Jump to content

Narrowboat swaying heavily as you walk through


Grayum

Featured Posts

Hello all,

 

I am living aboard a new (to me) 52ft narrowboat. When I first arrived on the boat, I didn't observe any noticeable listing but had yet to put in all my furniture. I have since moved all my belongings on board, and noticed that they have ended up mainly on the starboard side. I have also removed a large cupboard that was previously built in to the port side. 

 

Since then, the boat seems to be leaning slightly to the starboard side & so I moved some pre-existing moveable ballast slabs from the starboard side to the port side. This has helped a little bit, but now the boat seems to be more affected than before by any movement through the boat & has quite a noticeable sway whenever someone moves within the boat. The boat does, however, seem more level when people on board are still. 

 

There is still some ballast remaining on the starboard side, is it worth moving it or is the swaying normal in a well-balanced boat?

 

Thanks! 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Should have bought a fat boat if you don't want it to move much.

All boats rock unless they are sat on the bottom. The deeper draught the less they rock, what is the draught of your boat?

Have you raised the center of gravity with the things you have put in the boat?

Is there a lot of water sloshing about under the floor?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I suppose it is normal to some degree and that degree depends on the length of the swims (the longer compared with boat length the more it is likely too sway) and the weight of the person moving about.  The moor weight you can get low down would help stabilise the sway a little as well.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

6 minutes ago, Grayum said:

Hello all,

 

I am living aboard a new (to me) 52ft narrowboat. When I first arrived on the boat, I didn't observe any noticeable listing but had yet to put in all my furniture. I have since moved all my belongings on board, and noticed that they have ended up mainly on the starboard side. I have also removed a large cupboard that was previously built in to the port side. 

 

Since then, the boat seems to be leaning slightly to the starboard side & so I moved some pre-existing moveable ballast slabs from the starboard side to the port side. This has helped a little bit, but now the boat seems to be more affected than before by any movement through the boat & has quite a noticeable sway whenever someone moves within the boat. The boat does, however, seem more level when people on board are still. 

 

There is still some ballast remaining on the starboard side, is it worth moving it or is the swaying normal in a well-balanced boat?

 

Thanks! 

Its normal, more pronounced on a shallow or v type shell. Water under floor can make a difference. Re ballast as you have upset the apple cart with your posessions. Narrowboats are a stupid beam so do move adversley more than boats with a more sensible dimension.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

38 minutes ago, Grayum said:

Hello all,

 

I am living aboard a new (to me) 52ft narrowboat. When I first arrived on the boat, I didn't observe any noticeable listing but had yet to put in all my furniture. I have since moved all my belongings on board, and noticed that they have ended up mainly on the starboard side. I have also removed a large cupboard that was previously built in to the port side. 

 

Since then, the boat seems to be leaning slightly to the starboard side & so I moved some pre-existing moveable ballast slabs from the starboard side to the port side. This has helped a little bit, but now the boat seems to be more affected than before by any movement through the boat & has quite a noticeable sway whenever someone moves within the boat. The boat does, however, seem more level when people on board are still. 

 

There is still some ballast remaining on the starboard side, is it worth moving it or is the swaying normal in a well-balanced boat?

 

Thanks! 

I take te above to mean that there's hardly ANY ballast left. To me that indicats that the boat is mebe under ballasted and certainly will sway somewhat - as others have indicated...

 

Either retink the ballasting 'issue' or consider how you are going to add extra weight to steady the boat.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

All boats will tend to rock a bit when someone moves around or steps aboard.  It can be a bit of a concern to someone new to boating, but might just be normal and you get used to it to the point where you don't notice it.   Before getting too involved in moving ballast etc. it would be worth trying other boats, or get someone else to try out your boat.

Of course your boat might be a bit tender*, in which case you want to increase the ballast as low down as possible.

 

* 'tender' is the term used to describe how much a boat rocks when someone steps aboard or moves around.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Just a thought - have you added weight up high, say on top of the boat?

This will tend to reduce the stability.

To have the most stabilising effect, ballast needs to be as low as possible, preferably on the base plate.

12 hours ago, Boater Sam said:

Is there a lot of water sloshing about under the floor?

Another vote for this.

Have you checked under the floor at various points to check it is dry?

Any water would reduce stability.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

We have placed cookies on your device to help make this website better. You can adjust your cookie settings, otherwise we'll assume you're okay to continue.