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Potential widebeam transport between north and south wide canals?


James Walker

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Hi,

I'm thinking about purchasing a canal boat as a houseboat for the north of England.
Currently I'm trying to decide if I should go for a narrowboat, and have more area I can cover, or a widebeam and have (relatively!) more living space.

Could I please ask if I wanted to move a widebeam down south after a few years, would it cost a lot? Would there be a maximum length I'd have to watch out for when buying?

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1 hour ago, James Walker said:

Hi,

I'm thinking about purchasing a canal boat as a houseboat for the north of England.
Currently I'm trying to decide if I should go for a narrowboat, and have more area I can cover, or a widebeam and have (relatively!) more living space.

Could I please ask if I wanted to move a widebeam down south after a few years, would it cost a lot? Would there be a maximum length I'd have to watch out for when buying?

 

 

Any length that will fit on the canals will fit a truck

 

Price wise, It depends what you call 'a lot'

 

You would only need to actually move a few miles (across the narrow restrictions)  so half a days work for the truck

You'd need a crane at each end to load / unload and currently that would be £150-£300 each end.

 

The cost of a truck would depend on the width (beam) of the boat - with a 12' (and under) beam, its no problem but ours is 14' and we (the truck company) needed Police approval for the route, no travelling during rush hour times and escort vehicles warning oncoming traffic of an exceptional wide load.

 

We only had 6" height clearance beneath bridges so needed a special truck that could lower the trailer down to under 4" ground clearance

 

It cost me £2100 for the truck (Police approvals, and escort vehicle and drivers) to do 205 miles with an overnight stop due to Police restrictions+ £320 (total) for cranage.

 

 

You'll probably only need to do it once every 5,6,7,10 years so its not really a problem

 

You could get lifted at Newark (£160) and then dropped back in somewhere South of Leicester back onto the wide canals (eg the Grand Union towards Coventry)

 

 

 

 

 

 

21-10-19n.jpg

widebeam map 12 feet.png

Edited by Alan de Enfield
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Have a look at the prices to buy - sometimes a widebeam is a lot more expensive than a similar lenght NB - to the extent that the diference in cost is more than you would expect for the difference in internal space.

Some widbeams can be a pain to 'drive' - thus if you really want to cruise it might be a handicap....

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I'm afraid the costs are more like £800 - £1000 for widebeam cranage at each end because you'll need to hire a 100 tonne crane which most boatyards don't have, plus probably about £800 for the truck. So budget for an absolute minimum of £3K. Those costs are based on moving a 57 x 12ft widebeam from Evesham to Billing, Northampton 5 years ago.

 

The cheapest you'll get is Ray Bowern who's a transport broker and a decent guy. 

 

https://britishmarine.co.uk/Membership/Find-a-Member/Member-Details?id=158036

 

49 minutes ago, OldGoat said:

 

Some widbeams can be a pain to 'drive' - thus if you really want to cruise it might be a handicap....

 

But some narrowboats are a pain to 'drive' too. I don't think that's an issue limited to or even more prevalent with widebeams.

Edited by blackrose
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16 minutes ago, blackrose said:

I'm afraid the costs are more like £800 - £1000 for widebeam cranage at each end because you'll need to hire a 100 tonne crane which most boatyards don't have,

 

But some boatyards do have their own hoist (which is why I mentioned Newark, Farndon also have one), and the cost was £160 to lift and drop onto a truck.

They are not uncommon on Rivers, so maybe get a drop back in at one of the Thames yards ?

 

Newark do frequently lift 'big' widebeams.

 

The PLA at Gravesend can do 70 tonne lifts.

 

20191010-104925.jpg

 

 

 

 

Edited by Alan de Enfield
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2 minutes ago, Alan de Enfield said:

 

But some boatyards do have their own hoist (which is why I mentioned Newark, Farndon also have one), and the cost was £160 to lift and drop onto a truck.

They are not uncommon on Rivers, so maybe get a drop back in at one of the Thames yards ?

 

Newark do frequently lift 'big' widebeams.

 

 

Ok, if a yard has an adequate crane then you can reduce those costs. I know T& K at Reading does but I'm sure they'll want more than £150 -£300 to use it.

