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Hi all,

 

Forgive me if this question sound stupid. I'm very new to boating but I absolutely love the UK's narrowboats! I however live in Belgium. Would it be possible to use a narrowboat on Belgian canals? Would that also include the more rougher one's with freight traffic such as the "Schelde"? 

 

Thanks in advance,

 

ETVL

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4 minutes ago, ETVL said:

Hi all,

 

Forgive me if this question sound stupid. I'm very new to boating but I absolutely love the UK's narrowboats! I however live in Belgium. Would it be possible to use a narrowboat on Belgian canals? Would that also include the more rougher one's with freight traffic such as the "Schelde"? 

 

Thanks in advance,

 

ETVL

@wandering snail has written a book about it https://www.amazon.co.uk/Cigar-Belgium-Journeys-Narrowboat-2013-09-06/dp/B017MYC8E2

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7 minutes ago, ETVL said:

I'm very new to boating but I absolutely love the UK's narrowboats!

 

The only sensible reason to have a narrowboat is to get through 2.1 metre locks that were built on the cheap 250 years ago.  For proper waterways a proper boat is a vast improvement in nearly every way.

 

And I say that as a narrowboat owner!

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13 minutes ago, ETVL said:

Hi all,

 

Forgive me if this question sound stupid. I'm very new to boating but I absolutely love the UK's narrowboats! I however live in Belgium. Would it be possible to use a narrowboat on Belgian canals? Would that also include the more rougher one's with freight traffic such as the "Schelde"? 

 

Thanks in advance,

 

ETVL

 

It's been done, but as The Biscuits points out why restrict yourself to something so narrow? They are that narrow for a specific reason. There are far more boats better suited.

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You could use a narrowboat but it would be as daft as using a trabant in a formula one race. Narrowboats are a hopeless design enforced on us by our ancestors, have a proper boat whenever you can speaking as a narrowboat owner.

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Feasible, but everything is geared up to wider boats. A lot of moorings (in France, Belgium and the Netherlands) are restricted to boats of less than 12 m or 15 m. In locks, rising bollards may be harder to reach from the low level of a NB, and without a longish deck you may find it harder to put a rope to bollards front and back.

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27 minutes ago, The Happy Nomad said:

 

I wonder if you get a free boat with the paperback version.....

 

 

Book-1.JPG

My god, where's that come from!! Just a bit cheaper from my publisher at Troubador or direct from me! In answer to the OP, our narrowboat managed perfectly well in Belgium and it was our favourite country to cruise in from all the countries we took it to. I always smile at the 'knowledgeable' comments on here from boaters who have never done it! If you go ahead, just make sure the length is well under 20m as there are now regulations in force for boats over that which a narrowboat cannot comply with.

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1 minute ago, wandering snail said:

My god, where's that come from!! Just a bit cheaper from my publisher at Troubador or direct from me!

 

It clearly must be a typo error on the Amazon web site??

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Personally I wouldn’t want a narrowboat on the big commercial waterways in Belgium as they are extremely busy and the wash from the big barges is very rough. I brought our 22m barge in Belgium and believe me the Albert canal can seem like being on the ocean. The lesser used smaller waterways would be fine but you have to get to them and as for the Schelde this is a major shipping route and tidal. I know of one narrow boat that is or at least was kept in Belgium and we meet it on the 2012 rally highlighting the closure of the Sambre Oise canal.

A1045F4B-A541-4367-BBC0-C20B2349E2A0.jpeg

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3 minutes ago, wandering snail said:

. I always smile at the 'knowledgeable' comments on here from boaters who have never done it! If you go ahead, just make sure the length is well under 20m as there are now regulations in force for boats over that which a narrowboat cannot comply with.

 

I don't think anybody is saying it's not doable, it clearly is you've done it, I think people are querying why you would chose a boat that is built specifically to fit through locks that are peculiar to the UK system. Doing so restricts the internal space considerably.

 

It's one thing to take a (narrow)boat you already own and use it on the continent but if you are buying a boat specifically to cruise on much wider canals why go narrow? It would be like buying a narrowboat if you only intended to stick to the North East Waterways of the UK, there is just no need to do that.

