Choosing a boat

[Naughty Cal]

56 minutes ago, PD1964 said:

There’s still a lot of the system he could do including rivers, this is just another thing he has to take into consideration when deciding, before just rejecting anything over 6’10”.

  Also if trailable he has the Lake District and the Lochs of Scotland not to mention the Irish waterways. There’s so many routes other then the narrow canals for him to explore, something for him to think about.

Exactly this^^^^^^^^

 

And if the OP fancies trying out the narrow canals then they can always hire a narrowboat for a week or so. 

 

Living accommodation long term should be the main factor for the search although to keep trailable you want to be below 30ft long and 9ft wide really.

[dmr]

22 minutes ago, Naughty Cal said:

Exactly this^^^^^^^^

 

And if the OP fancies trying out the narrow canals then they can always hire a narrowboat for a week or so. 

 

Living accommodation long term should be the main factor for the search although to keep trailable you want to be below 30ft long and 9ft wide really.

 

Huddersfield narrow

Ashton

Shropshire Union inc Middlewich arm

Llangollen

Monty

Staffs and Worcs

Trent and Mersey

Caldon

Coventry

Stratford

Macclesfield

Peak Forest

entire BCN

 

maybe the op should hire a narrowboat for a year.....or then again just buy one ?

A narrowboat can also  explore the wide canals and rivers, a wide boat really struggles on the narrow canals.

If somebody is coming from overseas to "experience" the British canal system then the narrow canals are the essence of the system. If the desire is to explore rivers in a plastic cruiser then there are better parts of the world to do that.

 

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

[Naughty Cal]

6 minutes ago, dmr said:

 

Huddersfield narrow

Ashton

Shropshire Union inc Middlewich arm

Llangollen

Monty

Staffs and Worcs

Trent and Mersey

Caldon

Coventry

Stratford

Macclesfield

Peak Forest

entire BCN

 

maybe the op should hire a narrowboat for a year.....or then again just buy one ?

A narrowboat can also  explore the wide canals and rivers, a wide boat really struggles on the narrow canals.

If somebody is coming from overseas to "experience" the British canal system then the narrow canals are the essence of the system. If the desire is to explore rivers in a plastic cruiser then there are better parts of the world to do that.

 

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

They say they want to cruise canals and rivers and then take it to Europe. 

 

A boat with a wider beam can cruise the widebeam canals, rivers and then would be more suited to cruising the European waterways.

 

No point restricting your living accommodation for a very small amount of the waters you will be exploring. 

[David Mack]

1 hour ago, PD1964 said:

There are only a few places a boat over 6’10” can’t go due to narrow locks. If he gets a trailerble length as mentioned, he could easily move by road to miss the narrow locks. Just going from 6’10” to 8’6” would make a difference living on it.

Are you suggesting a trailered portage around each narrow lock?

[dmr]

3 minutes ago, David Mack said:

Are you suggesting a trailered portage around each narrow lock?

What an excellent idea, widebeams are becoming much more popular and already intruding onto the narrow canals, plus some locks already have a good sloping path for the cyclists. CRT want more people involved so a team of strong volunteers at each lock and a set of strong rollers?

 

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

[Naughty Cal]

9 minutes ago, dmr said:

What an excellent idea, widebeams are becoming much more popular and already intruding onto the narrow canals, plus some locks already have a good sloping path for the cyclists. CRT want more people involved so a team of strong volunteers at each lock and a set of strong rollers?

 

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

Can we stop narrowboats intruding on widebeam canals and rivers?

[dmr]

4 minutes ago, Naughty Cal said:

Can we stop narrowboats intruding on widebeam canals and rivers?

Reduce the bridge 'ole widths to 6'9", that would do it. ?

