Best Stern for Single Handed

[Guest]

Just now, Tony Brooks said:

I think the danger is overstated and differs between stern type.

 

I agree Tony. There are two cases I am aware of.

 

One was the lady on a kate boat who went over the stern rail in a lock and another near Alrewas at a lock when I guy reversed a hire boat into the bank and went over the stern rail and had an unleasant and fatal meeting with the prop.

[Roper]

18 minutes ago, booke23 said:

To the OP.

 

Garnering opinions is fine, but it really your own opinion is what matters. Each have their pros and cons, go and hire one and see what you think. 

Thanks, I've only had experience with cruiser stern to date. The overwhelming opinion appears to favour traditional stern and have been given a link to a company that hires them and accepts dogs so will try and see how I feel it would work.

[booke23]

4 minutes ago, M_JG said:

 

I agree Tony. There are two cases I am aware of.

 

One was the lady on a kate boat who went over the stern rail in a lock and another near Alrewas at a lock when I guy reversed a hire boat into the bank and went over the stern rail and had an unleasant and fatal meeting with the prop.

 

Indeed. And although not a narrowboat, not forgetting the incident on the Norfolk broads a a couple of years ago where a lady went over the back and was killed by the prop. No rail at all fitted in that case and the report stated a guard rail of some sort might have stopped her falling overboard. https://www.itv.com/news/anglia/2022-05-05/mum-killed-in-boat-propeller-would-not-have-fallen-with-better-guardrail

 

I think these are very rare and freak occurrences......sometimes you're damned if you do and damned if you don't with guardrails. 

 

 

 

[blackrose]

To be honest in terms of single handed boat handling I don't think it really matters what type of stern you have. There may be slight advantages/disadvantages of a particular stern over another type, but boating is about adapting to work with what you've got. You'll get used to any stern.

[BoatinglifeupNorth]

Just now, Rocket Rob said:

Thanks, I've only had experience with cruiser stern to date. The overwhelming opinion appears to favour traditional stern and have been given a link to a company that hires them and accepts dogs so will try and see how I feel it would work.

Also Trad sterns tend to be the conventional interior layout, cruiser tend to be reverse, semi-trad either or, every boat is different. I would go for the traditional interior layout, bedroom to rear rather than reverse layout bedroom to front, as it gives you basically a better use and a more open lounge when the front doors are open. You won’t sit on the back of a trad stern when moored up as you will use the bow, cruiser/semi-trad you may, but after hours standing on the back I just close it down and chill on the front.

[Roper]

5 minutes ago, blackrose said:

To be honest in terms of single handed boat handling I don't think it really matters what type of stern you have. There may be slight advantages/disadvantages of a particular stern over another type, but boating is about adapting to work with what you've got. You'll get used to any stern.

 

2 minutes ago, BoatinglifeupNorth said:

Also Trad sterns tend to be the conventional interior layout, cruiser tend to be reverse, semi-trad either or, every boat is different. I would go for the traditional interior layout, bedroom to rear rather than reverse layout bedroom to front, as it gives you basically a better use and a more open lounge when the front doors are open. You won’t sit on the back of a trad stern when moored up as you will use the bow, cruiser/semi-trad you may, but after hours standing on the back I just close it down and chill on the front.

Thank you both. It's been interesting to have a bit of a poll of members opinions. First boat could just be a learning experience and if I find it unsuitable for one reason or another I'll know better what to look for in another one.

[BoatinglifeupNorth]

23 minutes ago, blackrose said:

To be honest in terms of single handed boat handling I don't think it really matters what type of stern you have. There may be slight advantages/disadvantages of a particular stern over another type, but boating is about adapting to work with what you've got. You'll get used to any stern.

But it’s better to buy a stern that fits your needs and is workable for you, than buying a boat with the wrong stern and finding its not practical for your needs.

  Why would you buy a boat with a stern you can’t work with that you would have to adapt too?

14 minutes ago, Rocket Rob said:

 

Thank you both. It's been interesting to have a bit of a poll of members opinions. First boat could just be a learning experience and if I find it unsuitable for one reason or another I'll know better what to look for in another one.

  And it could turn out to be an expensive mistake if you get it wrong. Take your time and remember your buying a boat for yourself, not for your friends or family to come and visit once in a while. Go and talk to single male boaters in your situation, don’t talk to couples who have a different agenda/approach or widebeam owners with a large cruiser stern totally not the same scenario as yours.