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10 minutes ago, Dav and Pen said:

Personally I wouldn’t want a narrowboat on the big commercial waterways in Belgium as they are extremely busy and the wash from the big barges is very rough. I brought our 22m barge in Belgium and believe me the Albert canal can seem like being on the ocean. The lesser used smaller waterways would be fine but you have to get to them and as for the Schelde this is a major shipping route and tidal. I know of one narrow boat that is or at least was kept in Belgium and we meet it on the 2012 rally highlighting the closure of the Sambre Oise canal.

A1045F4B-A541-4367-BBC0-C20B2349E2A0.jpeg

Yes, that is Mike Clarke's nb and it is still there. He lives near Brussels and generally boats on group outings with his boat club. A friend and Facebook contact of mine. The boat attracts a lot of attention on the Belgian waterways because it is so unusual for those waters.

Roger

Edited by Albion
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You'd be amazed how many British people would like to live on board a Belgian Spitz/Peniche...

 

A UK waterways holiday might be the best way to experience a British narrowboat, including the tiny bridge holes and narrow locks it was designed for

 

1 minute ago, The Happy Nomad said:

 

It clearly must be a typo error on the Amazon web site??

Sometimes commercial sellers have pricing algorithms that automatically increase prices based on similar products, which can result in some very silly prices when they both raise prices in response to each other. Wandering Snail's Belgian recollections are clearly in great demand!

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While I have no direct experience of Belgian waters, from my experience of French canals it is much easier to have a boat where you can wander up and down the side decks to be able to get ropes onto lock-side bollards that can be spaced inconveniently above you. Yes, it can be done by narrowboat but it is easier if you have walkable side decks rather than the gunnels of a nb.

Roger

Edited by Albion
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17 minutes ago, wandering snail said:

My god, where's that come from!! Just a bit cheaper from my publisher at Troubador or direct from me! In answer to the OP, our narrowboat managed perfectly well in Belgium and it was our favourite country to cruise in from all the countries we took it to. I always smile at the 'knowledgeable' comments on here from boaters who have never done it! If you go ahead, just make sure the length is well under 20m as there are now regulations in force for boats over that which a narrowboat cannot comply with.

But why use a narrowboat in such a place? Uncomfortable size, no power. If we didnt have a lot of silly seven foot locks left in the UK for us no one would be daft enough to buy such a silly design. Yes a narrowboat is fine for say the skinny Oxford but makes zero sense to buy to put one on a large waterway.

3 minutes ago, Albion said:

While I have no direct experience of Belgian waters, from my experience of French canals it is much easier to have a boat where you can wander up and down the side decks to be able to get ropes onto lock-side bollards that can be spaced inconveniently above you. Yes, it can be done by narrowboat but it is easier if you have walkable side decks rather than the gunnels of a nb.

Roger

Precisely.

Edited by mrsmelly
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In short (pun intended) if you really must have a narrowboat it can be made to work, but we find a 13m widebeam gives far more mooring opportunities at less cost than a 20m narrowboat and more space, also easier to work the locks. Belgium is lovely but you will probably want to venture into the Netherlands and France where similar considerations will apply.  Also you will probably be unable to buy one locally so if you do buy and import do let us know how you get on with the import post B*****************

 

Tam and Di have some interesting views on working narrowboats and even narrowboat style widebeams in those locks.

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4 minutes ago, mrsmelly said:

But why use a narrowboat in such a place? Uncomfortable size, no power. If we didnt have a lot of silly seven foot locks left in the UK for us no one would be daft enough to buy such a silly design. Yes a narrowboat is fine for say the skinny Oxford but makes zero sense to buy to put one on a large waterway.

Precisely.

 

And you can have something like a very tidy Dutch Steel Motor cruiser for a comparable price of a narrow boat, sometimes less. That would be my choice if specifically buying a boat for the continent.

 

https://www.apolloduck.co.uk/boat/pedro-pedro-33-for-sale/655873

 

 

 

 

 

 

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As a narrow boater for more than 30 years before retiring and wanting to explore further afield we decided after looking at the continental waterways whilst on holiday over the years that as others have said why restrict yourself to the limited space offered. So we sold our 50ft NB and brought a  22m old Dutch barge for near enough the same money. For us the right decision as we lived aboard for 6 months at a time and the space was great as was the back deck where we could sit with our drinks on a sunny evening. 
Working the locks is also much easier with the room on the gunwales and foredeck .

DDFE8E75-6F5C-4B61-B28F-E51B3E1F4C55.jpeg

5197B89E-C91F-4934-A4CB-CFE2B9EA5BC3.jpeg

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