Edited by blackrose
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2 hours ago, James Walker said:

Hi,

I'm thinking about purchasing a canal boat as a houseboat for the north of England.
Currently I'm trying to decide if I should go for a narrowboat, and have more area I can cover, or a widebeam and have (relatively!) more living space.

Could I please ask if I wanted to move a widebeam down south after a few years, would it cost a lot? Would there be a maximum length I'd have to watch out for when buying?

You will get conflicting reports and mainly wrong advice from most on here who in reality have never even stepped onto anything other than a narrowboat. My twopenneth as someone who lived for a hell of a long time on narrowbeam boats and for 3 years on a widebeam is that widebeams are vastly and I mean VASTLY superior in every way and humungously more comfortable to live on. Just sayin like.

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From someone who's lived on a widebeam for the past 16 years and cruised quite a few of the southern waterways, the main issues with owning one are the limitations on cruising and increased costs compared to a narrowboat in terms of license fees, mooring costs and also docking and marginally increased maintenance costs. Then there are greater limitations on finding suitable moorings.

 

All other things being equal, moving a bigger boat is obviously more challenging than a smaller boat, especially if you're single-handed but that just takes practice and as long as you're on a suitable waterway there is no inherent difficulty in moving a widebeam.

 

When it comes to the advantages these are more difficult to quantify. However as Mrs Melly says, in terms of quality of life there really is no comparison between living in a human proportioned space and the confines of a narrowboat. 

 

I also lived on a narrowboat for 3 years.

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1 hour ago, mrsmelly said:

You will get conflicting reports and mainly wrong advice from most on here who in reality have never even stepped onto anything other than a narrowboat. My twopenneth as someone who lived for a hell of a long time on narrowbeam boats and for 3 years on a widebeam is that widebeams are vastly and I mean VASTLY superior in every way and humungously more comfortable to live on. Just sayin like.

Says a guy who now lives in a tin shed on a pig farm!:giggles:?

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2 hours ago, Alan de Enfield said:

 

You could get lifted at Newark (£160) and then dropped back in somewhere South of Leicester back onto the wide canals

If you got dropped in again just south of Leicester, you'd only get as far as Foxton before further progress was blocked by narrow locks.

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2 minutes ago, David Mack said:

If you got dropped in again just south of Leicester, you'd only get as far as Foxton before further progress was blocked by narrow locks.

 

 

I didn't say "just south of Leicester"  you appear to have cropped what I actually said :

 

 

 

2 hours ago, Alan de Enfield said:

You could get lifted at Newark (£160) and then dropped back in somewhere South of Leicester back onto the wide canals (eg the Grand Union towards Coventry)

 

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So why mention Leicester at all? It's just potential confusion for the OP. As indeed is Coventry, since the closest you can get a wide boat to Coventry is probably Leicester or Braunston. 

If you were dropped in south of Leicester, but before Foxton you would indeed be on the wide canals (Grand Union), and for anyone not familiar with the waterways network that could be "towards Coventry".

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Hi 

Having moved my 60’ x 12’ wide beam from Blisworth in April (craned out at Stowe Hill Wharf) to Farndon (craned back in at Newark Marina). I can confirm the total cost including use of the marinas, trucking and craning at each end was around £3k. All went really smoothly, boat was only out of the water for around 3 hours! Hope that helps.

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13 minutes ago, Adders said:

Hi 

Having moved my 60’ x 12’ wide beam from Blisworth in April (craned out at Stowe Hill Wharf) to Farndon (craned back in at Newark Marina). I can confirm the total cost including use of the marinas, trucking and craning at each end was around £3k. All went really smoothly, boat was only out of the water for around 3 hours! Hope that helps.

You probably used the cheapest operators at both ends for your journey.

At some point very soon, you need to get your bowthruster tube blacked at the very least, preferably epoxied, as it hasnt been protected so far

 

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14 minutes ago, matty40s said:

You probably used the cheapest operators at both ends for your journey.

