Dav and Pen

Couldn’t beat an Air cooled engine in its own engine room for hanging wet clothes , just think that in old times we managed with 12 volt electricity, and gas for cooking and heating water as well as coal for the range or stove. Got first small inverter to charge battery tools and run a video recorder when we went to Ireland, brought in Athy, as the TV frequency was different. On our barge we had a 12 kw 380 volt generator, 3kw inverter, washing machine, tumble dryer, electric kettle and coffee machine, 240 volt fridge sat Tv and a great pressurised water system and diesel stove. The barge was 14 ft wide but a lot more than double the space on the NB.

We seem to be the odd ones out. With our commercial NB we only had the back cabin most of the time or occasionally with the hold set up as a camping boat between bookings in the summer so we could take friends and the daughters friends on a trip then. After we sold the boats we decided to have a smaller boat so that we could go up North and WFBC has a Joey hull cut down to 50 ft which we decided to have converted. We wanted a traditional back end and an engine room and finished up with from stern boatman’s cabin but only a single pull down bed and with epping range to keep steerer (and cabin) warm when winter boating, engine room with fuel tanks under engine room floor .Through the door from engine room fixed double small hanging cupboard shower and toilet kitchen with full size gas cooker, hanging table leaf , 2 easy chairs. Beyond front door’s a covered cratch area with seats either side and storage under. The layout worked well and although we didn’t live on it full time we did spend 2 long summers on it in Ireland. This boat is now with a very happy owner.

The report I read said he got off the boat to push it as it didn’t have enough power to get through the bridge and the boat then went over to the other side and jammed. He has also had to be rescued on the Trent once before. Why didn’t he let the current push him out when he realised he wasn’t going to make it and instead of getting off use a boat pole.

In the first image it’s hard to see what is on the wharf but whatever it is is neatly stacked so not coal or coke and it looks like there is a wall behind and in front of the gasworks. The 2nd image appears to have an S type Bedford tipper which has NCB logo on the doors so maybe it was a loading place as plenty of colleries in the area then

This is not the same P&O as the ferry company this is a brand owned by Carnival along with Cunard and I would think the majority of the crew are not directly contracted to the company .

Lots of people’s first boat were converted lifeboats but not this kind but wooden open boats. A Mr Jackson from Whittlesea had a yard full of them in the late 50s early 60s and they finished up on the Nene and the Ouse in fair numbers and some went further afield. The conversion were of various quality but they gave a lot of pleasure to a lot of people. As said the steel lifeboats that followed didn’t survive well as they were pretty thin and very light and on the ships I served on only 1 in 4 had an engine the theory being the engined one would start and pull the others clear of the ship. Luckily never had to find out. These orange free fall lifeboats are another matter and I think it’s either a brave or desperate person who would try and live and cruise on one but if you are set on one do as others have said buy one with an engine.

Canal was bit deeper then sparrows off the gunwhales. Great photo

Never needed to book when we first went there 1978. We even left the boat there for a few days and went to see Penny’s father on Anglesey. Think they thought we were part of the wrecked boat collection

You will need to have a registration and have it visible on the boat, the Belgian and French use it a lot, we even had a police rib turn round after passing us as he couldn’t see the numbers he shouted “immartricultion “at me and I pointed to the stern he looked waved and sped off. I’m sure you need a license in France for any size pleasure boat and the ICC is accepted. You can do this in a lot of places in UK . The UK SSR is accepted and this very easy to obtain as long as you have a UK address.

The Daf 575 must be the most common engine in pleasure boats on the continent especially the age of boat you are looking at and if it looks nice and clean and the engine bay is tidy and clean it’s probably been well looked after. If you are having a survey Dutch surveyors are all officially registered and very professional and you can ask for an engine oil sample to be tested. I would keep it on the Dutch registry if you still can and you will need to have at least the ICC before you can use it.

Most of the Dafs on boats are properly Marinised engines not as suggested reconditioned truck engines. The Perkins Sabre engines are also purely marine ones. The Op has obviously seen a boat with a Peugeot engine and nothing wrong with this if he is planning to boat in France as it could be fixed anywhere .

As already said Dafs are the go to for Dutch boats a few years ago, they do smoke but generally keep going. I had a GM 4 cylinder 2 stroke in the barge we brought in Belgium about 110 hp but did it smoke, cyclists went past holding their noses. Plenty of spares in Belgium and Holland but probably not UK if you intend to bring a boat over even the filters were unobtainable in France. Changed it for a Perkins 130c 6 cylinder non turbo and you will see these in Dutch cruisers good engine usually mated to a prm gearbox plenty of knowledge and spares for both. If the boat is in nice tidy and well cared for the engine will be as well the Dutch love their boats.

I think magnetmans shaft and hook is off a boat. I had one very similar probably a bit more curved given to me by a boatman who had come ashore. It’s for cleaning the prop and shaft, the offending rope or rubbish is hooked and then twisted, mine had been made by the boatman. Most shop brought boat hooks are to short or not strong enough and if it’s long enough you could open or shut gates.

The internal cabin is much as we brought it from BWB except it didn’t have a table cupboard but a full height door and it had been used as hanging space. I found a table cupboard door on a bonfire at Thrupp, rescued it and it still there. The inside of the cabin when Andrew brought it was terrible and there was holes in the base of the cabin sides and wet wood which they replaced, the engine was rebuilt which is a PJ3 water cooled that came off a trinity house generator that only had 400 hours and it replaced a PD2 on 1979. I had it installed with a keel cooling pipe running round the stern but this had rotted away and it’s now direct water cooling.

Think she looking better now than ever certainly got very run down by the last owner.

Tadworth had and still does have an original Yarwoods steel cabin. I never had a problem with the design of the handrail and always felt safer on her than on Alton which we were running at the same time. Found it useful for occasionally using a boat hook to pull her in.

Best to go to Braunston to view it as the other one is Leicester.

The original lifts in Belgium were closed for a long while after an accident with the bottom lift. The caisson started to go up went the Peniche was about half way out, the boat was broken in half and the lift was eventually stripped right down and rebuilt by the Eiffel company. We did a couple of coal runs on the weaver selling mainly to the lock keepers around 1978 and loaded the first load near Harecastle tunnel and the second load on the weaver. That load came from the forest of dean as the NCB were having a dispute with the miners and the pits were closed. I don’t remember any payment for the lift so maybe commercial traffic was ecempt.

When we had our commercial NBs the 15 ton calculation for zero vat was very close for joshers but the big Northwich and woolwich made it with a bit over. When we had work done some yards accepted them ok but others we had to give a they had trouble with the vat man. My Dutch barge was well inside the rules but I had to send all details to the maker of a new prop so they could check. My advice is do not let the vat man know by raising this question.

That’s a real shame does the farm own it?

Mersey is also for sale by the same people who are the contractors for crt. Believe both of these boats were taken as S8

Only went as far as Stanlow when with Shell Tankers. Joined my first ship there in 1958.

This sounds a bit like my cousins steam bath for the pig swill and they did well on it.

We had a boatman who kept a pot on the range in the back cabin and just kept topping it up with whatever he had available. It looked really grim but he never got any stomach problems.

On this day in 2006 on the R. Meuse we were on our way back to our winter mooring in Antwerp for what would be the last time as for various reasons we moored in France for the next 10 years.