[Jen-in-Wellies]

27 minutes ago, dmr said:

 

Huddersfield narrow

Ashton

Shropshire Union inc Middlewich arm

Llangollen

Monty

Staffs and Worcs

Trent and Mersey

Caldon

Coventry

Stratford

Macclesfield

Peak Forest

entire BCN

 

maybe the op should hire a narrowboat for a year.....or then again just buy one ?

A narrowboat can also  explore the wide canals and rivers, a wide boat really struggles on the narrow canals.

If somebody is coming from overseas to "experience" the British canal system then the narrow canals are the essence of the system. If the desire is to explore rivers in a plastic cruiser then there are better parts of the world to do that.

 

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

Add to that, the Worcester & Birmingham, Brum and Fazeley, Chesterfield, the Oxford, the Northampton Arm. No doubt there are others I've missed 

The narrow canals are a unique feature of the English and Welsh system. Would be a shame to miss them. 

My understanding is that the OP's are planning to spend part of the year in the UK and part in France. Is that to avoid the UK winter? A common practice in the US is to go south for the winter. If so, then they may not be aware that UK winters are often milder than French ones in large parts of France. The advantage of being surrounded by sea. I think having one boat suitable for both UK and French waterways is going to be difficult. Possibly better to explore the UK waterways for a couple of years in a narrow beam boat and then sell it and buy something suitable for France.

Jen

[Alan de Enfield]

4 minutes ago, Jen-in-Wellies said:

Possibly better to explore the UK waterways for a couple of years in a narrow beam boat and then sell it and buy something suitable for France.

 

But as 'visitors' they can only spend 6 months in the UK and 3 months in the EU

 

Unless he can get someone to find, survey and buy the boat for him before he arrives he will probably 'lose' 2 or 3 months of his 6 months getting to actually own a boat.

 

I'd actually suggest that a 6 month long term hire £1,000+ per month) would give instant access to the UK canals, walk away at the end with no boat to try and sell, travel to France and take a 3-month rental on a boat suitable for the French waters.

 

It will cost £9,000 ($12,000) but is that expensive for a 9-month holiday ?

 

https://www.etrr.co.uk/

 

Escape the Rat Race

We have been enabling clients to 'liveaboard' narrowboats long term now for 13 years. We have a diverse fleet of boats available by the month, at a far lower cost than long term holiday hire. We were the first to specialise in long term canal boat breaks and pride ourselves on our expert service.

Our service is fully legal, and all of our boats are properly insured and licensed, as well as being professionally prepared and maintained. We provide you with everything you need to enjoy your cruise and our monthly fee covers this care.

Whether you are looking for a longer term Narrowboat holiday, or to live on a narrowboat permanently, we can serve you. Bookings range from 3 months upward.

• Perhaps you're visiting Great Britain for a few months, newly retired, or would like to try things out while deciding whether to 'liveaboard' permanently.
• Perhaps you want to live on a narrow boat but without the hassle of maintaining or investing in a boat of your own.
• Perhaps you've enjoyed narrowboat rental holidays in the past, but would like to spend time enjoying Britain's huge canal network over a number of months.
• Maybe you have a narrowboat of your own but would like to invest this with our management service.

Escape The Rat Race supports you while providing maintenance as required. You are simply responsible for what you use in the form of gas, diesel and logs etc.

[dmr]

20 minutes ago, Alan de Enfield said:

 

But as 'visitors' they can only spend 6 months in the UK and 3 months in the EU

 

 

If Trump wins again he could come here as a visitor and claim asylum ?

 

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

[PD1964]

1 hour ago, David Mack said:

Are you suggesting a trailered portage around each narrow lock?

No, as the OP was thinking about a 8’6” beam only North to South to do the navigation he could do in a wide beam, also may take it to Scotland, Ireland and Lake District, just gives him options to visit more of the UK. 

[doratheexplorer]

3 hours ago, matty40s said:

The whole central part of the canal network...

Including most of the nicest canals.

 

[JamesFrance]

A 26ft Sea Otter with trailer might be a good choice but finding one could be difficult.   Much better equipped than a grp cruiser and I think they have water ballast which keeps the weight down.

