North to South in a Widebeam

[Harry Stoker]

I am planning to take my new river cruiser from "up north" to "down south" but as it's beam is 11ft I cannot take canals the entire way. I plan to lift her out around Leicester or Northampton way and have her taken down to the wider part of the Grand Union or even the Kennett. My question is... has anyone here down anything similar and if so where did they get lifted in and out? It doesn't have to be these precise locations but it does have to be from one side of the narrow canals to the other. Also she is quite tall at 7'9" or so.

 

H :)

[BEngo]

Best road to water lift in near London is P&S marine at Watford.  WillowBridge near Milton Keynes can also lift, but their entrance is very awkward and their crane may not be big enough for your widebeam.

Best way to approach this is probably to talk to a boat transport specialist like AB Tuckey, or Streethay (Bowern) who will do the whole thing, including the cranage and transport and all the wide/long load stuff.

 

N

[frangar]

With that height and possibly little tumblehome I’d forget using canals! The draft might mean you are going to be permanently dragging the bottom too. 

[Harry Stoker]

Thanks Bengo I will contact those people. And thanks Frangar for your friendly advice even though not the question I was asking. The boat has been cruising the canal system up north for the last five years with no problems, just a few limitations. The draft is less than a narrow boat if I am not mistaken.

[lampini]

This may be of assistance, 

 

https://canalrivertrust.org.uk/media/original/32433-waterway-dimensions.pdf

[Harry Stoker]

Thanks Lampini

[frangar]

37 minutes ago, Harry Stoker said:

Thanks Bengo I will contact those people. And thanks Frangar for your friendly advice even though not the question I was asking. The boat has been cruising the canal system up north for the last five years with no problems, just a few limitations. The draft is less than a narrow boat if I am not mistaken.

I’d check what canals....for instance the Aire & Calder is much deeper than the GU. 

[Harry Stoker]

Will do... I have been looking at canal dimensions for the last 3 days. Lots to get my head around but found some good routes and long stretches of that would suit my boat. ?

 

[MtB]

39 minutes ago, Harry Stoker said:

Will do... I have been looking at canal dimensions for the last 3 days. Lots to get my head around but found some good routes and long stretches of that would suit my boat. ?

 

 

Bear in mind published dimensions bear no relation to the reality, especially where depth is concerned.

 

 

[Tony Brooks]

and as Frangar alluded to the bridge arch and boat profiles are also vital. As far as I know CaRT do not publish bridge profiles. I don't think you can compare many of the northern wide beam waterways with those down south so take great care and maybe do a reconnoitre by car/bike to see  what we are on about re bridges.

[alan_fincher]

10 minutes ago, Tony Brooks said:

and as Frangar alluded to the bridge arch and boat profiles are also vital. As far as I know CaRT do not publish bridge profiles. I don't think you can compare many of the northern wide beam waterways with those down south so take great care and maybe do a reconnoitre by car/bike to see  what we are on about re bridges.

If you choose to get craned in on the Grand Union Nort of Apsley, (say at Willowbridge or Stowe Hill), check out the double arched bridge in Apsley.  Generally I think if a big barge or wide beam can get under that, it can probably get under the rest.

As Frangar and Tony have said, it's not about overall height, but profile of arches, particularly at bridges where the tow-path doesn't pass under the bridge.

[Alan de Enfield]

5 minutes ago, alan_fincher said:

As Frangar and Tony have said, it's not about overall height, but profile of arches, particularly at bridges where the tow-path doesn't pass under the bridge.

As can be seen by this picture (see other thread)

 

The 'water is wide enough' but not with the shape of the bridge.

 

 

[Captain Pegg]

CRT publish width and height in combination therefore they do prescribe the extreme position of the corners of the cabin. This works well for square cabins but less well for those with tumblehome because what happens if a boat exceeds one of those dimensions but is within the other is unknown.

 

The boat pictured above at Blue Lias bridge must logically exceed at least one of the published dimensions. If that isn’t the case then CRT have got a problem. If it is the case they shouldn’t be assisting passage.

 

As for draught (as in depth) they appear to be very realistic if not pessimistic. The Llangollen is quoted as 2’ 3” and the GU from Bulls Bridge to Rickmansworth is 3’ 4”.

 

JP

Edited August 20, 2019 by Captain Pegg

[Alan de Enfield]

7 minutes ago, Captain Pegg said:

As for draught (as in depth) they appear to be very realistic if not pessimistic.

That is unfortunately not true in some places.

 

A few times I have 'hit the bottom' whilst in the MNC on the River Trent.

My draft = 4'6"

Minimum dredging depth = 2.75 mts. (9')

 

Similarly on the Foss Dyke which is dredged to 1.52 mts. (4'11") I was unable to get any further than Saxilby- totally ground to a halt and impossible to proceed. Had to pole backwards, turn and give up.

[Harry Stoker]

Thanks everyone. This is all great info!

[mrsmelly]

1 hour ago, Tony Brooks said:

and as Frangar alluded to the bridge arch and boat profiles are also vital. As far as I know CaRT do not publish bridge profiles. I don't think you can compare many of the northern wide beam waterways with those down south so take great care and maybe do a reconnoitre by car/bike to see  what we are on about re bridges.

This is very true. The Aire and calder is about 8 feet deep at the sides and deeper in the channel with locks into the hundreds of feet long and well over 20 feet wide. iirc maximum boat length is shown only as 200 by 20 or similar but the locks are much bigger than that the size restriction is due to pinch points such as skew bridge and the angle of the dangle at such as castleford lock. 600 ton barges dwarf the largest so called widebeams. A 70 by 14 widebeam is a toy. Connected to the river Trent via trent end gives a huge cruising range for serious boat all the way between Nottingham and Leeds although the locks on the trent are tiny at about 150 feet long by 30 foot ish beam at the Nottingham end wheras cromwell is humungous. Bridge heights on the a and c vary but again a so called widebeam narrowboat style will all be dwarfed by them.