Trevor Lyons

I agree completely. With the obvious exception of my river barge, I would never choose to navigate in a monohull vessel again. I am utterly converted to multihulls, having sailed an Iroquois, a Fountaine-Pagot Maldives and a Brady 45.

Why would I do that? I am an experienced boatman, and I'm not a snob!

Alan, many thanks for the response. Yes, I have sea-going experience; I am an RYA Offshore Yachtmaster and have sailed a big schooner, a large motorsailer ketch, and several catamarans. I've sailed a to Ireland, the Isle of Man and Scotland, and have crossed to Brittany and the Bay of Biscay several times. Having been a maritime law lecturer until I retired a month ago, fortunately I know the collregs and I'll do the CEVNI exams. I wouldn't dream of crossing the Channel in a barge till the spring or summer, and with the support of Dover Coastguard. The barge is class D (ie "rivers, canals and small lakes" only) so I have to prepare the bow well to make sure no waves come aboard. Yes, I'll have the fuel tank cleaned; presumably one can use red diesel for heating in Europe? Are separate tanks required? I've got paperwork, thanks. I want to do some navigation in England to do any troubleshooting in home waters. My main issue is whether the K&A is deep enough and whether the bridges are too low (my barge has a fold-down wheelhouse).

In the 1980s I had a lovely 41' Mindon narrowboat with a 3-cylinder Lister air-cooled engine, a very high seaworthy bow, and a cruiser stern with a square transom. That was sold a while ago, but I've recently acquired a 54' x 12' x 3'3" (draft) widebeam barge. She was being used as a live-aboard on a boatyard on the Trent & Mersey. She's not a "fat narrowboat", but an English-designed "Dutch" barge. I plan to have the barge carried on a low-loader to a wide canal, probably to Reading. I'd make a visit to Oxford and back to check the boat's systems, before taking her down the Thames to Dover, across the Channel to Calais (by sea!) and into the French canal system. Rather than Reading, if feasible, I'd prefer to take it to Stourport or Gloucester, and then navigate via Sheerness, Avonmouth and the Kennet & Avon to the Thames. Two questions: (i) is the K&A large enough for a boat with these dimensions?; and (ii) having read much of this web chat, I am disheartened by some of the anti-widebeam tribalism. Assuming the answer to q.1 is "yes", might there be unpleasantness from narrowboaters resenting my widebeam's presence on the K&A?