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Widebeam in the North


Dean71

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4 minutes ago, TheBiscuits said:

Since being blessed with BobBiscuit I have occasionally suggested a 34 ft motor and butty with a drawbar hitch to save setting cross straps and two side bars for breasting up.   It's one 70 ft rig in narrow locks and a short fatty in broad locks ...

 

I think it's genius, but MrsBiscuit doesn't.

But its been done before, Brian the Blacksmith on Emily-Bronte (and a Yorkshireman too) has been doing this for years in a very stylish way   57 foot liveaboard boat with a combined tug/blacksmiths forge to push it along. It works very well

 

................Dave

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15 minutes ago, Alan de Enfield said:

Or, a 'front trailer'

 

You can have another 12 foot, add a couple of bedrooms and you have a spare room when visitors come, when on your own just take the 'Mother Ship

 

Less handy with no home mooring, as nowhere to leave it.  I have thought about it, but have not seen a good way of doing it.  The fact that my bow is a silly shape doesn't help either - there is no sensible way of crossing to the push butty whilst underway.

13 minutes ago, dmr said:

But its been done before, Brian the Blacksmith on Emily-Bronte (and a Yorkshireman too) has been doing this for years in a very stylish way   57 foot liveaboard boat with a combined tug/blacksmiths forge to push it along. It works very well

 

................Dave

 

I hadn't thought of a push tug.

 

I don't need it to be original, just effective!

 

Hmm.

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4 hours ago, David Mack said:

 

Except Brandon Lock on the Little Ouse which is only about 40 ft long.

 

You can't pass through Teddington Skiff Lock either, but that doesn't really matter since there are two larger ones alongside.

And don't forget Horseway and Welches' Dam on the Middle Level, currently not navigable but about 45'.

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To summarise

 

60 by 12 will allow you over the Pennines via the Leeds and Liverpool but is too long for the Calder and Hebble and too wide for the Ribble link - this is still a major chunk of cruising water available to you

 

57 by 12 allows you a second route over the pennines via the Calder and Hebble and Rochdale - it's the C&H that is the problem for anything longer

 

In either boat you could cross the wash and go up the Nene, but too wide for the Middle Level or the Ouse to Bedford - I'm not sure where the restriction is on the Ouse

 

drop the beam to 10 foot and the Ribble Link/Lancaster becomes an option as does the Ouse and Middle Level

 

drop the beam to 9 foot and the Trent and Mersey to Anderton and thus the River Weaver are an option

 

Despite the perception that 9 or 10 foot is a lot narrower than 12, it;s still, for internal width, a lot wider than 7 feet

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13 minutes ago, magpie patrick said:

drop the beam to 9 foot and the Trent and Mersey to Anderton and thus the River Weaver are an option

 

The Weaver may also be accessed via Pomona Lock and a trip down the Manchester Ship Canal by (paid) arrangement in a bigger boat.  

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1 hour ago, magpie patrick said:

To summarise

 

60 by 12 will allow you over the Pennines via the Leeds and Liverpool but is too long for the Calder and Hebble and too wide for the Ribble link - this is still a major chunk of cruising water available to you

 

57 by 12 allows you a second route over the pennines via the Calder and Hebble and Rochdale - it's the C&H that is the problem for anything longer

 

In either boat you could cross the wash and go up the Nene, but too wide for the Middle Level or the Ouse to Bedford - I'm not sure where the restriction is on the Ouse

 

drop the beam to 10 foot and the Ribble Link/Lancaster becomes an option as does the Ouse and Middle Level

 

drop the beam to 9 foot and the Trent and Mersey to Anderton and thus the River Weaver are an option

 

Despite the perception that 9 or 10 foot is a lot narrower than 12, it;s still, for internal width, a lot wider than 7 feet

Surprisingly large boats can get to Cambridge - 70 x 12 would be no problem. I think such a boat would struggle to get into St Ives lock (which is big enough, there's just an extremely inconvenient part of the  bank on the approach, and certainly wouldn't get to St Neots (Offord).

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11 hours ago, Dean71 said:

Thanks for the comments on this, it's highlighted that the wife was right :) . Think we'll look at below 60' and only 10 wide, all above makes good sense.

57 x 12 will allow you to go most places in the northern canals, its the size of mine and the extra 2 foot width is worth way more than the extra 3 foot in length which will stop you going a lot of places

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10 hours ago, TheBiscuits said:

 

Actually that makes me stupid, because I took one out with passengers in the workboat last July!

 

IMG_20190720_144456777.jpg.b3d439c857e43012f58fa3c09bc34065.jpg

Elf and safety alert!!!

 

Wot no life jackets - not even on the little ones?

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1 hour ago, TheBiscuits said:

 

And if you need a suitable tug @NB Esk might be able to help.

