and may be difficult or impossible to get insurance for, given how much more fragile it would be than steel, or even GRP... 😞 To be as robust against impacts as 6mm steel (which is probably thicker than needed...) HDPE would need to be about 70mm thick, which would make it about 50% heavier -- and presumably a *lot* more expensive... 😞

Oh no, not another one. I fit the general demographic myself - in my 20s, fairly recent CC liveaboard - but: * Financial motivation not the main thing; I've wanted to live on a boat ever since I said "mummy I want to live on one of those" aged single figures and jumped at the chance when working practices changed due to Covid. The costs of a 30ft boat aren't less than renting a similarly-sized room somewhere, and I could afford more than that if I wanted to live on land. * Remote working and not tied to a specific location, so I can actually cruise and not just shuffle around a 20-mile radius of some fixed point. * I have some woodworking and electrical skills, and am willing to wield a spanner given a manual, so I can at least try to look after it myself. These articles always seem to understate the costs and the enforced differences in lifestyle, and encourage people with no knowledge or particular interest in boats to jump into it. I've met some people who've been seduced that way who clearly have no idea what they're getting into.

I thought it was relevant to most boaters, ie general interest to general boaters, which is why I put it in General. I wish some people would stop nitpicking at every opportunity. Mind you, I accept Peterboats heading was more informative and if we can get the threads merged, do it with his title.

I expect the government wouldn't know the difference between a river and a canal.

That might be useful. Actually, borrowing quite a lot from wooden canal boat design might be a good idea in general (the ribs already are for example) as there are some similarities in properties between wood and HDPE. Other potentially useful things to borrow would be the use of a thin, sacrificial steel shoe plate where the sides and base meet and possibly steel rubbing strips and ice plates at the bow. With regard to the question of how to attach ribs/frames - that one is relatively straightforward. HDPE does weld easily so you can add either a full HDPE rib or a low attachment rib/series of lugs to which you can mechanically fasten a steel rib. One direction which has been alluded to above which might be a useful halfway house is the use of HDPE for cabins. Wooden cabins do have quite a few advantages, e.g. keeping the centre of gravity lower and reducing condensation. They are also better for sound deadening. However, they are quite difficult to keep sealed between the boards, fairly high maintenance and do rot through easily if damage goes unnoticed or is not rapidly repaired. HDPE might add the advantages of wood without the drawbacks. It does need a proper upstand lip all the way around just inside the gunwhales for attachment but if that was done I can imagine this could be quite a useful approach. It might, for example, have been a good option for Oates if it was reasonably cost-effective. Oates had its wooden cabin replaced with steel, but to keep it stable the weight had to be kept down. That has meant thin steel and I can't add any high level storage. I would have had more options with welded HDPE panels. There are still a few 1970s boats about with wooden tops which now need replacement so I can imagine there are some good opportunities to try this if it is reasonably cost-effective. Alec

A much smaller railway swing bridge is located on the Tat Bank (or Rood End) branch of the BCN. First is 1937 photo, from the "Britain from Above" collection via Duncan Moore's excellent website https://lostbcnimages.blogspot.com/2022/05/oldbury-and-titford-area.html Other two are mine. The bridge still exists, with swing mechanism intact if rusted solid, but can't be reached by narrowboat. You can visit it by canoe. There's no access by land as it's within the BIP site.

You can use exempt appliances in Smoke Control Areas (for the fuels specified for each) in this list: https://smokecontrol.defra.gov.uk/appliances.php?country=england It's necessary to look at the details. For example my stove at home is on the list as exempt but in the small print it says that an additional stop mechanism to prevent a vent fully closing is needed.

if it keeps the canals open, then I'm all for it.

Lol, I noticed that too. Along with the nice coat she always wears with doing some token 'boat stuff'. i can't help worrying that she thinks she's 'on the property ladder' having bought a colander of a historic(al) boat that at least one of our mutual acquaintances turned down, despite the knock-down bargain price.

They have a card with name, number, dates, magic QR code. No holograms. Anecdotally, I'm one of very few individual canoe/kayak owners using the canals who's bothered to license it. Most such are the casual go-for-a-paddle-occasionally variety and CRT don't give a damn about canoes in any case. EA were a bit more active in enforcement when I was in Cambridgeshire. Those who canoe as a serious hobby might join BC in greater numbers for the other benefits, but usually find more interesting places to do it!

Of course they don't *have* to act on polls which are not legally binding either, just like in 2016... 😉

Keeping the price "as low as possible" does not mean no increase, and could still mean a massive increase. CRT are tasked with maintaining the network and are currently not receiving enough money to do so, one of the few income sources they have control over is license fees. What would you prefer, no increase and even lower levels of maintenance and more closures, or a raise in license fees in return for more maintenance.

Maybe you could ask for one to be locked

Maybe when they designed it on the computer a V design may of needed too much draught for their concept of a canal Narrowboat, or thought a flat baseplate would optimise more internal space then a V hull design?

Would rather go there then Crick, as I can see Narrowboats every day, but can’t hear the sound and see a steam organ or working steam tractor☹️

I stuck it in General Boating. Maybe the mods could merge them into whichever bit thry think most relevant?

It’s all in the wording, a specialist company has vast experience of phrasing the questions properly to yield the results you require.

In my professional experience consultation is best carried out by specialist organisations as client bodies rarely have the expertise in-house. Why would they since consultation is usually an activity carried out periodically that doesn't justify having experts on the permanent staff? That said, a consultation exercise will generally be more effective when client staff across various disciplines are actively involved in designing the consultation and managing the specialists, so that the broader corporate knowledge is brought to bear. What interests me more is why now, given that its not that long since the last licence fee consultation. Is this the beginning of a process for larger increases to counter the fall in government support? Or another look at higher increases for wide beams or continuous cruisers so they 'pay their fair share'?

The cost is an interesting question. How does finished product price compare with the equivalent in steel? I presume it must be quite a bit cheaper but interesting to know what the actual ratio is. I personally think there is more opportunity with this sort of material to make small static houseboats rather than cruising canal boats but the market is smaller. I haven't seen any negative vibes on this thread just genuine interest and concerns about things like rigidity in use.

Why get a wildlife killer? I assume some cat owners don't agree with fox hunting. Many boaters talk about the joys of nature then try to kill it.

Wow - there's a lot of judgement going on here without anyone really knowing me or what I do! What a friendly community! Mods - you must be proud of this environment that seems to encourage such a discriminatory and tbh bullying attitude! Who would have thought I only came on here to ask a question about Calorifiers!

I always look for a good service life. I didn't realise they had been around that long. That's good to know. I've always wanted to sail in a jelly. The more serious aspects of this article have been dealt with above, so I'm happy to take a lighter view of the article. I'm disappointed the OP didn't take the time to translate it into Enlish.