[doratheexplorer]

2 hours ago, dmr said:

 

Huddersfield narrow

Ashton

Shropshire Union inc Middlewich arm

Llangollen

Monty

Staffs and Worcs

Trent and Mersey

Caldon

Coventry

Stratford

Macclesfield

Peak Forest

entire BCN

 

maybe the op should hire a narrowboat for a year.....or then again just buy one ?

A narrowboat can also  explore the wide canals and rivers, a wide boat really struggles on the narrow canals.

If somebody is coming from overseas to "experience" the British canal system then the narrow canals are the essence of the system. If the desire is to explore rivers in a plastic cruiser then there are better parts of the world to do that.

 

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

You forgot the Worcester & Birmingham.  The Ashton is wide though.

[Jen-in-Wellies]

1 hour ago, Alan de Enfield said:

But as 'visitors' they can only spend 6 months in the UK and 3 months in the EU

 

Gotcha. Didn't consider the visa issues. 

[Dav and Pen]

There is virtually no pleasure boating in France after October as the canals in the center of the country close down. In the north the large commercial waterways are in use as is the Rhone but these are not recommended for small leisure craft . Those people who live aboard year round are moored up in a small number of places plugged into the power and well stocked up with logs and red diesel for the central heating.

[doratheexplorer]

1 hour ago, Jen-in-Wellies said:

Add to that, the Worcester & Birmingham, Brum and Fazeley, Chesterfield, the Oxford, the Northampton Arm. No doubt there are others I've missed 

 

Technically the Birmingham and Fazeley is covered by BCN.  How about GU Leicester Line instead?

 

The narrow canals are what make our waterways unique, and they draw holidaymakers from around the world.  It's only forum members who are saddled with widebeam boats who would suggest otherwise.  Sadly, they don't really seem to know what they're missing.  A two week holiday is no substitute for really living on these canals. 

 

Personally I'd hate cruising past canal junctions, looking wistfully at cruising options which would be denied to me.

[Jen-in-Wellies]

8 minutes ago, doratheexplorer said:

It's only forum members who are saddled with widebeam boats who would suggest otherwise.  Sadly, they don't really seem to know what they're missing. 

Some of them have moved on from narrow to broad beams and have been there and done that as far as the narrow canals are concerned. I'd agree though, to "do" the English and Welsh canals from the start, without being able to visit the skinny bits is a waste. 

[PhilR]

59 minutes ago, doratheexplorer said:

You forgot the Worcester & Birmingham.  The Ashton is wide though.

The Ashton is narrow.

[Naughty Cal]

57 minutes ago, doratheexplorer said:

Technically the Birmingham and Fazeley is covered by BCN.  How about GU Leicester Line instead?

 

The narrow canals are what make our waterways unique, and they draw holidaymakers from around the world.  It's only forum members who are saddled with widebeam boats who would suggest otherwise.  Sadly, they don't really seem to know what they're missing.  A two week holiday is no substitute for really living on these canals. 

 

Personally I'd hate cruising past canal junctions, looking wistfully at cruising options which would be denied to me.

Equally the wider canals and rivers draw people and holiday makers from around the world. The Caledonian springs to mind with this one where we struggled to work the boat through the lock flights at Fort Augustus and Neptunes Staircase due to the sheer number of foreign tourists on the lock sides, this despite the typically Scottish wet weather!!

 

How many people saddle themselves with a narrowboat with the intention of traveling the whole of the UK system only to find that they never achieve that?

 

Those of us who have to work for a living are constrained by the amount of time we can have off work in one stretch. We are limited to a couple of weeks at a time. With the exception of the Chesterfield Canal above Retford there are no waterways that in theory anyway we wouldn't be able to tackle with our widebeam boat within that two weeks cruising range. Having the option to trail the boat easily opens up even more options that are not available on the connected system.

