secondhand boats with 6' 6" headroom

[Painter Type]

Hi, as you can see I havn't got a boat yet.

 

Would like to find a secondhand one to consider buying but havn't spotted that many for sale (with that headroom).

 

If anybody knows of one please let me know.

 

I am looking for a trad livaboard for a single person (40 to 60 foot in length) perfer portholes to lots of windows, and think I want a boatmans cabin.

 

If I can't find one soon will get a shell built and fit it out.

 

Cheers

[alan_fincher]

Hi, as you can see I havn't got a boat yet.

 

Would like to find a secondhand one to consider buying but havn't spotted that many for sale (with that headroom).

 

If anybody knows of one please let me know.

 

I am looking for a trad livaboard for a single person (40 to 60 foot in length) perfer portholes to lots of windows, and think I want a boatmans cabin.

 

If I can't find one soon will get a shell built and fit it out.

 

Cheers

Where are you measuring the headroom, please ?

 

I'd have thought round about a 6' 6" headroom was the modern norm, at least in the middle of the boat.

 

Ours is a perfectly standard Evans & Son boat now 13 years old, and being in the middle of constructing bulkheads, I know they are within a gnats of 2 metres at the highest point, (so just over 6 foot 6 ins).

 

My son is 6' 3", and has no problem with headroom in the boat.

[denboy]

by trad do you mean engine room in the middle and boatmans at the back if so you will struggle

to find 6ft 6" in the boatmans cabin

[alan_fincher]

by trad do you mean engine room in the middle and boatmans at the back if so you will struggle

to find 6ft 6" in the boatmans cabin

Or to take it a lot of places if you do!........

[NB Esk]

Where are you measuring the headroom, please ?

 

I'd have thought round about a 6' 6" headroom was the modern norm, at least in the middle of the boat.

 

Ours is a perfectly standard Evans & Son boat now 13 years old, and being in the middle of constructing bulkheads, I know they are within a gnats of 2 metres at the highest point, (so just over 6 foot 6 ins).

 

My son is 6' 3", and has no problem with headroom in the boat.

 

Alan, that's a nice headroom. I'm guessing this will make the overall boat height around 7'0"?

 

Do you happen to know how that's divided between draught & airdraught?

[magpie patrick]

One thing to be aware of, 6 foot six headroom is great (Ripple is about that) but make sure your bed runs lengthways not crossways otherwise it won't be 6 foot six long!

[alan_fincher]

Alan, that's a nice headroom. I'm guessing this will make the overall boat height around 7'0"?

Well as well as the 2 metres between floor and ceiling there is...

 

Roof 5mm

Ceiling and linings 50 mm

Floor 20 mm

Framing on base 100 mm

Baseplate 10 mm

 

Total of above 185 mm

 

Total for whole shell 2195 mm

 

So I'm estimating about 7 ft 2 inches.

 

Do you happen to know how that's divided between draught & airdraught?

 

I don't with any accuracy, I'm afraid.

We are rather under-ballasted at the front, and even with a full water tank sit noticeably bow high.

The water tank is unusually large, (I think), and makes several inches difference to how far the front is in the water, between empty and full.

I make a point of filling up if we are going anywhere known to have low bridges.

This is not a problem with having a boat with a good headroom, simply that (in my view) they skimped on the ballast.

 

Alan

[bristol & argo]

One thing to be aware of, 6 foot six headroom is great (Ripple is about that) but make sure your bed runs lengthways not crossways otherwise it won't be 6 foot six long!

 

Unless you are looking at something historic that is 7' beam, our standard double matress is a perfect fit between the side lineings...

 

 

simon

bristol and argo

[WJM]

If it is headroom you want and you are going for a new build then specify a very thick baseplate - 20 or 30mm (against the more normal 10mm). Then you dont need a big void under the floor to fit the ballast (usually concrete slabs)

[Tony Ross]

I had this problem when i was looking for my boat. I'm 6'3" and the amount of boats out there with a headroom of less than this was nothing short of amazing. From Memory, out of 20 or so boats i looked at, there were only 2 that i could stand upright in!

 

I settled on a Mike Heywood boat (probably very similar to Evans & Sons) and this has a 6'6" headroom so no problems.

 

I spoke to a number of boat builders at the time and it seemed that the problem with a decent headroom was allowing space for sufficient ballast under the floor. The way around this was to build the boat with a thick baseplate 12 -15mm as this would reduce the amount of space required for ballast, which could then be used to provide more internal headroom.

 

Best of luck with your search,

 

regards,

 

Tony

[NB Alnwick]

I spoke to a number of boat builders at the time and it seemed that the problem with a decent headroom was allowing space for sufficient ballast under the floor. The way around this was to build the boat with a thick baseplate 12 -15mm as this would reduce the amount of space required for ballast, which could then be used to provide more internal headroom.

 

Alternatively build them with a deeper draught

[alan_fincher]

Yes, I've never actually heard the exact detail as to how Mike Heywood morphed into Evans ans Son, although I understand there were issues around dodgy accounting and non payment of VAT. (Mike Heywood I understand to have died some years ago).

 

I think the boats from either are very similar, and our Evans boat looks virtually the same as an older Heywood one moored close by. (They may not meet todays exacting standards of near flat sides and highly ground welds, but seem to swim a lot better than many much more expensive boats, producing unusually low wash).

 

I must admit when we were looking at boats, at least 6' 3" headroom seemed the norm for anything built in (say) the last 15 years. The older you go, the lower they seemed to get, and our boat positively towers of the Black Prince, (Harborough clone) one next to it, and indeed over a true Harborough one next to that.

 

The thick base plate suggestion is a good one, although in out boat I'm sure sufficient ballast could have been fitted, even with a "standard" bottom. It's just they have gone for "crazy paving" concrete slabs, with lots of air space, due to the irregular shapes. Engineering brick would easily have provided more than adequate ballast. It's not an issue, but I suspect one of two of the very low tunnels we may never do.

 

Alternatively build them with a deeper draught

It depends how much time you want to spend rearranging the bottom of the cut, or clearing shopping trolleys from bridge holes.

 

I'd live with a deep draught if I had a historic boat, (or I suppose a slow revving engine needing to swing a big prop), but it's perfectly possible to achieve a 6' 6" headroom in a boat drawing little over 2 feet. It's actually nice to cruise effortlessly at 4 mph in stretches where the big engine brigade are stirring up the mud little over 2 mph, (though not so much fun when you catch one up....)

 

I'm very grateful to you guys for getting the bigger obstructions out of the bridges, though!

[PeterG]

Hi, as you can see I havn't got a boat yet.

 

Would like to find a secondhand one to consider buying but havn't spotted that many for sale (with that headroom).

 

If anybody knows of one please let me know.

 

I am looking for a trad livaboard for a single person (40 to 60 foot in length) perfer portholes to lots of windows, and think I want a boatmans cabin.

 

If I can't find one soon will get a shell built and fit it out.

 

Cheers

 

My boat is currently for sale and is a Mike Christian shell, so the same family of boats with 6ft 6 headroom approximately.

 

Not sure the right way to do the link so sorry this will need pasting into a browser or go to the brokerage on the calcutt boats website. http://www.calcuttboats.co.uk/saleboat.html