Finding the boat builder of an unknown boat

[Colin b]

Hi all, I have just bought a project canal boat in need of full restoration. The previous owner does not know the boat builder, is there a way of finding this out?

 

thanks

[Tonka]

Canalplan boat list may tell you the registered boat builder if known but that could be the boat fitter who finished it and not the hull builder

[Jen-in-Wellies]

Welcome to the forum.

Some thoughts on the boat. Looks like it has been overplated, or replated along the water line. The bow shape is unusual. Will need a good fender on the tip to reduce the risk of it catching on lock gates when rising/falling. The bars between the bow and cabin corners were often seen on boats with fibreglass, or wood cabin tops. If you got too close to a bridge arch, the bars would deflect the boat and reduce the risk of striking the top corner of the cabin, with the risk of damage. Not seen much now with steel cabins on steel hulls.

It is possible that it was built as a one off and you may never find out, unless some one knows its full history. Either by a firm, or an individual.

[Tony Brooks]

No idea, but it is a very distinctive bow, so I suspect a one-off.

[LadyG]

4 minutes ago, Jen-in-Wellies said:

Welcome to the forum.

Some thoughts on the boat. Looks like it has been overplated, or replated along the water line. The bow shape is unusual. Will need a good fender on the tip to reduce the risk of it catching on lock gates when rising/falling. The bars between the bow and cabin corners were often seen on boats with fibreglass, or wood cabin tops. If you got too close to a bridge arch, the bars would deflect the boat and reduce the risk of striking the top corner of the cabin, with the risk of damage. Not seen much now with steel cabins on steel hulls.

It is possible that it was built as a one off and you may never find out, unless some one knows its full history. Either by a firm, or an individual.

 

[alan_fincher]

It looks so eccentric that I feel it really could be a one off by someone in possession of welding equipment  but minimal or no knowledge of good canal boat design.

 

I've no idea what that bow design is meant to achieve.  Does it actually have side decks on the gunwales that are wide enough to walk along safely?

[Colin b]

Thank for you speedy response, it has very recently been over plated and blacked with new anodes. The engine is a 3 cylinder yanmar if that helps.

[Jen-in-Wellies]

3 minutes ago, alan_fincher said:

Does it actually have side decks on the gunwales that are wide enough to walk along safely?

I wondered that too. It's hard to tell from the photo. The handrails on the cabin roof suggest gunwale walking is mean to be an option.

 

4 minutes ago, Colin b said:

Thank for you speedy response, it has very recently been over plated and blacked with new anodes. The engine is a 3 cylinder yanmar if that helps.

A boat name, plus any previous names, an index/registration number and some more photos from other angles would help more. Some one may remember it from its past. The distinctive bow shape is likely to stick in memory. There may be other unusual features visible from other angles that could help with identifying it.

[Colin b]

Thanks Alan, the gunwales are only about 3” wide and not really practical to walk on! You are probably right in that it was designed by a lunatic with a welder!!

[alan_fincher]

2 minutes ago, Colin b said:

Thanks Alan, the gunwales are only about 3” wide and not really practical to walk on! You are probably right in that it was designed by a lunatic with a welder!!

 

I didn't mean to sound disparaging!  There are all kinds of boats out there and in my time I have owned one that had similar width ones to your new purchase, (this was in the 1970s). .

 

However I can't immediately think of any boats with a recognised branding where this applies, so my gut feeling remains that is is a one off, and you are unlikely to find another one similar.

[Higgs]

Aren't those 'bull' bars, from the tip of the bow to the cabin, a feature of a once hire boat?

 

 

[Colin b]

Don’t worry not disparaging at all, I have seen an advert for a similar looking bow but I can’t find the ad any more, I’ll keep looking 

44 minutes ago, Jen-in-Wellies said:

I wondered that too. It's hard to tell from the photo. The handrails on the cabin roof suggest gunwale walking is mean to be an option.

 

A boat name, plus any previous names, an index/registration number and some more photos from other angles would help more. Some one may remember it from its past. The distinctive bow shape is likely to stick in memory. There may be other unusual features visible from other angles that could help with identifying it.

Apparently she is called lady grey and has been moored in London and the medway river

[David Mack]

2 hours ago, Tonka said:

Canalplan boat list may tell you the registered boat builder if known but that could be the boat fitter who finished it and not the hull builder

Canalplan data is based on what the owner told CRT when licencing. So is not a reliable source.

[Tonka]

3 minutes ago, David Mack said:

Canalplan data is based on what the owner told CRT when licencing. So is not a reliable source.

I know. Which is what I said

[David Mack]

5 minutes ago, Tonka said:

I know. Which is what I said

You said it might be the hull builder or the boat fitter. But it can also list someone who has no connection with the boat at all. There have been instances reported on here where someone has claimed their boat was built by a particular builder 'because some bloke told me it was', and have declared the same on a licence application, when others who know the history of the boat, or the particular characteristics of the claimed boatbuilders products know the claim to be untrue.

[Tonka]

2 minutes ago, David Mack said:

You said it might be the hull builder or the boat fitter. But it can also list someone who has no connection with the boat at all. There have been instances reported on here where someone has claimed their boat was built by a particular builder 'because some bloke told me it was', and have declared the same on a licence application, when others who know the history of the boat, or the particular characteristics of the claimed boatbuilders products know the claim to be untrue.

You do know what "might" means ?