Boat Index/directory

[Captain Pegg]

13 minutes ago, Lady C said:

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

 

They are. There may be more than one method but SM Hudson pressed washers to form the basic shape then I'm guessing filled them with weld metal and ground them to the desired finished profile.

 

Madness.

 

8 minutes ago, ditchcrawler said:

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 

 

 

But they also have bolts/rivets on the cabin sides. Hard to believe they have a structural function and if they are bolts that means there's lots of hiles drilled in the cabin sides. I'm doubting that's the case, so maybe bolts to fix the roof and rest is decorative? Must look more closely at one.

Edited April 26, 2023 by Captain Pegg

[magnetman]

1 minute ago, Captain Pegg said:

 

They are. There may be more than one method but SM Hudson pressed washers to form the basic shape then I'm guessing filled them with weld metal and ground them to the desired finished profile.

 

Madness.

It is quite funny though to be fair.

 

I remember the Tamworth site before Hudson moved there. There was an Irish geyser in the house. Nice little boatyard opportunity for someone. He gave me a Nicolsons map of the Northern waterways as that was where I was headed. 1994. Happy days.

 

Steve Hudson did spot a market and the execution was very well done. I don't like the boats at all. I think they are terrible other than the good approximation of a Josher stern but people do like them.

 

At the end of the day people get pleasure from their boats during us and this is all that actually matters ultimately. The only aim which is ever laudable is for people to be having a good time. Steve Hudson sorted it. Good on him and RIP.

 

 

 

[Captain Pegg]

So who is responsible for this?

 

 

[magnetman]

Without looking at the canalplan boat list

 

Those vents in the side remind me of a wide beam maker but not sure which one.

 

Aqualine ?

That is definitely a narrow wide beam...

[IanD]

When I was talking to Ricky at Finesse about my hull (to be built by Tim Tyler) he said with a wry smile "I assume you won't be wanting the "optional washer package" then?"... 😉

 

Which IIRC cost several thousand quid... 😞

Edited April 26, 2023 by IanD

[Captain Pegg]

1 minute ago, IanD said:

When I was talking to Ricky at Finesse about my hull (to be built by Tim Tyler) he said with a smile "I assume you won't be wanting the "optional washer package" then?"... 😉

 

Which IIRC cost several thousand quid... 😞

 

Shame, they would look great on a semi-trad,

[IanD]

Just now, Captain Pegg said:

 

Shame, they would look great on a semi-trad,

You might think so... 😉

[magnetman]

My tug conversion from many yars ago. Builder? This was a wooden top trad originally I binned it and got a steel back cabin put on it.

 

 

 

Who was the hell fabricator?

[Stroudwater1]

 There’s lots of these divisive square sterns around, and not too many Bickerstffs or Aqualines so  who made/make  those? Could it be Liverpool boats? 

ABC boats often have these all window style front end each side of glazed doors which is nice when in the galley or stopped. 

 

Probably one of the commonest boat manufacturers apart from Liverpool is  Colecraft is there any particular features they have? Some look very  pleasant and they’ve been manufacturing for many years. 
The optional extras are a good point. Braidbar boats vary a lot apart from the Lord Vernon wharf and or Braidbar on the side. I looked at an Orion tug with square “rivets” on the fold down roof which I believe was a one off. The Davis Northwhich trader design varies too, with well deck instead of tug deck, and I’m sure I’ve seen an SM Hudson without a josher bow. 

Ultimately it’s a good conversation piece at locks with care or evenings, it’s hopeless to ask when passing as usually the helmsperson thinks it’s another question or worse a criticism  🤣
 

 

Edited April 26, 2023 by Stroudwater1
Colecraft not Collingwood

[cuthound]

1 hour 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. 
 

 

R W Davis Northwich Traders are generously peppered with faux rivets.

[IanD]

23 minutes ago, Stroudwater1 said:

 There’s lots of these divisive square sterns around, and not too many Bickerstffs or Aqualines so  who made/make  those? Could it be Liverpool boats? 

ABC boats often have these all window style front end each side of glazed doors which is nice when in the galley or stopped. 

 

Probably one of the commonest boat manufacturers apart from Liverpool is  Colecraft is there any particular features they have? Some look very  pleasant and they’ve been manufacturing for many years. 
The optional extras are a good point. Braidbar boats vary a lot apart from the Lord Vernon wharf and or Braidbar on the side. I looked at an Orion tug with square “rivets” on the fold down roof which I believe was a one off. The Davis Northwhich trader design varies too, with well deck instead of tug deck, and I’m sure I’ve seen an SM Hudson without a josher bow. 

Ultimately it’s a good conversation piece at locks with care or evenings, it’s hopeless to ask when passing as usually the helmsperson thinks it’s another question or worse a criticism  🤣
 

 

Most builders -- at least, the more upmarket ones rather than the lower-end "off-the-shelf" ones -- will offer lots of options including bow/stern/cabin shapes/types and amount of ornamentation, depending what the customer wants. There may be some little distinctive features which give away who the builder was, but it's not always that obvious. How many people would quickly spot who built this? (if I hadn't already said...)

