Neil2
-
Posts
4,923 -
Joined
-
Last visited
-
Days Won
6
Content Type
Profiles
Forums
Events
Gallery
Blogs
Store
Posts posted by Neil2
-
-
It's an option I'm looking at as well. We sold our last narrowboat a couple of years ago and simply can't justify the cost of acquisition and ownership again.
But if you are used to canal cruising in a big steel boat, a small grp cruiser will take a lot of getting used to. Mad Harold has listed some of the drawbacks all of which I agree with, but there's another consideration which is the way narrow grp boats handle. Note I say narrow, as "proper" grp boats are a different animal. If you have ever witnessed someone trying to control something like a Nauticus 27 on a windy day you will see what I mean... Now, someone will come along and tell you they have such a vessel and it's no trouble at all, but if you have been schooled on a heavy steel boat with tiller steering believe me a featherlight narrow grp cruiser will come as something of a shock.
And, of course you will need a shedload of plastic fenders which will have to be stowed every time you go through locks.
OTOH if you don't mind being restricted to wide canals, and rivers, a grp boat makes perfect sense, and they are far better value for money than narrowboats. Just bear in mind that the flip side is they are harder to sell, when the time comes.
If you have to go narrow, off the top of my head you are looking at the little 22' Freemans, Nauticus 27's, various Dawncrafts and Normans, but I would keep a lookout for a Highbridge 32 - have a look around the web if you don't know what they are, but they were designed/built with canal cruising in mind and can be had for under £20k. They don't come up for sale that often and condition varies enormously, but for narrow canal cruising I doubt there's anything better. (The much rarer Dawncraft Rover is essentially the same boat).
Just a final thought, my wife and I had enormous fun with our first boat which was a Springer Waterbug. These were 20-23 foot steel boats powered by outboard motors and with a V shaped hull. Unlike a grp boat of similar size the Waterbug, being around 3 tonnes, handles really well and for short trips they are a very practical choice. Unfortunately most surviving examples will have been overplated which for such a tiny boat causes some issues (there's no ballast to remove so the boat inevitably sits a lot lower in the water). Nevertheless it's another budget option.
-
3 minutes ago, Adventurer said:
The " very good" reason the seller believes the brokerage must have had for cancelling the sale was " my disgusting behaviour."
Whilst the feeling is mutual I respect the contract I signed and am prepared to honour it. Not all businesses are honourable despite his claim that he is a family run business with sound ethics and business principles.
Well, "disgusting behaviour" or not, I'd say that's game set and match. It's very clear from the above that payment of a deposit constitutes a sale, the broker can't have it both ways.
-
1
-
-
It's just occurred to me that I'm sure this particular broker, along with a view others, used to take the view that a deposit was a commitment to sale, a sort of down payment, if you like, which was only refundable in the event of some significant fault with the boat being revealed by a professional survey. As far as I know Great Haywood still operate this way, ie their view is that a deposit effectively locks you into the sale.
If I am right, the broker we're talking about has changed their policy, and it makes you wonder why, unless it is to allow them the freedom to do what is being alleged in this thread.
-
1
-
-
Plenty of red diesel where I live, about 50 miles from the nearest waterway/coastline... We were without petrol/diesel for five days so folk were getting desperate, I'm sure some weren't able to resist the temptation.
-
The broker states quite clearly that once a £1000 deposit is paid, the boat is removed from the market. They will of course say that it doesn't mean no further offers can be accepted, but that doesn't pass the test of reasonableness.
If you paid the deposit and it was received by the broker before the unconditional offer was accepted, you are 100% in the right, that's all there is to it.
The broker is playing fast and loose because they probably think you won't sue. Plus, they already have such a shocking reputation, among those in the know, it can't sink any lower.
I feel some sympathy for the seller, who was probably advised by the broker that this is all above board and of course as a seller you would choose to believe that...
But the seller could resolve this if he chose to.
It illustrates what a bear pit the boat market is at the moment, how many of us watch this from a distance and think glad I'm out of it. I do hope some normality returns in the not too distant future but somehow I doubt it will.
-
1
-
-
55 minutes ago, doratheexplorer said:
I don't even know what a water heater matrix is? Do all boats have them?
Matrix is probably the wrong term - the heat exchanger, the mass of tubes in an instant GWH that the water flows through whilst it's being heated by the gas flame. I must have left a small amount of water in there and the tubes are small bore and quite fragile.
One of the many things about boat design, not just narrowboats, that annoys me is how difficult it often is to thoroughly drain the water system. In some case there is no provision at all. Yet the vast majority of boats spend their winters unoccupied.
