62' Boats

[Fidelity]

Hi, I am looking at 79' boats, but keep seeing the same 62' ones on sale for ages , any reason? O is it the fact if your going over 57' you may as well go full fat 70'? 

[PeterScott]

 

 

 

Not for sale, sadly

Edited August 16, 2023 by PeterScott

[Bod]

32 minutes ago, Fidelity said:

Hi, I am looking at 79' boats, but keep seeing the same 62' ones on sale for ages , any reason? O is it the fact if your going over 57' you may as well go full fat 70'? 

Why are you looking for 79' boats?

This is an unusual length and will seriously limit any travel.

 

Bod

[Mac of Cygnet]

14 minutes ago, Bod said:

Why are you looking for 79' boats?

This is an unusual length and will seriously limit any travel.

 

Bod

As the OP mentions 70' later in the post, probably 79' is a typo.

[mrsmelly]

53 minutes ago, Fidelity said:

Hi, I am looking at 79' boats, but keep seeing the same 62' ones on sale for ages , any reason? O is it the fact if your going over 57' you may as well go full fat 70'? 

It depends where you want to travel? If you need to keep doing the L and L for instance then 70 is useless. If you want to do great sections and indeed most of the narrow system mainly then 70 is a no brainer, the extra space is huge and a massive bonus.

[dmr]

That 9 and that 0 are right next next to each other on the keyboard.

As computers are digital things and digital people like to count from zero I reckon the 0 should be moved to the other end of the keyboard. 😀

 

I have seen a few boats at about 65 but in general once you go past 60 it makes sense to go to 70, or maybe 68 or 69 if you are not a tradionalist.

62 is for people who want the potential to go anywhere but don't really intend to do it.

[Stroudwater1]

Id rather they move the caps lock than the zero 🤪.

 

Im happy with my 57 foot boat but we dont livaboard. The extra 13 foot seems to make a fair bit of difference with manoeuvrability on some of the tighter canals but maybe thats because I am not used to 70 foot? 

 

62 foot is for the Leeds and Liverpool Canal, above that you cant really do  the main section. But as dmr says most seem to avoid heavy locking so 70 makes sense from that but moorings can be less easy to obtain , plus its a bit more costly as fees are per foot/ meter 

[MtB]

1 hour ago, dmr said:

62 is for people who want the potential to go anywhere but don't really intend to do it.

 

So is 57ft, but fewer people realise 62ft is also a 'go anywhere' size, almost, and with a bit more difficulty. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

1 hour ago, Mac of Cygnet said:

As the OP mentions 70' later in the post, probably 79' is a typo.

 

A "typ9" surely?

[Fidelity]

Sorry, a typo meant 70' lol 

[rusty69]

69' is, the ideal. 70' is far too long. 

[MtB]

8 minutes ago, rusty69 said:

69' is, the ideal. 70' is far too long. 

 

Yes, and I found my 68ft boat unnecessarily short. 

 

 

[IanD]

15 minutes ago, MtB said:

 

Yes, and I found my 68ft boat unnecessarily short. 

 

Mine is 50flf*** long, just right... 😉

 

*** flf = femto-light-fortnight

[David Mack]

1 hour ago, MtB said:

 

So is 57ft, but fewer people realise 62ft is also a 'go anywhere' size, almost, and with a bit more difficulty.

62ft won't go through the Calder and Hebble. 60ft is the absolute maximum for a narrow boat, but will be a struggle. 57ft is a more comfortable maximum for most boaters on the C&H.

[IanD]

40 minutes ago, David Mack said:

62ft won't go through the Calder and Hebble. 60ft is the absolute maximum for a narrow boat, but will be a struggle. 57ft is a more comfortable maximum for most boaters on the C&H.

...and the Huddersfield Broad.

 

For boaters who suffer from voreiospolophobia, 70ft is fine... 😉

Edited August 16, 2023 by IanD

[dmr]

3 hours ago, MtB said:

 

So is 57ft, but fewer people realise 62ft is also a 'go anywhere' size, almost, and with a bit more difficulty. 

 

A "typ9" surely?

 

The Calder and Hebble is nasty, especially going up, overhanging walkways for the bottom paddles at the back, and gate paddle reccesses to get the front caught in. Would not even fancy it in a 60.

 

A vicar, a priest and a rabbit walk into the bloodbank, the rabbit says "I think im a type O"

[IanD]

19 minutes ago, dmr said:

 

The Calder and Hebble is nasty, especially going up, overhanging walkways for the bottom paddles at the back, and gate paddle reccesses to get the front caught in. Would not even fancy it in a 60.

 

A vicar, a priest and a rabbit walk into the bloodbank, the rabbit says "I think im a type O"

Nobody said the C&H was easy or suitable for newbies in a 60' boat, but it *is* possible *with care*, as multiple posters on here can testify.

 

Which is why 57' is normally the recommended maximum, plenty of such hire boats (e.g. from Shire Cruisers) have  gone through without any problems -- including me, several times... 🙂

[LadyG]

3 hours ago, David Mack said:

62ft won't go through the Calder and Hebble. 60ft is the absolute maximum for a narrow boat, but will be a struggle. 57ft is a more comfortable maximum for most boaters on the C&H.

Yes I had to lift my bow fender and had a bit of a wiggle to use some of the C&H locks, 57ft .

Edited August 16, 2023 by LadyG

[Alway Swilby]

When winding our 58'6" boat in a 70' winding hole I often think "Thank god we haven't got a 70' boat".

[Mad Harold]

The bow may disappear on a misty morning!

[IanD]

On 16/08/2023 at 16:22, LadyG said:

Yes I had to lift my bow fender and had a bit of a wiggle to use some of the C&H locks, 57ft .

 

I've taken 57' boats through several times and never had to lift/remove any fenders...

 

Of course given the precision (or not...) of narrowboat builders it's quite likely that not all "57ft" boats are exactly 57' long... 😉

[Tonka]

42 minutes ago, IanD said:

 

I've taken 57' boats through several times and never had to lift/remove any fenders...

 

Of course given the precision (or not...) of narrowboat builders it's quite likely that not all "57ft" boats are exactly 57' long... 😉

That is why Andy Burnett used to measure the boats accurately when he took them on brokerage. Many owners were surprised by the results.

[Hudds Lad]

Some of the ex-Ownerships shareboats, ours old one being one, were actaully 59" not the 58" as listed. Apparently due to them being specced with a corner bath rather than a hip bath which required Mr Reeves to add an extra foot to fit everything else in. Shhhhh, don't tell.

[Lady M]

I think it is a good idea to measure one's boat when a suitable opportunity arises as discrepancies may be more common than you think particularly, perhaps, with older boats.  Those having a pre-purchase survey can ask the surveyor to measure the boat but it doesn't seem to occur to many people.  My boat club had a couple of examples of boats being longer than expected.

[MtB]

9 hours ago, Alway Swilby said:

When winding our 58'6" boat in a 70' winding hole I often think "Thank god we haven't got a 70' boat".

 

On the other hand, I regularly used to wind my 68ft boat in a winding hole with a CRT sign saying "Max length 52ft"

 

 

[davem399]

4 hours ago, Hudds Lad said:

Some of the ex-Ownerships shareboats, ours old one being one, were actaully 59" not the 58" as listed. Apparently due to them being specced with a corner bath rather than a hip bath which required Mr Reeves to add an extra foot to fit everything else in. Shhhhh, don't tell.

That’s something I not heard before.  Ours is a Reeves with corner bath, so perhaps we’ve got the extra foot!  We’ve never been anywhere on the system with the shorter locks, so we haven’t had to lift fenders to fit in locks.