[KenK]

Six months in the UK followed by three months in Europe is of course possible for an American however it is not practical for boating. The waterways systems in the UK and Europe operate roughly in the same time frame, spring into early autumn (fall), after that they close down for maintenance, except for the larger commercial waterways. You need no qualifications or experience to boat in the UK but you need an ICC ( International Certificate of Competence ) in Europe, essentially a practical test to ensure you can handle a boat and a written test for the CEVNI regulations, that can be done on line, VHF is not necessary in the UK except for very few larger rivers but you really do need it in Europe, so a licence required.

We ran a narrowboat in the UK for fourteen years and contemplated taking it to Europe but they really do not work over there, we now have a Dutch barge currently in the Netherlands.

For a boat to work in both the UK and Europe it needs to be less than 15 metres (49 ft) long, moorings in France are limited for anything larger, and assuming you wish to cover all the UK canals it needs to be 6 ft 10 ins wide. A cruiser either steel or plastic with those dimensions would fit the bill, you might want to take a look at boatyards in the Netherlands on the internet, the variety of boats available there is much higher than the UK and the prices tend to be lower.   

[Athy]

Clyde, have a look at the new topic "35 foot narrowboat For Sale" in which an established member of this forum is selling his boat. It could be what you're looking for.

[dmr]

1 hour ago, doratheexplorer said:

You forgot the Worcester & Birmingham.  The Ashton is wide though.

 

I did my best without trying too hard but I did forget a few. The Ashton is a tiny little thing, you are thinking of the Rochdale?  The Ashton goes up from the Rochdale to the Huddersfield shallow and the Peak Forest canals, 

 

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

[dmr]

1 hour ago, doratheexplorer said:

Technically the Birmingham and Fazeley is covered by BCN.  How about GU Leicester Line instead?

 

The narrow canals are what make our waterways unique, and they draw holidaymakers from around the world.  It's only forum members who are saddled with widebeam boats who would suggest otherwise.  Sadly, they don't really seem to know what they're missing.  A two week holiday is no substitute for really living on these canals. 

 

Personally I'd hate cruising past canal junctions, looking wistfully at cruising options which would be denied to me.

We have to do this due to our length and it can be traumatic. I don't really mind when we turn to avoid the Wigan flight, but going past the Rufford Arm (down to the Ribble Link) always gives a pang, and getting to the end of the Rochdale and having to turn to go back is also difficult. If I had a 70 foot widebeam I would be really unhappy.

 

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

[doratheexplorer]

59 minutes ago, Naughty Cal said:

Equally the wider canals and rivers draw people and holiday makers from around the world. The Caledonian springs to mind with this one where we struggled to work the boat through the lock flights at Fort Augustus and Neptunes Staircase due to the sheer number of foreign tourists on the lock sides, this despite the typically Scottish wet weather!!

 

How many people saddle themselves with a narrowboat with the intention of traveling the whole of the UK system only to find that they never achieve that?

 

Those of us who have to work for a living are constrained by the amount of time we can have off work in one stretch. We are limited to a couple of weeks at a time. With the exception of the Chesterfield Canal above Retford there are no waterways that in theory anyway we wouldn't be able to tackle with our widebeam boat within that two weeks cruising range. Having the option to trail the boat easily opens up even more options that are not available on the connected system.

You're in Lincoln?  You easily get amongst the narrow locks on the T&M in a fortnight holiday.  Wouldn't need to do long days or anything.  Canalplan on default setting gives five-and-a-bit days to Fradley Junction.  A lovely spot to aim for.  Two weeks would give you 16 days in total to you could go to Fradley, do the whole Black Country Ring and get back to Lincoln if you were so inclined.

1 hour ago, PhilR said:

The Ashton is narrow.

I stand corrected.  Maybe it's just that those locks are such a PITA that I imagine them as wide!  Fiddling with those handcuff locks - ugh!

Edited August 21, 2020 by doratheexplorer