-
I used to work in the flood damage restoration business so I am paranoid about this sort of thing. Even so, despite assiduously draining down my boat every winter, a few years ago I returned to discover a burst water heater matrix. It had been a particularly hard winter, but I was so sure I had drained the matrix thoroughly it never occurred to me there would be a problem.
I think if you don't have regular access to the boat in the winter the non toxic anti freeze is a wise precaution - no-one knows how bad/cold the winter is going to be.
-
38 minutes ago, Loddon said:
Why would anybody design a BT system where the tube wasn't in a "sealed" compartment up to deck level?
Gas lockers are like that so why not BT?
Well it seems like a good idea but it sounds as though the OP's boat wasn't designed like that, otherwise it wouldn't be "life threatening".
I've certainly seen at least one installation where the tube was buried away right down in the bilge with no obvious access to it.
I guess having a gas locker type compartment is seen as a waste of space on the modern narrowboat.
Incidentally I've noticed a couple of boats for sale recently - older boats - where the bowthruster tube has been sealed from the outside.
-
1 hour ago, Tracy D'arth said:
I have reviewed my post.
I slagged off nobody.
It would appear that the burst bow thruster was a rust hole in the forward compartment. An unblacked tube maybe?
I've often wondered about the wisdom of steel bowthruster tubes. Even if the thing is blacked or treated in some way, there's no way most owners are going to remove the thruster every time the boat comes out of the water and that tube is a pretty harsh environment. Plus, how many surveyors are going to give an opinion on the condition of the tube?
I can imagine there must now be a fair few older boats with aged rusting thruster tubes, it sounds like Glenda's boat is one. Unless the tube is within a sealed compartment there's every chance a perforated tube could cause a nb to sink.
-
19 hours ago, Captain Pegg said:
I suspect the notion of 'tunnel' bands is likely modern terminology but the practice of using both light colours for visibility and contrasting lighter and darker colours to distinguish form in poor lighting conditions is well established in the decoration of both canal boats and infrastructure. Therefore I would have little doubt that the painting of the rear of the counter with different coloured bands is about visibility.
Horse boats and later butty boats had large amounts of painted woodwork at their helms which demonstrated the above principles. The application of counter bands to motors is possibly compensation for losing this paintwork. Irrespective of the intricacy often displayed the root of boat decoration lies in practical requirements. Latterly BWB painted the bands to match fleet livery but it still adhered to the principles of a lighter and darker colour. I doubt anyone who really needed to identify a boat's ownership would use the counter bands for the purpose. There is so much else that is more definitive.
I think it's often difficult for modern boaters to fully appreciate the conditions in which carrying craft operated in past times.
I notice that the GUCC also employed their livery colours of white, light blue and dark blue in the counter bands.
I don't doubt there was a visibility aspect to it but that doesn't explain why/how white over red became so ubiquitous. There's evidence from pictures of working boats from the past that the counter bands were painted in sympathy with the company's livery, and I wonder if it's simply that a number of fleets eg FMC used white lettering on a red background so white and red counter bands predominated.
In the modern age I've noticed that Black Prince hire boats use a particular shade of cream/yellow which matches the coachline colour - but it's still combined with red!
-
1
-
-
Does anyone remember those "Burma Shave" signs they used to have in the states such as..
I think CRT should resurrect the idea, especially as going at under 4mph the helmsman has plenty of time to read them. What about:
MOORED BOATS AHEAD
KILL YOUR SPEED
OR VERBAL ABUSE
...IS GUARANTEED!
-
1
-
-
- Popular Post
- Popular Post
It's also very confusing for the new wave of canal boaters. I imagine a lot would sail past thinking I'd like to turn round but my name's Smith.
-
1
-
1
-
7
-
4 hours ago, The Happy Nomad said:
Why doesnt somebody just ask CRT?
It doesnt affect me as I'm not on the system and paying for a licence but if I was I would be asking them for sure.
Oh come on, that would take all the fun out of it. What are internet forums for if it isn't having endless discussions based on conjecture and opinions with no hard facts in sight?
-
1
-
-
This is great stuff guys.
Just to be clear, it's not limited to hire boat locations, or even marinas. I'm thinking of a situation that I've personally experienced where you suddenly have to leave the boat for a few days, or a couple of weeks, and get home somehow. So you could broaden it out to long stay moorings or safe locations.
-
On 27/03/2021 at 14:56, bizzard said:
Tim was quite bombastic in that series. Shouting orders at his crew. They broke down too, Auquadrive busted.
Jeez he can break Aquadrives too... Respect. Must be that 40 odd years of experience.