 

[magnetman]

It's the way they weld on the anodes.

[cuthound]

33 minutes ago, Stroudwater1 said:

 I’m sure I’ve seen an SM Hudson without a josher bow. 

🤣
 

 

 

When I was looking for a boat I came across an early S M Hudson with a normal bow. It was one of his early boats, built at Frog Island before he moved to Glascote Basin. It has been overplated, which put me off.

 

I also came across a Neil Hudson boat, which the seller was trying to pass off as a Steve Hudson, even though the builders plate clearly indicated which Hudson had built it...    

 

[Jen-in-Wellies]

No one has mentioned the Stow Hill "distinctive" pinched in bow shape. Bit of an acquired taste that.

Simon Piper's boats are easy. PIPER, cut in to the hull side at the stern on each side as engine bay air vents/intakes.

[magnetman]

The Stowe Hill shape changed at some point. I think they had a different shell fabricator at some stage. Was it Reeves or something.

 

To my eyes their craft were always rather ugly an acquired taste but the earlier ones were a little bit less awful unusual. 

 

 

[Tracy D'arth]

1 hour ago, ditchcrawler said:

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

They are certainly coach bolts welded in from inside on Barry Hawkin's shells. I have never been inside a RW Davis bare hull to find out.

[booke23]

1 hour ago, Captain Pegg said:

So who is responsible for this?

 

 

 

That looks like an Aintree boat. 

[Captain Pegg]

Just now, booke23 said:

 

That looks like an Aintree boat. 

 

It's an Aintree shell?

 

I should have confimed I meant the shell. The fit out on this one is by Elton Moss but others fit out this style of shell.

 

[Ewan123]

21 hours ago, Lady C said:

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. 

 

Here's the Liverpool swirl on the bow (outlined yellow, I keep meaning to paint it in contrast) which I think was only from a particular period of years. I also wonder whether the sticky-out lip around the bow (outlined red) is a distinctive feature. Does anyone know?

 

 

I'm not sure what you mean about the windows though, I reckon ours are pretty well balanced 🤔

 

 

[booke23]

2 minutes ago, Captain Pegg said:

 

It's an Aintree shell?

 

I should have confimed I meant the shell. The fit out on this one is by Elton Moss but others fit out this style of shell.

 

 

Ah ok, yes they provide sailaways. It does look a lot like one of their shells. The Caldwells windows are also a bit of an indication as Aintree always seem to use them.

[Captain Pegg]

3 minutes ago, Ewan123 said:

 

Here's the Liverpool swirl on the bow (outlined yellow, I keep meaning to paint it in contrast) which I think was only from a particular period of years. I also wonder whether the sticky-out lip around the bow (outlined red) is a distinctive feature. Does anyone know?

 

 

I'm not sure what you mean about the windows though, I reckon ours are pretty well balanced 🤔

 

 

 

That lip is a proper boat building feature that serves a purpose, unfortunatley rather too many of such features get lost over time and with fashionable trends but style and function are combined on a good shell. Historic boats might look like they had decorative features but every one of them served a purpose.

[Jen-in-Wellies]

3 minutes ago, Ewan123 said:

 

Here's the Liverpool swirl on the bow (outlined yellow, I keep meaning to paint it in contrast) which I think was only from a particular period of years. I also wonder whether the sticky-out lip around the bow (outlined red) is a distinctive feature. Does anyone know?

 

 

 

My boat (Piper) also has the feature in red. I've seen it on other boats too. I think it may have something to do with bending steel in just one plane, above and below to make what is a complex shape that would have been made with several riveted plates in an older working boat.

Or I may be talking complete rubbish!

Not for the first time...

[Hudds Lad]

Who did the shells with the trapezoid windows at the front that cut into the gunwhales for a better view out?

 

Aqualine's steel is made in Poland, so not sure what the builders name actually is.

 

Once met someone in a queue at a lock who had a particularly square profiled boat, he said it had been fabricated in China and was that shape so it fit inside a container for transport to the UK, would that be an East West boat?

[Ewan123]

 

2 minutes ago, Captain Pegg said:

 

That lip is a proper boat building feature that serves a purpose, unfortunatley rather too many of such features get lost over time and with fashionable trends but style and function are combined on a good shell. Historic boats might look like they had decorative features but every one of them served a purpose.

Oh interesting, do you know what that proper purpose is? I assume it's not to give a semi-useful stepping point. Nor is it expressly designed to catch on the edge of the canal if levels drop and the lock landing has a corner in just the wrong place, hanging the boat up (though it is remarkably good at doing that if the circumstances are just right...)

[magnetman]

3 minutes ago, Hudds Lad said:

 

Once met someone in a queue at a lock who had a particularly square profiled boat, he said it had been fabricated in China and was that shape so it fit inside a container for transport to the UK, would that be an East West boat?

East West marine. No tumblehome.