 If your going to do a Poll, make it that only single male livaboards with narrowboats can participate. 
 I’m on some visitor moorings at the moment 4x narrowboats, 3x single male livaboards on Trad stern narrowboats, 1x couple Semi-Trad stern Narrowboat.

  

Edited May 21, 2023 by BoatinglifeupNorth

[Tony Brooks]

22 minutes ago, BoatinglifeupNorth said:

Also Trad sterns tend to be the conventional interior layout, cruiser tend to be reverse, semi-trad either or, every boat is different. I would go for the traditional interior layout, bedroom to rear rather than reverse layout bedroom to front, as it gives you basically a better use and a more open lounge when the front doors are open. You won’t sit on the back of a trad stern when moored up as you will use the bow, cruiser/semi-trad you may, but after hours standing on the back I just close it down and chill on the front.

 

I disagree, cruiser sterns are available with any layout you want, you just need to look.  am sure the same applies to semi-trads and trads. Reverse layouts are relatively new for "production" boats..

[BoatinglifeupNorth]

1 minute ago, Tony Brooks said:

 

I disagree, cruiser sterns are available with any layout you want, you just need to look.  am sure the same applies to semi-trads and trads. Reverse layouts are relatively new for "production" boats..

Do you live full time on your boat? Is it a cruiser stern?

[Tony Brooks]

4 minutes ago, BoatinglifeupNorth said:

Do you live full time on your boat? Is it a cruiser stern?

Why you want to know, I have no idea, but to indulge your curiosity, 1. cruiser stern by choice and lots of experience of other types of inland boats. 2. Yes, it was, now sold for mobility reasons.

[Captain Pegg]

I think what’s missing here is the full picture of how the OP wants to use the boat.

 

The question was specific to cruising and has been answered but even heavily cruised boats spend more time tied up than moving.

 

Having a boat that’s well set up for single handing isn’t much use if you live aboard and only move a short distance every week if the boat doesn’t suit your living requirements.

 

 

 

[cuthound]

1 hour ago, Tony Brooks said:

 

As you may well do if you tripped on a dolly, T stud or the mooring rope, and the one time I went over the rail it was bum first where the tiller pushed my waist over first whilst trying to pull/snatch a well grounded boat off the mud. My own fault. If it had been on a trad it would certainly have been flat on my back with feet towards the prop. I think the danger is overstated and differs between stern type.

 

The "proper" way to steer any boat with a tiller is with the tiller behind you.

 

That way if the rudder catches on anything, particularly when in reverse,  it cannot force you into the cut, which is most definitely not the case if you stand alongside the tiller.

 

It is easier to do this with a trad or semi-trad than a crusher stern, but you see so many people steering incorrectly by being alongside the tiller.

[BoatinglifeupNorth]

19 minutes ago, Tony Brooks said:

Why you want to know, I have no idea, but to indulge your curiosity, 1. cruiser stern by choice and lots of experience of other types of inland boats. 2. Yes, it was, now sold for mobility reasons.

 Asking if you were a full time livaboard, so obviously you weren’t. The OP is asking for stern opinions for single livaboard boating, what suits you as a leisure boater with maybe others on board is slightly different, you may prefer cruiser sterns due to having others with you. Most single handed livaboard boaters that I meet are on Trad sterns, most couples on Semi-Trad/Cruisers, leisure boaters Semi-Trad/Cruiser stern as they are mainly couples with family/friends.

 

 

Edited May 21, 2023 by BoatinglifeupNorth

[MtB]

I've only steered a cruiser stern once, and it was a miserable experience spending a day stuck out in the cold and wind stuck 6ft away from the  shelter in the hatches I'd have had on my own trad stern. Also, no-one came out the back to keep me company, understandably given the weather.

 

I think it depends on whether you expect to be cruising in all weathers or just in nce weather. Also, the OP having a dog combined with being a solo boater materially affects the viability of a trad stern. Depends to a large degree on the personality and nature of the dog. Will it be happy to spend long periods quietly sleeping in the hatches of a trad? Or is it likely to get bored and keep getting up for attention? It will always do this at awkward times like just as you're arriving at or entering a lock, I predict. 

 

 

[Roper]

10 minutes ago, Captain Pegg said:

I think what’s missing here is the full picture of how the OP wants to use the boat.

 

The question was specific to cruising and has been answered but even heavily cruised boats spend more time tied up than moving.