-
Bear in mind that once you get beyond Tinsley you are on a river navigation and beyond Rotherham the locks are massive - this might be a bit intimidating if you have little or no experience.
As Alec says above you don't have to keep the boat in Sheffield - given that there's only one way out it might be better to look either North or South, you have quite a bit of choice within easy travelling distance. You can download a canal network map or look on the CRT website, or get an app such as OpenCanalMap to get an idea of where things are.
-
1
-
-
21 minutes ago, TheBiscuits said:
No, we are discussing an anonymous rumour allegedly from someone in an unspecified marina.
I don't believe it for a minute. The Ribble Link is being shut next week, but that happens every October to April.
I agree we don't know the facts, it's just sad that it wouldn't come as a surprise if it was true.
-
2 hours ago, Jerra said:
Many thanks to all for the information. Does anybody know why all locks aren't to the one design. By that I mean at some places all top gates seem to have gate paddles and at others all ground paddles. I understand the changes owing to things like doing away with a staircase but what about as a general principle, does one type have an advantage over the other for example.
I think, in good old boating tradition, they just used whatever was lying around at the time..
-
1
-
-
1 hour ago, Cheshire cat said:
If true it will place a question mark over the vast majority of restoration projects currently being undertaken.
It's just bizarre though isn't it. Folk are piling onto the canals like never before, the narrowboat market is crazy, yet we are discussing canals being closed and restoration plans under threat.
-
1
-
-
1 hour ago, Goliath said:
Folding tiller arms, yes, I’d not considered that one. 😃
But the “dropped gunnel windows” I like.
I think if you’re not gonna have portholes then go the whole hog, by pass the bus window option and get loadsa light in with the “ drop gunnel window”, preferably the whole length of the boat.What about an Inspection launch...? Now you're talking. Always wanted one but never had the nerve.
-
I guess this is the final nail in the coffin for the restoration of the Northern Reaches then...
It may be loose talk, conjecture etc but it wouldn't surprise me at all if it's true.
On a recent thread I was defending my assertion that the Lancaster is no longer a genuine "wide" canal simply because it's impossible to navigate parts of it in a deep draughted narrowboat, let alone a wide beam boat. Most of the traffic on the Lanky shuttles between Lancaster and Brock it's full of weed at the bottom end and as shallow as a paddling pool at the Northern end. I suppose some will say it's chicken and egg and if CRT won't maintain it properly then folk won't use it but the vast majority of "boaters" on the Lancaster are just playing at it and couldn't care less if they can't get any further North than Hest Bank. Of course it is ironic that the few narrowboats that do cruise the full length are by definition quite intrepid, but if the numbers using the Link are decreasing (are they?) you can see why CRT might want to call it a day.
-
1
-
-
I forgot I agreed to start a thread on this.
It came up on another thread where a hire boater was asking about hire bases easily accessible by railway. I thought it might be useful to gather together information from members not just on hire bases, but yards and marinas eg where boats could be left/collected, that have easy access by rail. As far as I know there's nowhere where such data is readily available.
By "easy" let's say within a mile of a railway station but feel free to propose any that are a practical proposition to get to by train.
Depending on the response I'll collate the information for easy reference.
-
3 hours ago, Tracy D'arth said:
I don't want a sink in the bathroom, its better in the kitchen. I prefer a basin in the shower room. Philistines.
Pet hates at present, rectangular cabin sides with no shape and no tumblehome, oh, and square sterns, horrible.
Ooooh I do love a round of "Pet Hates"..........
-Tractor seats on a trad stern boat
-Dropped gunnel windows - ugh
-Boats that have the name of the couple written on the cabin side
-Boats with stupid names like Narrow Escape, Meander, Dunworkin etc
-Folding tiller arms
I'd better stop now before I alienate myself from the entire membership.
-
2
-
-
I've always been sceptical about this "tunnel bands" theory. If you are following another narrowboat in a tunnel you don't pick out the white bands on the stern of a boat in front as your headlight is pointing slightly above horizontal and the bands are too low. In any case the old working boats wouldn't have had a powerful tunnel light would they?
So I'm not sure (is anyone) where the practice of painting red and white bands on the stern of narrowboats comes from.
IIRC the old British Waterways boats had yellow and blue bands, so I think it's origins are in fleet identification.
-
1
-
Narrowboat v GRP Cruiser option
in General Boating
Posted
The shallow draught of a grp narrow beam would be welcome, but I think your nerves would tested to the limit on the Llangollen. Obviously it's a busy canal and full of inexperienced hire boat crews for a start, and those by washes on the locks would take some skill to negotiate in a skittish grp cruiser.