Reliable, skilled boat builders.

[nottheone]

Soar Valley boats are worth a look .They definitely do wide aswell as narrow. 

[Alan de Enfield]

4 minutes ago, Poppin said:

It seems that most insist of a chine for a 12ft wide vessel.

 

Possibly because of the availability of 12ft wide steel plates - and, if available, these would not easily be carried on trucks (and like 12' wide caravans have limited options on which roads can be used) and would be classed as wide loads (extra expense)

 

Of course 2x 2mt (6'6") plates could be welded together and cropped (or left as 13') but maybe there is no one set up to weld the plates in that format.

 

I'm sure you could find someone to do it FOR A COST, but at the moment the waiting list for a 'standard' boat is 2 to 3 years so no manufacturer is going to stop production, break down all their jigs and build and set up new jigs just for one boat.

 

The likes of Collingwood are turning out a new boat every day-and-a-half (245 per year)

 

I'd suggest (again) look at alternatives such as Dutch Barges you can have one of those without chines. You are not going to be able to use a 12' wide boat on much of the system anyway so going 'full size' with a DB makes sense anyway.

[ditchcrawler]

6 hours ago, Poppin said:

what surprises me given ts gone bust reputation is that they don’t transfer the goods to you until paid for in full. In this economic climate that does make me uneasy, especially when bluewater say that you pay in stages and you own something at the end of each stage. 
 

What builders have I not mentioned who are better than colecraft? 

If you make stage payments and they go bust who will have the first claim on the engine, Beta who still have not been paid for it or you who have bought it from a company. If the boat is not afloat and you cant get it out before the liquidators impound it with everything else on site I think you are on a loser anyway. 

What do you want from this boat, maximum living space or something to cruise

[Alan de Enfield]

25 minutes ago, ditchcrawler said:

If you make stage payments and they go bust who will have the first claim on the engine, Beta who still have not been paid for it or you who have bought it from a company who do not own it.

 

Added 5 words

[peterboat]

17 hours ago, Poppin said:

Can anyone offer an objective ranking of wide-beam boat builders by prestige and reputation? I've been looking at Colecraft and Bluewater Boats lately, Collingwood I've seen a few bad examples of. Who are generally considered to be among the best that I might have missed? Aqualine? 

Finesse, shells built by Tyler Wilson, Riccy is the son in law of Johnathan Wilson. They will be at Crick boatshow go and view all widebeams on view at the show 

[MtB]

4 hours ago, David Mack said:

In which case why not go for a shallower draft flat bottomed boat without a chine. All that unused underwater space has to be held down below water level, which means correspondingly more ballast is needed.

 

2 hours ago, Poppin said:

but what decent builder will make me something like this?

 

 

Probably none. Any decent builder will want to avoid you coming back after the thing has been launched complaining it won't go or more importantly, stop, because the prop diameter is way too small for a 35 tonne boat.

 

Max prop diameter is limited by draft you are no doubt aware, and the smaller the prop diameter, the worse the brakes. 

 

 

 

Edited May 28, 2022 by MtB
Add a bit.

[Athy]

26 minutes ago, MtB said:

 

 

 

 

 

Max prop diameter is limited by draft you are no doubt aware, and the smaller the prop diameter, the worse the brakes. 

 

 

 

I wonder if this feature is used on purpose. The boatbuilder will no doubt have discussed with the customer the sort of use to which the craft will be put. If its only movements are going to  and fro across the marina to a water tap and a diesel pump, only a low speed is required and therefore a small prop will suffice. If the customer intends to go up and down the Thames or the Trent, he'll recommend a larger size of prop.

 

Harking back to an earlier post, I think I may knowingly have seen a P. Nicholls narrowboat - in inspection launch style.

[peterboat]

8 hours ago, MtB said:

 

I'd say there are none. The fact that Colecraft can dictate terms you consider unfavourable is a reflection of their success as boatbuilders and the level of trust in them that has been built up over about 40 years. Sam Cole started his career working at Hancock and Lane, another builder with a first class reputation (H&L abandoned the boat-building market and went on to make bigger and more profitable things).

 

The trouble is, I think, is there is no long history of widebeam building and the market for them until recently has been very small, so no one company other than Colecraft has built enough to have established a good reputation. Also, most buyers of new widebeams are naïve first time buyers looking for a home rather than a boat to go boating in, and tend to think that buying new is the best way to get a fault-free boat (it isn't!) and all new boats are comparable so decisions come down to who can supply it at the keenest price (just like buying a new car). This is about the furthest from the truth as it is possible to get. 