At some point very soon, you need to get your bowthruster tube blacked at the very least, preferably epoxied, as it hasnt been protected so far

 

 

Thanks for your kind concern! I used a well respected and established boat mover to do it ‘turnkey’, and as I stood and watched the whole operation I have no worries.

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2 minutes ago, Adders said:

 

Thanks for your kind concern! I used a well respected and established boat mover to do it ‘turnkey’, and as I stood and watched the whole operation I have no worries.

 

There is certainly nothing 'cheapskate' about the Newark marina operation, just because they only charge £160 to lift off the truck and into the River, doesn't make their operation unaceptable, unsafe, or putting the boat at risk.

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21 minutes ago, matty40s said:

You probably used the cheapest operators at both ends for your journey.

At some point very soon, you need to get your bowthruster tube blacked at the very least, preferably epoxied, as it hasnt been protected so far

 

Better to get it plated over so as to safeguard the integrity of the hull ;)

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Just now, mrsmelly said:

Better to get it plated over so as to safeguard the integrity of the hull ;)

 

 

Plate over one side of the tube, lean the boat over, fill the tube with oil, plate over the other end.

If you start to see a rainbow you know the weld is not 'oil tight', (oil out = water in).

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3 hours ago, blackrose said:

From someone who's lived on a widebeam for the past 16 years and cruised quite a few of the southern waterways, the main issues with owning one are the limitations on cruising and increased costs compared to a narrowboat in terms of license fees, mooring costs and also docking and marginally increased maintenance costs. Then there are greater limitations on finding suitable moorings.

 

All other things being equal, moving a bigger boat is obviously more challenging than a smaller boat, especially if you're single-handed but that just takes practice and as long as you're on a suitable waterway there is no inherent difficulty in moving a widebeam.

 

When it comes to the advantages these are more difficult to quantify. However as Mrs Melly says, in terms of quality of life there really is no comparison between living in a human proportioned space and the confines of a narrowboat. 

 

I also lived on a narrowboat for 3 years.

How much cruising has Blackrose done in say, the last eight years?  i.e. after your long trip to Evesham

4 hours ago, mrsmelly said:

You will get conflicting reports and mainly wrong advice from most on here who in reality have never even stepped onto anything other than a narrowboat. My twopenneth as someone who lived for a hell of a long time on narrowbeam boats and for 3 years on a widebeam is that widebeams are vastly and I mean VASTLY superior in every way and humungously more comfortable to live on. Just sayin like.

All the more odd that you switched back to a narrowbeam, if widebeam are superior in every way.

 

 

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7 minutes ago, Tacet said:

How much cruising has Blackrose done in say, the last eight years?  i.e. after your long trip to Evesham

All the more odd that you switched back to a narrowbeam, if widebeam are superior in every way.

 

 

Simple realy. We are left with a system that gave us silly 7 foot wide locks and the business I wanted was on a narrow canal hence needing an inferior boat again. What do you find better about your narrowboat than you did about your widebeam other than range of waterways?

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1 minute ago, mrsmelly said:

Simple realy. We are left with a system that gave us silly 7 foot wide locks and the business I wanted was on a narrow canal hence needing an inferior boat again. What do you find better about your narrowboat than you did about your widebeam other than range of waterways?

The range of waterways (and the ability to move between them) is the main advantage.  Which means that widebeam are not superior in every way - just some.

 

 

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7 minutes ago, Tacet said:

How much cruising has Blackrose done in say, the last eight years?  

 

 

You have to remember that I work full time, but in the last 8 years I've taken the boat from Laleham on the Thames to Reading, Reading to Bristol on the K&A, from Bristol out on the tidal Severn estuary to Portishead and Sharpness, from Sharpness to Gloucester on the G&S, from Gloucester to Tewkesbury on the River Severn, Tewkesbury to Stratford upon Avon and back a couple of times while I was on the River Avon. Since getting the boat craned out and put back in on the Nene I've only been down the river as far as Thrapston and I'm about to do another trip starting in a couple of weeks to Oundle. 

 

I know that people on this forum do lots of cruising but I think I've probably done more cruising than anyone I've known living on a narrowboat who I've met in the last 8 years.

 

Why do you ask? What was your point exactly?

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