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Fifteen reasons why living on a narrowboat is not a good idea ...


Bobbybass

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1 minute ago, booke23 said:

 

I agree. The attitude that you shouldn't move in ice or even bad weather seems to be becoming more prevalent. I notice on various Facebook groups people posting videos of someone who dared to cruise past them in ice because they needed water....and getting all irate about it. 

 

 

Funny, the last marina I was in the resident CM'ers were always aghast when I took the boat out in any sort of breeze, I can only imagine the horror on their faces if someone moved in ice.  

 

 

When I was in T&K marina, they had a blanket ban on boat movements when there was ice on the 'lake'. 

 

Quite annoying really. 

 

 

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I would hate to try to manoeuvrer in the marina with more than a thinnish layer of ice. One winter I watched a boat trying to move. Back up, full ahead, ride up on the ise to a stop, back up and repeat. I doubt I could have swung the stern if I had tried to move, so may well have hit the boats opposite if I were stupid enough to try.

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3 minutes ago, MtB said:

 

When I was in T&K marina, they had a blanket ban on boat movements when there was ice on the 'lake'. 

 

Quite annoying really. 

 

 

 

 

I didn't actually experience being iced in on the marina I was in.......My theory was that there were so many under the radar live aboards that the warm water from their showers, sinks (and in some cases baths) kept the water above zero in all but the most severe cold snap. 😅

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13 minutes ago, Tony Brooks said:

I would hate to try to manoeuvrer in the marina with more than a thinnish layer of ice. One winter I watched a boat trying to move. Back up, full ahead, ride up on the ise to a stop, back up and repeat. I doubt I could have swung the stern if I had tried to move, so may well have hit the boats opposite if I were stupid enough to try.

 

 

I remember having my new (to me) boat delivered to T&K and lifted into the water by the cradle crane on a freezing cold day one December. Steered my boat back to my mooring through the thinest sheen of ice on the surface imaginable, and got reminded of the rule by the office! 

 

 

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1 hour ago, booke23 said:

 

I agree. The attitude that you shouldn't move in ice or even bad weather seems to be becoming more prevalent. I notice on various Facebook groups people posting videos of someone who dared to cruise past them in ice because they needed water....and getting all irate about it. 

 

 

 

Moving through even quite thick ice was normal when I started boating in the 1960's, when most of the boats were fully loaded working boats who had a living to make. We were not a working boat, but our captain ws a former working boatman, who had no compunction about moving through ice. This was us breaking through the ice in December 1968, you can see from the layers of broken ice how many boats had already been through.

 

1354859584_1968(Dec)PiscesiceonG.U.JPG.faca6a0004346fef6ddb2673966252c7.JPG

 

 

Edited by David Schweizer
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2 minutes ago, Owls Den said:

Haha brilliant…. You mean on my dog naming Fred? 
 

Fred is a strong name. Miles better than Boris or Rishi 

 

Plus Fred was my first teddy’s name. He will be moving in when the boats ready

Fred is a good name for a Basset

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4 hours ago, blackrose said:

 

Yes I'm sure they originally said it would get warmer by the weekend. Minus 5C here last night and now they're forecasting -6 tonight and subzero temperatures at night until Wednesday.

Its warmed up a little bit down here in the SW ;)

 

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53 minutes ago, nicknorman said:

If a grp boat is not suitable to be left on the canal over winter, then don’t leave it on the canal over winter. Or put down adequate ice boards. It seems fairly logical to me. What is not logical or reasonable is to say “my boat is not strong enough to be on the canal in ice with moving boats and therefore I demand that no-one else uses the canal for its primary purpose.”

 

But anyway, a grp boat in good condition is not that delicate. The fuss is mostly hysteria caused by owners reading stuff on social media, not based on any actual experience. Plenty of grp boats were around when ice breaking was the norm. Same hysteria that makes steel boat owners think their blacking is going to be damaged.

 

Very true, but in the 1960's many grp's were only single skinned, and most of those that moored above us on the GU at Uxbridge were hauled out onto the bank during the winter, During the same year as my earlier photo. I witnessed one being sliced in half and sinking when a loaded Single motor went through. I can still remember the name of the boat and the person steering it.

 

 

Edited by David Schweizer
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1 minute ago, magnetman said:

 

It is rare to see planked GRP boats. You occasionally get imitation clinker but this is an effect not actually planks..

 

Did you mean rubbing strakes ?

 

Ice planks! 

 

Planks of scrap wood suspended along the sides at the waterline, specifically to protect a fragile boat (originally a rotting wooden one) from sliding ice sheets.

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27 minutes ago, David Schweizer said:

 

Very true, but in the 1960's many grp's were only single skinned, and most of those that moored above us on the GU at Uxbridge were hauled out onto the bank during the winter, During the same year as my earlier photo. I witnessed one being sliced in half and sinking when a loaded Single motor went through. I can still remember the name of the boat and the person steering it.

 

 

 

And it depends on exactly what GRP boat. Some of the sub 20ft ones were so thin you could see the sunlight dappling of the wavelets through the hull. Whereas the Elysians and Seamasters of the time had very thick hulls. I think ice breaking may have done some damage to the jell coat though.

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15 hours ago, nicknorman said:

If a grp boat is not suitable to be left on the canal over winter, then don’t leave it on the canal over winter. Or put down adequate ice boards. It seems fairly logical to me. What is not logical or reasonable is to say “my boat is not strong enough to be on the canal in ice with moving boats and therefore I demand that no-one else uses the canal for its primary purpose.”

 

But anyway, a grp boat in good condition is not that delicate. The fuss is mostly hysteria caused by owners reading stuff on social media, not based on any actual experience. Plenty of grp boats were around when ice breaking was the norm. Same hysteria that makes steel boat owners think their blacking is going to be damaged.

As the owner of a GRP boat I absolutely agree with you Nick. I've even broken (thin) ice myself with Juno. They are much tougher than people think. I used to be concerned that thick ice might crush Juno, but one winter it was cold enough to walk round her on the wrong side, and she still came to no harm. 

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15 hours ago, Tony Brooks said:

 

And it depends on exactly what GRP boat. Some of the sub 20ft ones were so thin you could see the sunlight dappling of the wavelets through the hull. Whereas the Elysians and Seamasters of the time had very thick hulls. I think ice breaking may have done some damage to the jell coat though.

Grp is translucent so even pretty thick grp allows light through. Which is why it should be coated in something opaque such as gel coat which typically has something like titanium dioxide in it that is very opaque. If you can see light through the hull, it means that UV light can impact the grp structure and that damages and weakens it a lot.

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