How much does your boat draw?

[David Schweizer]

That is fairly shallow. We are 31" at skeg and did Ashby earlier this year. There are a few shallow sections where we had to be careful to stay in channel and went temporarily aground when passing boats, but much of it is now a normal depth thanks to dredging.

 

Nick

Our boat is 27" from the top of the skeg to the underside of the Uxterplate, so sitting in the water from the underside of the skeg to the water line is about 30". We drop about 3" underway so draught underway is about 33", and yes we do get run around regularly on some canals.

 

We managed the Ashby with only a couple of groundings, but the Peak Forest was a nightmare, we could not get anywhere near the edge anywhere except at signed mooring places, how Alton manages it it really do not know, we dreaded meeting her, as we would have both wanted the centre of the canal.

Edited June 27, 2011 by David Schweizer

[ditchcrawler]

What sort of depth (draught) will get around the Broads without a lot of trouble?

 

Tim

Have a look at http://www.broads-authority.gov.uk/boating/hydrographical-survey-data.html

[Chris-B]

Hello Chris,

 

what sort of boat is "Noord Vis" ? the name sounds very Dutch.

 

Peter.

Hi Peter

She is a Belgian tanker barge built in 1942

Lengthened and brought over to UK in 2000

Chris

[Ange]

Just realised this is something I dont know, so I better find out. Does "how much does your boat draw" , mean..."how deep it sits in the water"? If so...where is the right place/method to know the answer? and then....if my boat has a bigger draw than most (which it probably does), where would no go areas possibly be...or is that a silly question, as it's probably changing all the time. Apparently however, there's a drought....so would it be silly for me to take a trip up the Ashby for example?

 

Hey Dean

 

Chill out dude and stop worrying - you'll be fine. Yours is a modern "clonecraft" like ours. We draw 2'4" and travelled down the Ashby a short while ago. We could only moor at designated mooring spots but apart from that had no problems. The bodies on board and stuff on roof really don't make that much difference. This experience is all about chilling - you're worrying too much

 

It's sounding like your cruising plans and ours may meet up at some point in time this year - I hope so

[mykaskin]

 

52cm, which is 20.4 inches.

 

Is that good or bad

 

 

My prop is substantially bigger than that! Unless you plan to sink it to the gunnels you'll not have a problem on a canal thats on level (i.e. the right amount of water in it!). However some, like the Huddersfield Narrow are regularly "run down" in some strange way of saving water.

 

Mike

[bargemast]

Hi Peter

She is a Belgian tanker barge built in 1942

Lengthened and brought over to UK in 2000

Chris

 

 

Hello Chris,

 

thanks for the information, tankerbarges can be nice, I had a very nice exemple myself that I was in the process of converting to make it into my future liveaboard, but sadly enough due to health reasons I couldn't finish the job and had to sell her.

 

There are some photographs of her (named "BRAVE") on the CWDF that I put on around the beginning of 2008.

 

I hope that you are happy with your new barge, and wish you all the best.

 

Peter.

[churchward]

Oh, she'll be fine

 

 

Richard

Is that what is called air draft?

[bigcol]

We took our boat out last week for the first time ever, New engine, left Willowbridge Mk and had a nice time crusing up to the three locks.

 

A couple of times felt the bottom in the middle,no problem with bridge heights after all.

 

Main problem was getting close enough to the sides to get off!!, and this was on th GU.

 

Folks along the way stared at us in disbelief as we made our way,some of them complaining that the water level is very much down as usual. I was crapping my self,couldn't stop at the pub as we couldn't more along side,but I did manage to turn around just before the lock, bow thruster 50 ft boat and 51 ft width of canal !!

 

 

To be fair for over a year I'm the mad man having a Dutch coaster barge being refitted not knowing if I could get underneath bridges

And all the time it might be the draft, or depth of the canal I will have to travel that I now know could be the problem

 

I thought that the depth of the GU would be at least 3 foot,but I've been going along the sides of canal and never got near that number.

 

I'm going for another jaunt soon hopefully we be able to stop somewhere get my confidence back lol

 

 

Col

Edited June 29, 2011 by bigcol

[Gretzky]

Not sure, we will have to find out. When we get to the Broads, the dinghy and outboard will be towed behind NC which will take some weight off the back end and hopefully lift her somewhat, plus we will be drinking some of the beer we have loaded which will help some more

 

Sealine are a little crafty with their draft measurements. They use a dry boat with empty tanks and nothing onboard with none of the optional extras fitted to measure the draft which is 3ft. By the time you have filled the 50 gallon fuel tank, 25 gallon water tank, 16 gallon black water tank, loaded up with beer, loaded all of your general boating crap onboard, hung the dinghy and outboard off the stern, put the 25 litre dinghy fuel tank in the anchor locker and all the other various items you soon start adding to the draft then add on the factory fitted extras (holding tank, heating, trim tabs and motors, cockpit shower, stainless transom gate, etc).

