Transporting 40ft narrow

[GaryO]

Hi all, I’m going to need to move a 40ft narrowboat from Leicester to Essex and need some advice on the most cost efficient way to do it. I need to work out if the saving on coming by water is worth the extra time then by road. If anyone knows how long it would take by water I would appreciate the knowledge. Thanks for your time. 

Gary

[Tony Brooks]

Depends where in essex you are going. I assume its on the Lee or Stort but if its on the Chelmer navigation there is no connection by water (apart from via the Thames & Black water estuary’s, not suitable waters for a narrowboat).

[GaryO]

Yes it is the Stort in Harlow 

[TheBiscuits]

https://canalplan.org.uk/cgi-bin/canal.cgi?quickroute=yes&where=leicester,Harlow Footbridge No 15

 

Summary

This is a trip of 167.09 miles and 154 locks from Leicester to Harlow Footbridge No 15.

This will take 98 hours and 22 minutes which is 12 days, 2 hours and 22 minutes at 8 hours per day.

Edited June 12, 2019 by TheBiscuits

[GaryO]

I just found out about canal plan and got the same result but thank you anyway. Do you know if people still do the journeys for you? And how much you would be looking at paying? Thanks 

[TheBiscuits]

@matty40s is the man to ask.

[GaryO]

Sent him a message thanks for the recommendation 

[Peter X]

Not necessarily wanting to do matty40s out of work, and he does have a good reputation, but the alternative if you have the time and inclination is to do the trip yourself, with a friend or relative, ideally someone with some canal boating experience, as crew. Fun and cheaper, but you need to have those 12 days available to do the move, in one or more chunks. Whereas matty40s can move the boat for you while you go to work or do whatever else you fancy.

 

I mention the above because sometimes I crew for people off this forum to do a move like this. I just do it for fun, asking only for food and accommodation on board, and expecting that the owner will be on the trip; this avoids any problem with insurance. I would be available for this trip from Monday 24th June onward, if you're interested?

 

Incidentally, at this time of year it's possible to boat long hours in daylight, so the move could be done on water as eight 12 hour days if you need to and your crew are efficient.

[mark99]

Will be a memorable journey too. The Stort is great btw.

[GaryO]

14 hours ago, Peter X said:

Not necessarily wanting to do matty40s out of work, and he does have a good reputation, but the alternative if you have the time and inclination is to do the trip yourself, with a friend or relative, ideally someone with some canal boating experience, as crew. Fun and cheaper, but you need to have those 12 days available to do the move, in one or more chunks. Whereas matty40s can move the boat for you while you go to work or do whatever else you fancy.

 

I mention the above because sometimes I crew for people off this forum to do a move like this. I just do it for fun, asking only for food and accommodation on board, and expecting that the owner will be on the trip; this avoids any problem with insurance. I would be available for this trip from Monday 24th June onward, if you're interested?

 

Incidentally, at this time of year it's possible to boat long hours in daylight, so the move could be done on water as eight 12 hour days if you need to and your crew are efficient.

Thank you for the offer it is much appreciated but I unfortunately can’t get the time off work. I was really hoping I would as I would get to know my boat even better and have a great adventure along by way but it’s not meant to be. I have been recommended someone who has done this before and comes at a good price so that’s looking quite likely now. I’ll have to save my own trip for later in the summer

13 hours ago, mark99 said:

Will be a memorable journey too. The Stort is great btw.

Thank you Mark I definitely intend on getting to know it very well in the future and hopefully some people along the way too. 

[GaryO]

Does anyone also know the sort of price I would be looking at for the diesel on this journey? It’s a Shanks Diesel engine going for about 160 miles. I have no idea what sort of mileage you would get out of it so was just after a rough estimate if possible. 

[TheBiscuits]

1 minute ago, GaryO said:

Does anyone also know the sort of price I would be looking at for the diesel on this journey? It’s a Shanks Diesel engine going for about 160 miles. I have no idea what sort of mileage you would get out of it so was just after a rough estimate if possible. 

Most narrowboats use between one litre and one and a half litres per hour, in normal use.

[MtB]

2 minutes ago, GaryO said:

Does anyone also know the sort of price I would be looking at for the diesel on this journey? It’s a Shanks Diesel engine going for about 160 miles. I have no idea what sort of mileage you would get out of it so was just after a rough estimate if possible. 

 

Miles per gallon varies HUGELY on a boat depending on whether you are cruising along unobstructed, spending a day doing a long flight of locks, ov eeven moored up but charging up your batteries. So we use litres per hour of running time as a better proxy. How long will the trip take, in hours? Budget for 1 litre per hour.

 

 

The rule of thumb is 1 to 1.5 but as your boat is on the smaller side, I'd say 1 litre. My old 40ft NB with Beta Greenline used to use about 0.9L/hr.

 

 

[GaryO]

10 minutes ago, Mike the Boilerman said:

 

Miles per gallon varies HUGELY on a boat depending on whether you are cruising along unobstructed, spending a day doing a long flight of locks, ov eeven moored up but charging up your batteries. So we use litres per hour of running time as a better proxy. How long will the trip take, in hours? Budget for 1 litre per hour.

 

 

The rule of thumb is 1 to 1.5 but as your boat is on the smaller side, I'd say 1 litre. My old 40ft NB with Beta Greenline used to use about 0.9L/hr.

 

 

Thank you I’ll try to use litres per hour from now on. It’s looking at about 100 hours roughly on the journey. I don’t want to sound completely useless but how much would you be looking at for diesel per litre? If someone is going to be doing the journey for me I just want to take all expenses into account 

[MtB]

37 minutes ago, GaryO said:

Thank you I’ll try to use litres per hour from now on. It’s looking at about 100 hours roughly on the journey. I don’t want to sound completely useless but how much would you be looking at for diesel per litre? If someone is going to be doing the journey for me I just want to take all expenses into account 

 

You're not useless, you're just new to the subject. Asking well framed questions is a good way get yourself edumacated up!!

 

The price of canal diesel varies according to the duty due on its intended use. Diesel bought for heating and battery charging is charged at 0% duty. Diesel for moving the boat is charged at 100% duty. Most diesel is sold at a split of 60%/40% and the price might typically be around £1 per litre, but the buyer is responsible for honestly declaring the split. Yours will be 100% propulsion if you are honest about it, but being honest might raise the odd eyebrow when you demand to pay 100%. No-one ever checks. 

 

Bottom line is budget £150 for fuel for the trip. This should be plenty. 

 

 

 

 

[GaryO]

1 hour ago, Mike the Boilerman said:

 

You're not useless, you're just new to the subject. Asking well framed questions is a good way get yourself edumacated up!!

 

The price of canal diesel varies according to the duty due on its intended use. Diesel bought for heating and battery charging is charged at 0% duty. Diesel for moving the boat is charged at 100% duty. Most diesel is sold at a split of 60%/40% and the price might typically be around £1 per litre, but the buyer is responsible for honestly declaring the split. Yours will be 100% propulsion if you are honest about it, but being honest might raise the odd eyebrow when you demand to pay 100%. No-one ever checks. 

 

Bottom line is budget £150 for fuel for the trip. This should be plenty. 

 

 

 

 

Ok I understand that now and didn’t have a clue before so thanks!! That’s less then I was expecting so that’s a bonus. The man I’m getting to move it is very experienced with narrow boats so should be very familiar with this already. Thanks for all the help this forum is extremely helpful and very friendly for a novice like myself so makes it a lot less daunting ?