Boat Index/directory

[Silent Flight]

Hello, I’m enjoying looking at all the different boats around.

 

However I don’t know a Springer from a Liverpool!

 

So I’m wondering if you good folk would compile a list with an example picture of each type. 

 

Not looking for individual boats more the make, model, builder.
 

Maybe what features make the boat different, recognisable.
 

Apologies if this has been asked before, couldn’t see anything on search.

 

 

[Alan de Enfield]

7 minutes ago, Owls Den said:

Hello, I’m enjoying looking at all the different boats around.

 

However I don’t know a Springer from a Liverpool!

 

So I’m wondering if you good folk would compile a list with an example picture of each type. 

 

Not looking for individual boats more the make, model, builder.
 

Maybe what features make the boat different, recognisable.
 

Apologies if this has been asked before, couldn’t see anything on search.

 

 

 

Rarely will 2 boats be the same - even from the same builder as, being a 'cottage industry' every boat was hand built to the customers order.

For example, window types, shapes. sizes and locations could be variable.

This is not like a car where every one of the same model from the same manufacturer will be identical.

 

The only chance of seeing some similarity would be on 'production line' boats built by the likes of Liverpool Boats. The only thing noticable between them was the amount of warpage in the steel (how banana like they were)

Edited April 25, 2023 by Alan de Enfield

[magnetman]

People need to post pictures of boats and ask others to guess the builder without knowing index number or name.

 

The Sam Springer boats usually had a "moustache" raised edge around the very front of the bows. Presumably harking back to the days of the magnificent Humber keels. 

 

Springer 

 

 

Humber keel

 

 

Same thing innit.

 

 

 

 

 

[Hudds Lad]

You can usually spot a Harborough Marine (window killers we like to call 'em), with or without rollcage

 

 

[Lady M]

Liverpool Boats tend to have a cut out swirl on the bow flash.  They have a curved roof and windows positioned to maximise the view when looking out from inside rather than presenting a well balanced external appearance. 

[frahkn]

I'm not at all good at recognising boat types and after nearly 50 years boating, I'm not expecting to improve much now.

 

I'm always impressed when others say "an Orion, isn't it" as they pass mine - I cannot do the same alas.

[enigmatic]

Apollo Duck will provide you with a long list of pictures of boats with [mostly accurate] manufacturers' names, and they're all for sale too!

 

But some examples of boat styles and guides to manufacturers would be a good thing for a CanalWorld FAQ

 

Apart from the 'moustache', Springers usually have v-bottomed hulls and subsequent overplating. Liverpool boats have a really arched roof, possibly for internal space or possibly to get away with 3 mil steel. 

 

But it's easier to get a rough idea of boat age (older boats have lower roofs and more tumblehome) and whether it was originally high end (fancy bow shapes, fake rivets, lots of detailing), midrange (little in the way of fake rivets but relatively curved bows or economy (simpler, boxier shapes) than it is to recognise the manufacturer. Manufacturers without an obvious "house style" sometimes left subtle touches that indicated it was their boat even lots of people who own them don't know about (Marque Narrowboats has an 'M' cut out of the metal near the T stud, but I didn't notice it until someone pointed it out to me)

 

And then there are the ones that have Lord Vernon's Wharf and She's a Bickerstaffe painted on the sides to make it really really obvious!

Edited April 25, 2023 by enigmatic

[LadyG]

Deleted 

 

 

Edited April 25, 2023 by LadyG

[Silent Flight]

3 hours ago, frahkn said:

I'm not at all good at recognising boat types and after nearly 50 years boating, I'm not expecting to improve much now.

 

I'm always impressed when others say "an Orion, isn't it" as they pass mine - I cannot do the same alas.

Me neither and would like to be able do that in the future.

What makes a Orion distinctive ?

[Alan de Enfield]

21 minutes ago, Owls Den said:

 

What makes a Orion distinctive ?

