grunders

That's right, Nigel Carter, the father, has sadly died now but I'm sure the boat will live on. They had kept the original 10 ft in their back garden so they could put it back. Apparently Nigel wanted to steer her at 70ft again before he died, I'm not sure whether he did or not.

At the Beale Park rally, one of the historic boats (can't remember which) had it's bolinder running and you could just see the boat bouncing up and down when the cylinder fired.

An interesting concept I must say!

They've got a lovely sound but, as has already been suggested, they're not the most practical of engines. Still, if you want one, you've got to get one since there's nothing quite like them!

Pictures of the protests at: http://www.flickr.com/photos/sowpics/ I don't know about the copyright stuff though

I've always thought that's a good idea, especially if you're the only one on board.

Well assuming it's a narrow bridgehole (otherwise you wouldn't have stopped) it may be that they are slowing down so they don't hit the bottom. We always slow down for narrow bridgeholes as there's less water to compensate for the displacement of the boat so carry on at speed and, especially when it's shallow, you're likely to run aground.

WOW!!! Just read the whole topic....didn't understand a thing. But it must be about something important as everyone seems to have an opinion. Oh well, never mind.

The trouble with Beatty is that if you wind her up too much in reverse, the clutch, or something, I don't know what - not much of a mechanic - slips, meaning you get less reverse thrust. Slowing down while your approaching the corner so that you're going slowly when you get there and then putting on the power is supposed to be quite effective giving better steerage etc.

Slowing down seems to be the main thing, and that is a good idea - don't know why I didn't do it at the time actually... After having the experience, I think I have learnt from it and like you said Daniel: '...you have to constantly aware that there could always be a boat round the next bend. Usally wont be, but the just might!' I'm also glad that it's not just me that has hit a boat because of a corner, I guess that's why people are so understanding, especially when it's obvious that you've tried to avoid the collision. Horn's always used for those sharp bend into bridge hole situations where there's only gonna be room for 1 boat but I will definitely consider it for sharp corners as well now. Thanks everyone! Any more stories/suggestions welcome.

A couple of years back, we were cruising on the River Wey. On the way back to the Thames, I was steering the boat. Coming up to a sharp right hand bend, people on the bows started shouting 'boat!' This was one of those sharp bends you really only get on rivers although there are some on the canals. Anyway, I got a bit flustered (if I'm honest) on seeing the bows of this narrowboat come round the bend and me, more or less heading for those bows. I had been trying to take the corner wide so as not to hit the bottom on the inside, plus there was a tree in the way, and this obviously put me on the left of the bend, the wrong side. Anyway, I felt I had two options. Either forget steering and put her astern and quickly or try to steer more sharply round the bend. I opted for the former after trying the steering bit (didn't seem to be working very well). I did manage to slow the boat down but we still crashed into the other boat at a bit of an angle. I apologised profusely and the other boat was understanding and didn't seem too bothered - I love bow fenders! (Not an excuse to go crashing into other boats though, I know!) I am now put off steering round sharp bends because of the dilemma of where to be in the navigation e.g. left, middle or right, especially when turning the right-handers. Left hand bends are OK since you just take them, reasonably, as wide as possible. So the question really is, how do people cope with sharp right hand bends and what would be your course of action if a boat was coming towards you which you hadn't spotted due to the corner? Any thoughts...

I hadn't seen those photos. Very enlightening. Thanks to everyone whose given time to this so far. I wasn't being broad minded enough with my perception of what the mast would be used for...this has shown me that they have a number of uses beyond towing.

I can't realistically think of any other way of winding. Always stick the bow in the winding hole (it doesn't draw as much as the stern, in general) then power your way round and do the reversing bit at then end.

The first time I fell in, I was a young lad (probably 10, I am 18 now) and I was wearing a lifejacket. We were on the Thames at the time and it was really hot so I wasn't actually wearing a t-shirt, just a pair of shorts and the lifejacket. The actual incident occurred when we were already moored for the night. I was stepping out of the engine room and my feet missed the gunwhale, sending me into the Thames feet first. Once there I actually decided to have a little swim and managed to persuade my two brothers to go swimming as well. Getting out wasn't a problem as we have a swimming ladder on board which just hooks over the gunwhale in the well deck area of the boat.

Thanks for all the ideas, I don't think we've come up with a conclusive answer yet but we're getting there! I was thinking that it could just be that the masts were mass produced and they couldn't be bothered to take them off when building a motor. Not a very satisfactory explanation, I know. Anyway, together, we will come up with an answer!

Sorry if there is a 'historic boats' specific category but I couldn't find it so I am posting this here. Recently, I have begun to notice that a lot of (possibly all) historic motorboats have masts. On a butty, the mast was obviously used in towing but it, presumably, is not needed for this on a motor so why would the boat builders have included one? Any enlightenment would be greatly appreciated! Ben

You've got to love the vertical accuracy of a GPS: You're chugging along this flat piece of water and apparently you're actually going uphill....oh,no, wait a minute...downhill! Oh well, the rest of the features are useful.