 

My own advice is buy one already built, perhaps two or three years old. Then you can see exactly what you are getting, take it for a trip out  and see how it steers, talk to the seller and see why they are selling, see how it looks once the new shine has worn off. You can survey the hell out of it and find out exactly what you are getting, know that all the new-build teething problems new builds are noted for have been ironed out, live on it for a year then set about making any alterations you find you want with a bit of actual experience of living aboard.

 

 

 

 

Johnathan has been building widebeams for years mine was started in 2007, when I was first looking for a boat 20 plus years ago he was building one then

[mrsmelly]

Go on Apollo duck and buy " Waylon "

[Guest]

7 minutes ago, mrsmelly said:

Go on Apollo duck and buy " Waylon "

 

What a great boat. I'd have to rename it back to 'Jupiter' though. 

 

 

 

https://www.apolloduck.co.uk/boat/barges-canal-barge-for-sale/697878

 

 

[mrsmelly]

9 minutes ago, The Happy Nomad said:

 

What a great boat. I'd have to rename it back to 'Jupiter' though. 

 

 

 

https://www.apolloduck.co.uk/boat/barges-canal-barge-for-sale/697878

 

 

Its fandabydozey. Best mate owns it, its in superb condition. Obviously not without one or two battle scars from its working days, but its a super boat, in great, solid condition. I checked it over for him before he bought it ten years ago. Edit to add, hes spent thousands of hours and pounds on it and made a fantastic job. The wheelhouse alone is a wrok of art in itself, a very talented chap he is.

Edited May 28, 2022 by mrsmelly

[Tonka]

5 minutes ago, mrsmelly said:

Its fandabydozey. Best mate owns it, its in superb condition. Obviously not without one or two battle scars from its working days, but its a super boat, in great, solid condition. I checked it over for him before he bought it ten years ago. Edit to add, hes spent thousands of hours and pounds on it and made a fantastic job. The wheelhouse alone is a wrok of art in itself, a very talented chap he is.

You checked it over for him and he has spent thousands of pounds and hours on it.

He had better get someone who knows what they are looking for next time he buys a boat

[mrsmelly]

Just now, Tonka said:

You checked it over for him and he has spent thousands of pounds and hours on it.

He had better get someone who knows what they are looking for next time he buys a boat

Lol. We knew it needed work, thats why he bought it. Most people havnt the know how or skills to sort such a great boat out. First job was extensive steelwork, carried out by people who know what they are doing. Then he has done all the rest over about ten years whilst living on it. Soooooooooo much nicer than a sewer tube.

[Guest]

21 minutes ago, Tonka said:

You checked it over for him and he has spent thousands of pounds and hours on it.

He had better get someone who knows what they are looking for next time he buys a boat

 

You do know they weren't built with a cabin and fitout like that? Or the  wheelhouse it now has?

 

 

Edited May 28, 2022 by The Happy Nomad

[PeterF]

I remember Waylon when it was moored in Brighouse Basin for many years as we were there at the same time. We used to chat to the then owner who was no longer able to maintain it or use it. It is good to see that it was bought back into use and good condition.

The other converted keel I recall moored at Shepley bridge was Integrity, I remember helping it through the lock there, barely an inch to spare after the fenders were lifted.

[Barneyp]

4 hours ago, Alan de Enfield said:

....

The likes of Collingwood are turning out a new boat every day-and-a-half (245 per year)

.....

I'm guessing they only work 5 days a week, so that is pretty much a new boat every working day.

Edited May 28, 2022 by Barneyp

[Barneyp]

5 hours ago, Poppin said:

but what decent builder will make me something like this? It seems that most insist of a chine for a 12ft wide vessel. There must be others than collingwood? Collingwood a prices these says are basically the same as the others and I’ve seen too many with things wrong 

I think you need to stop just looking on the Internet, contact builders and arrange to visit them. In my experience when you're are standing in front of some they are much more likely to be flexible in what they do, and might be willing to consider building something different to normal. Probably a small company is more likely to consider this.

[enigmatic]

2 hours ago, Athy said:

Harking back to an earlier post, I think I may knowingly have seen a P. Nicholls narrowboat - in inspection launch style.

There was a lovely narrowbeam Peter Nicholls inspection launch on the secondhand market a couple of years ago with a particularly elegant custom stern

 

Looks like they mainly do widebeam versions of it; saw this one in the flesh at Braunston

https://www.steelboats.co.uk/inspection_launch.html

Not as elegant, but considerably better looking than your average widebeam.