 

Orion the Hunter

 

 

The left hand shoulder (as we look at it) is formed by one of the heavenly twins (Castor & Pollux) ; what is not shown in this picture is the nebulae hanging down throm the midde star of Orions belt - easily seen if you look out of the corner of your eye, rather than staring at it using all of your eye.

[magnetman]

Mooring dollies on the stern vary quite a lot between different shell fabricators. It is subtle but if you look at them there are quite a lot of different styles around. 

 

 

[Momac]

7 hours ago, magnetman said:

Same thing innit.

Yes they all look the same

 

 

[Stroudwater1]

Orion boats tend to have low bow profiles, which make fitting a 13 kg gas bottle less easy without adaptations. 

The rudder hole can give away a maker, Garry Gorton boats have a heart, heron boats a heron. Useless to identify a travelling boat usually 🤣 

Boats with “registered at Tamworth” tend I believe to be only a few manufacturers often Hudsons 

I get confused with “faux rivets” as don’t some hull manufacturers then get finished by other manufacturers which make it more difficult to understand. 
What boat manufacturers actually use “rivets”? I have seen Hudsons and Orion’s with them but there are a few others I know.

These are optional I believe anyway so no rivet’s definitely doesn’t mean not a Hudson, nor does a non josher bow mean not a Hudson. 
 

[magnetman]

12 minutes ago, Stroudwater1 said:

Orion boats tend to have low bow profiles, which make fitting a 13 kg gas bottle less easy without adaptations. 

The rudder hole can give away a maker, Garry Gorton boats have a heart, heron boats a heron. Useless to identify a travelling boat usually 🤣 

Boats with “registered at Tamworth” tend I believe to be only a few manufacturers often Hudsons 

I get confused with “faux rivets” as don’t some hull manufacturers then get finished by other manufacturers which make it more difficult to understand. 
What boat manufacturers actually use “rivets”? I have seen Hudsons and Orion’s with them but there are a few others I know.

These are optional I believe anyway so no rivet’s definitely doesn’t mean not a Hudson, nor does a non josher bow mean not a Hudson. 
 

 

Hudson's boats also have SM Hudson cast into the circular cover which goes over the top rudder bearing. This is an imitation of the old school technique which was a machined block acting as a plain bearing. These days people want ball race bearings for some reason and a lot of fabricators just leave it at that but Hudsons were clever in that they made a cover for it which had three functions. Looks traditional, protects the bearing and it is somewhere to put the maker name.

 

Other makers did this but I'm not sure who. I think possibly Paul Barber. Its a small detail but one which I do like on the Hudsons boats. Probably their only redeeming feature for me...

 

Other things to look for are detail like the angle of the front of the cabin. Doug Moore was well known to have the front cabin raked forwards slightly which is a nice touch.

[dmr]

I think a basic boat spoting guide would be a lovely thing, and might even encourage people to take a bit more interest in boats.

We need a good set of pictures and some description hints.

It could even be a fixed thread like the battery primer.

It should be relatively easy to spot many of the more common and distinctive boats:

Springers

Harborough

Hudson

Liverpool

Reeves (distinctive front)

Colecraft (a bit more dificult but some distinctive features).

We could have a working boat section too.

 

Do some of the other more recent builders like XR&D and Tyler-Wilson have any features that make them easy to spot?

[magnetman]

I think the more recent boats have become a bit generic but there will be some indicators as to the fabricator.

 

One way of doing it is to use the canalplan boat list.

 

 

[Lady M]

There's also a difference between hull builders and fitters out.  For instance, Braidbar fit out hulls made by more than one manufacturer.  A Springer would be fitted out, though by now many will have been redone.  A Liverpool boat might be fully fitted or sailway.

[Captain Pegg]

34 minutes ago, Stroudwater1 said:

Orion boats tend to have low bow profiles, which make fitting a 13 kg gas bottle less easy without adaptations. 