 

Yes, suitably spruced up (courtesy of the lockdown) and could be for sale to the right person.

 

 

IMG_0815.JPG

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15 hours ago, Dean71 said:

Hi Everyone,

 

We are in the process of selling up and finally going for our dream Widebeam. Couple of questions and advice please,

 

1. We are looking at a 70 by 12 Widebeam. We know there's restrictions on where you can go but is it really a big issue? It would be good to hear from anyone with a similar size boat and how you far you go.

2. Residential Moorings - how difficult are they to get? We've been told not to buy until we have one. We have young family in the East Midlands and so would want to be there for a few years. The plan is to move it south on the first blacking in a few years.

 

Many thanks,

Dean & Sue

 

Lots of sensible advice in this thread already and I will just add my personal thoughts.

 

Boating in a widebeam brings enough restrictions as it is. IMHO it would be folly to buy one that restricts you even further especially on the Northern waterways which if you go for the optimum width and length offers you the best chance of a reasonable cruising distance/pattern and the chance to enjoy some stunning waterways.

 

If it was me (the already suggested) 57 x10 would be my choice. No wider no longer.

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How many of the people commenting have lived aboard with children?

 

I have, and would recommend going for the largest boat you can afford and that is practical. Living aboard with kids isn't like taking a holiday. They all need their own beds, private space (even more so as they head into the teenage years). 

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59 minutes ago, Alastair said:

How many of the people commenting have lived aboard with children?

 

I have, and would recommend going for the largest boat you can afford and that is practical. Living aboard with kids isn't like taking a holiday. They all need their own beds, private space (even more so as they head into the teenage years). 

It depends on what you wish to achieve as the main objective. If you are going to buy a boat that won't go very far you might as well buy a static caravan. If you are not bothered about moving very far then yes, but where is the fun in that?

Edited by The Happy Nomad
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3 minutes ago, Alastair said:

How many of the people commenting have lived aboard with children?

 

I have, and would recommend going for the largest boat you can afford and that is practical. Living aboard with kids isn't like taking a holiday. They all need their own beds, private space (even more so as they head into the teenage years). 

Wise words, but also the risk of having a boat that is too large to move anywhere, or is so difficult for someone to operate (who has never helmed a boat before) can be an accident waiting to happen.

 

As I showed in Post 3 70 x 12 is pretty much limited to a very, very 'movement reduced' area. The OP plans to stay 'around Nottingham for a year or two, so why not just get a flat and when ready to take up boating get one that is usable.

 

If you need a 'flat' with (say) 3 or 4 bedrooms to accommodate you and your teenagers then a boat is not likely to be the best answer at that particular time of your lives.

 

 

CAM00436.jpg

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I agree about the difficulty of handling.

The sheer weight of a large barge is a major consideration. If you need to fend your boat off, or bump a lock gate with a 50ft narrowboat - it is no big deal. Not going to cause much damage and judicious use of a barge pole can move the boat.

 

Try doing that with a 70x12 boat and it is a different story. The momentum of that large a boat is high, you will smash things if you bump them (or leave dents in your boat). You can't fend the boat off. 

 

Long boats are difficult to handle in crosswinds, and mooring takes care.

 

When we looked at moving back aboard, I set a max size of 50 (widebeam). Did not want to be on a boat that was so difficult to move, it became just a floating caravan, as said by the Nomad.

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11 hours ago, TheBiscuits said:

 

Actually that makes me stupid, because I took one out with passengers in the workboat last July!

 

IMG_20190720_144456777.jpg.b3d439c857e43012f58fa3c09bc34065.jpg

Does that workboat have MCA approval to carry more than 12 passengers?

(Not sure whether in that arrangement the 12 passenger limit applies to each boat individually or to the combination).

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11 minutes ago, The Happy Nomad said:

It depends on what you to achieve as the main objective. If you are going to buy a boat that won't go very far you might as well buy a static caravan. If you are not bothered about moving very far then yes, but where is the fun in that?

Completely agree. A boat two large to go and enjoy boating would be a nightmare. If its just somewhere to live and you dont intend boating a boat is not the thing to buy. I dont know if the OP has looked into it but there are things caused flats and houses and indeed caravans and some great in fact superb RVS for a lot less money than a huge widebeam is going to cost. A good friend of mine lives in a fantastic winnebago thats like Buckingham Palace, a few years old but mint and masses of space, cost much less than a huge widey would have been and plenty of places to live on one if common sense is used.

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1 hour ago, David Mack said:

Does that workboat have MCA approval to carry more than 12 passengers?

(Not sure whether in that arrangement the 12 passenger limit applies to each boat individually or to the combination).

I was only thinking that, it's 12 max without MCA - Mr Smelly will know innit

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