I seek advice on which boat type for live aboard permanent cruising European waterways.

[Dav and Pen]

Back from the rugby and great day for us Northamptonians. Think all points answered by Tam.

[Dav and Pen]

One last thought for anyone contemplating taking a wide beam to the continent the 100 cu m measurement is length x.beam x height to gunwale.

[Tam & Di]

On Alan’s further point, I don’t have a lot of knowledge of Ireland but I don’t think ES-TRIN certification is required. Ireland is a signatory to Resolution 40 which means they do issue/accept an ICC as evidence of competence for a helmsman.

There are some narrowboats and wide beam craft in France, and they work reasonably well on the Midi where boating is similar to what you do in the UK. But as Carlito seemingly has no narrow boating experience and wishes to cruise extensively (and buy at the cheaper end of the market) narrowboats in particular are not ideally suited. Penichettes as suggested by Athy are quite useful little vessels, and as they are designed with inexperienced people in mind they could serve quite well. The problem with any hire boat is they are designed for short-period summer use, not longterm living or winter temperatures. Also they may be underpowered for major rivers.

The Dutch in general and those from Friesland in particular do tend to be quite tall people, so Carlito has a better chance of finding something suitable there, and he may even find something already adapted for winter use.

For maps you could try the French navigation authority site https://www.vnf.fr and as already suggested look at the DBA site https://www.barges.org - I think you have to be a member to view the Knowledge Base. My https://www.bargehandling.com might be worth a visit too.

 

The additional complexity it the possibility of wanting to bring the boat to the UK after a couple of years - that means getting something to fit UK dimensions too which could be problematic.

 

Tam

Edited December 1, 2019 by Tam & Di
clarity

[Athy]

The publishers Editions du Breil produce very good, clear map books for French waterways. We always use them when we hire over there. You can buy them directly from their web site. At about twenty quid each they aren't cheap, but then you won't need all the different regional books at once.

[JamesFrance]

If you can understand French there are many different types of canal boats to look at here

https://www.paruvendu.fr/a/nautisme/bateaux-a-moteur/bateau-fluvial/

[Bee]

On ‎30‎/‎11‎/‎2019 at 14:51, Carlito said:

I haven't considered much as I was just looking at narrowboats firstly. Then my friend recommended Widebeams then I found out Dutch barges, lagoon catamarans etc exist. So your example is another boat I had no idea existed. 

 

I'm not really fussed what boat I get, as long as it can handle European waterways and is safe in them. 

 

I'll definitely look into them though!

Those Penichettes are actually pretty good boats, I don't know what the interior is like or what they are like to live on but whoever designed them actually knew what he was doing - not always the case with some boatbuilders.

[Boaty Jo]

9 hours ago, Bee said:

Those Penichettes are actually pretty good boats, I don't know what the interior is like or what they are like to live on but whoever designed them actually knew what he was doing - not always the case with some boatbuilders.

They are tried and tested as holiday boats but like many GRP and steel cruisers are not really geared up for winter living.

They'll probably have a heater of some sort but unlikely man enough for 24/7.

And is the insulation up to it?

We experienced minus double figures in Burgundy and saw some boats with so much condensation they looked to be drowning fron the inside.

Edited December 2, 2019 by Boaty Jo

[Athy]

3 hours ago, Boaty Jo said:

 

They'll probably have a heater of some sort but unlikely man enough for 24/7.

And is the insulation up to it?

 

Yes, as mentioned earlier, they have blown-air heating. In the five or six times that we've hired one, I don't think we've ever switched it on, so I can't comment on its efficacity.

Not sure about their level of insulation.

[KenK]

One thing you need to research is whether you will be allowed to reside in Europe post Brexit. Unless Brexit does not happen we Brits will become a Third country and treated in a similar way to American etc. boaters. The standard rule without a visa is 90 days and then leave for 180 days, not ideal for boating. It is possible to apply for a long stay visa but it is a fair amount of red tape and at the moment no one really seems to know what the rules will be and even if they will be the same in different EU regions.

Also be careful re VAT rules either taking a boat from UK into Europe or the reverse.

Unlike the UK Europe has rules and they are enforced you need an ICC (International Certificate of Competence) which you can obtain from the RYA, and depending on where you are cruising carry the correct paperwork.

Our boat, which we share with two other couples, is a 17 mtr. Luxemotor has an AIS receiver built into the VHF and for 2020 we are installing an AIS B+ transponder so the big boats can see us well in advance as well as us being aware of them.

Tam suggested looking on the DBA website, I would also recommend the RYA website there is a section devoted to European inland waterways, well worth a read.

Good luck but do the research before spending money.

 

Ken