 

Having a boat that’s well set up for single handing isn’t much use if you live aboard and only move a short distance every week if the boat doesn’t suit your living requirements.

 

 

 

Good point, should have elaborated a bit more in the original post. It would be used for continuous use over a matter of weeks or months. My primary concern in asking the question was in getting on and off safely especially at locks.

[MtB]

5 minutes ago, Rocket Rob said:

My primary concern in asking the question was in getting on and off safely especially at locks.

 

Specifically then, I'd say a trad is marginally easier to get on and off safely at locks provided there are no stern rails to get in the way. But if you are handling the boat using single centre line (as you probably will be), there is not much in it. I'd say having your dog around on the stern presents a risk a whole order of magnitude higher than the type of stern design.

 

A cruiser's stern rails are a bloody nuisance for handling your stern line when mooring up though. 

Edited May 21, 2023 by MtB

[BoatinglifeupNorth]

6 minutes ago, Rocket Rob said:

 

Edited May 21, 2023 by BoatinglifeupNorth

[Roper]

1 minute ago, BoatinglifeupNorth said:

Are you going to be a full time livaboard based in a Marina and going out for weeks/ months or are you going to be a leisure boater with the boat moored in a Marina and not living on it?

Marina purely as a base when not using the boat, otherwise out on the cut for extended periods.

[Captain Pegg]

29 minutes ago, Rocket Rob said:

Good point, should have elaborated a bit more in the original post. It would be used for continuous use over a matter of weeks or months. My primary concern in asking the question was in getting on and off safely especially at locks.

For that a clear roof and a pair of centre lines on fairleads are probably much more important than the type of stern. Plus the ability to access the roof from the stern which is a function of the boat layout more than the type of stern. This is where a folded down pram hood is a nuisance, and that’s not opinion.

 

I’d try and help with the correct way to single hand if only someone would tell us what it is. The above assumes you will use the roof for access to and from lock sides.

Edited May 21, 2023 by Captain Pegg

[booke23]

@BoatinglifeupNorth you seem hell bent on insisting the OP buys a boat with a trad stern. Better to let him try and decide for himself.

 

 

Edited May 21, 2023 by booke23

[mrsmelly]

28 minutes ago, Rocket Rob said:

Good point, should have elaborated a bit more in the original post. It would be used for continuous use over a matter of weeks or months. My primary concern in asking the question was in getting on and off safely especially at locks.

As you can see, there is no correct answer, much is personal choice and much advice is given by people who havnt owned/lived on several boats. For my twopenneth, I lived aboard for over 30 years on 8 different boats, different lengths, different beams although 6 were sewer tubes and different sterns. Personaly my least favourite was trad, in the middle was the semi trad buit my faves were cruiser sterns. The question is much like asking, what is the best colour.

[GUMPY]

8 hours ago, Mike Tee said:

was that the year boats were found washed up on the towpath in Milton Keynes? (🤣)

No it's called boating long hours, at this time of year from 5am to 8pm.

 

I was on a mission.

[Roper]

9 minutes ago, mrsmelly said:

As you can see, there is no correct answer, much is personal choice and much advice is given by people who havnt owned/lived on several boats. For my twopenneth, I lived aboard for over 30 years on 8 different boats, different lengths, different beams although 6 were sewer tubes and different sterns. Personaly my least favourite was trad, in the middle was the semi trad buit my faves were cruiser sterns. The question is much like asking, what is the best colour.

I think so. You pay your money and you take your choice. In terms of safety, discipline and being aware of the risks are maybe more important factors.

[BoatinglifeupNorth]

23 minutes ago, booke23 said:

@BoatinglifeupNorth you seem hell bent on insisting the OP buys a boat with a trad stern. Better to let him try and decide for himself.

 

 

No I’m not, I’m basing it on what I see out on the canals with single boaters and the boats they have. Not couples and weekend boaters. Most single handed people have trad stern, the OP can have whatever he wants. It would be interesting to know all those recommending cruiser sterns are they single handed or couples?

[Lily Rose]

3 hours ago, IanD said:

 

I should also point out that on a cruiser stern you can stand or sit safely forward of the arc of the tiller, on a trad you can't.

 

.. 😞

 

I would dispute that, I manage to do it perfectly well on my trad stern. It probably depends on the combination of tiller length and belly size.

 

My boat also came with suicide seats but I never sit on them whilst underway. I have often been known to sit on them whilst moored up and chatting to someone on the boat behind me.