The rudder hole can give away a maker, Garry Gorton boats have a heart, heron boats a heron. Useless to identify a travelling boat usually 🤣 

Boats with “registered at Tamworth” tend I believe to be only a few manufacturers often Hudsons 

I get confused with “faux rivets” as don’t some hull manufacturers then get finished by other manufacturers which make it more difficult to understand. 
What boat manufacturers actually use “rivets”? I have seen Hudsons and Orion’s with them but there are a few others I know.

These are optional I believe anyway so no rivet’s definitely doesn’t mean not a Hudson, nor does a non josher bow mean not a Hudson. 
 

 

I'd say pretty much every boat displying 'Registered at Tamworth' or with 'Glascote Basin/Dock' as the signwritten home port is an SM Hudson; note there are Hudsons that are not SM. There are also a few non-rivetted SM Hudson's about. Hudson's are of course the most idiosyncratic mass produced (by canal standards) shell on the system with the characatured "Josher" bow and the upswept stern . The front end shape is divisive but the back end is lovely. 

 

I did smile at the notion in a post above that faux rivets are the mark of a quaility shell builder. Won't find any on a Norton Canes Boatbuilders boat; the Merc S Class to SMH's BMW 5 Series. Norton Canes boats have an understated elegance.

 

RW Davis & Sons produce their so-called "Northwich Trader" not just with faux rivets on the hull but also on the full length of the cabin. A bit of an OTT feature on what is otherwise a very nice boat. Barry Hawkins also built a "Northwich Trader". Tyler/Wilson will also do fake rivets I think.

 

Stoke Boats sometimes put a line of fake rivets down each side of the stem post but nowhere else, and their boats also have a distinctly (quasi)-ellipitcal shaped counter.

 

I guess at Orion when I see a nice shell that I can't identify as one of the above. Maybe say the same for a Tyler/Wilson.

 

Black Prince boats - built for private customers as well as hire boats - are distinctive due to the continuous rubber insert along the stem, the double wood (effect?) front doors, the fuel tank being shaped around the rudder tube which is visible, and the rear fender being a rubber D mounted on the end of a hinged metal leg.

 

Doug Moore boats - another good builder - have very deep top bends and straight, forward sloping cabin front edges.   

 

ETA - crossed post with @magnetman. Noted the same feature on Doug Moore boats. There aren't that many around.

 

Edited April 26, 2023 by Captain Pegg

[ditchcrawler]

1 minute ago, Captain Pegg said:

 

 

RW Davis & Sons produce their so-called "Northwich Trader" not just with faux rivets on the hull but also on the full length of the cabin. A bit of an OTT feature on what is otherwise a very nice boat.  

Are they not actually bolts? I looked at one at Braunston many years ago not fitted out

[magnetman]

Hudsons did do a really nice stern that is true. I like the diplomatic use of the word 'divisive' for the bows. Thats a good one I shall attempt to use in future.

 

As for Norton Canes they would be my first choice if I were to be getting a narrow boat built.

[Captain Pegg]

1 minute ago, ditchcrawler said:

Are they not actually bolts? I looked at one at Braunston many years ago not fitted out

 

They could be, round headed on the outside?

 

Are you suggesting they actually have a proper function?

[Lady M]

Well I thought 'false rivets' were welded on washers.

[magnetman]

1 minute ago, Lady C said:

Well I thought 'false rivets' were welded on washers.

There are boats around which were drilled and fitted with actual rivets despite the fact that a welder was used to fix the pieces of metal together.

 

Seems a bit bizarre but it takes all sorts.

 

 

[ditchcrawler]

3 minutes ago, Captain Pegg said:

 

They could be, round headed on the outside?

 

Are you suggesting they actually have a proper function?

Maybe. Of course its possible they found it cheaper and easier  to weld later boats, that I dont know. If you look the  roof has  folded edges that overlap the cabin sides 

 

[magnetman]

I bet the engine room top section isn't fixed on with brass bolts though.

The reason for the folded over top on the engine room on the Grand Unions was so that the engine could be taken out and replaced quickly to avoid downtime. Better to overhaul in the workshop and let the boat carry on.