 

We might need a bigger boat

 

You will have no problems, average depths on the northern rivers are 5 to 6 foot, the river Ant being a more like 4 foot in places, there has been lots of dredging too to remove shoals from the inside of bends etc. Southern are deeper depending on tide. The BA (Broads Authority) has recently a complete hydro-graphic survey too. Details are here: http://www.broads-authority.gov.uk/boating/hydrographical-survey-data.html

[DeanS]

Hey Dean

 

Chill out dude and stop worrying - you'll be fine. Yours is a modern "clonecraft" like ours. We draw 2'4" and travelled down the Ashby a short while ago. We could only moor at designated mooring spots but apart from that had no problems. The bodies on board and stuff on roof really don't make that much difference. This experience is all about chilling - you're worrying too much

 

It's sounding like your cruising plans and ours may meet up at some point in time this year - I hope so

 

ello....I'm the most chilled out dude...haven't you noticed..lol I gather my info on the forum, so in real life I can laze around without a care in the world.

[blackrose]

Hi Peter

She is a Belgian tanker barge built in 1942

Lengthened and brought over to UK in 2000

Chris

 

Are there any pictures Chris? Fit out pictures?

 

 

My boat draws about 2'2" - perhaps 2'4" at the skeg.

 

Mike

 

Hey Dean

 

Chill out dude and stop worrying - you'll be fine. Yours is a modern "clonecraft" like ours. We draw 2'4" and travelled down the Ashby a short while ago. We could only moor at designated mooring spots but apart from that had no problems. The bodies on board and stuff on roof really don't make that much difference. This experience is all about chilling - you're worrying too much

 

I realise you're just trying to reassure Dean, but your experience is yours. It may be all about "chilling" to you but some of us don't wish to have a generic experience imposed upon us. We feel the way we feel at the time - which isn't necessarily the way we are expected or told to feel by others.

Edited June 29, 2011 by blackrose

[ditchcrawler]

ello....I'm the most chilled out dude...haven't you noticed..lol I gather my info on the forum, so in real life I can laze around without a care in the world.

Well done Dean

[Chris-B]

Are there any pictures Chris? Fit out pictures?

 

 

Mike

 

I am not really into loads of pics Mike too much to do and I am a crap photographer

but give me a ring at work and pop over for a brew sometime and see for yourself

Its better in the steelwork.. mind you it is a building site.....

Chris

 

 

 

[Ange]

 

I realise you're just trying to reassure Dean, but your experience is yours. It may be all about "chilling" to you but some of us don't wish to have a generic experience imposed upon us. We feel the way we feel at the time - which isn't necessarily the way we are expected or told to feel by others.

 

Actually I think Dean's response (post #35) indicated that my post was very well judged - I'm not quite sure why you've taken exception to it. I've followed Dean's posts and blog with great interest and I believe the main purpose of his venture is to "chill out", so I was only following that theme, not trying to "impose a generic experience" on him.

 

Please correct me if I'm wrong Dean.

Edited June 29, 2011 by Ange

[Orca]

Current levels in the Ashby look around 3-4 inches down than normal - though is that normal?? It's been a real challenge getting my 66ft cruiser round some of the bends and I tend to be a bit embarrassed mooring her a good foot or so off the towpath as she simply will not get any closer. When I craned her out for blacking a couple of years ago, the Crane Driver told me she was a shade off 25 tons. Is that heavy???? Ex-Concoform hire boat from Weedon. We don't have anything on the roof, but at the time I had a full fuel tank (150 gallons) which I have run down to less than 50 gallons for our trip up the Ashby. It's been fun though, if not a little hair raising at times. .

Edited September 28, 2011 by Orca

[Naughty Cal]

You will have no problems, average depths on the northern rivers are 5 to 6 foot, the river Ant being a more like 4 foot in places, there has been lots of dredging too to remove shoals from the inside of bends etc. Southern are deeper depending on tide. The BA (Broads Authority) has recently a complete hydro-graphic survey too. Details are here: http://www.broads-authority.gov.uk/boating/hydrographical-survey-data.html

 

On the whole we didnt have any major depth issues on the Broads. It was only a silly, hung over not really watching what we were doing mistake outside The Ferry at Stokesby that saw us run aground

[Evo]

I measured the depth of the engine hole floor, basically the height of the 'swim'...?? Thats more or less the draught of the boat isn't it...??

[Proper Job]

It depends on how deep the swim sits in the water.

 

I dropped a tape measure down the weed hatch, behind the prop util it hit the skeg. What ever it reads at the waterline is the draught (plus the thickness if the skeg, if you want to be pedantic)

[Keeping Up]

On the whole we didnt have any major depth issues on the Broads. It was only a silly, hung over not really watching what we were doing mistake outside The Ferry at Stokesby that saw us run aground

 

 

We spent a whole day aground opposite the pub, watching people who were drinking and watching us. By the time the tide refloated us, the pub had closed (it was in the days when pubs had shorter opening hours than now)

[Naughty Cal]

We spent a whole day aground opposite the pub, watching people who were drinking and watching us. By the time the tide refloated us, the pub had closed (it was in the days when pubs had shorter opening hours than now)

 

We were on the pub side on the farm moorings. We had taken the very end mooring away from the pub so that we only had to stand guard of one end of the boat. The next moring after a very drunken night in the pub we were due to set sail fairly early so that our friends boat could get under the Yarmouth bridges. The wind was blowing us onto the bank, not really watching what we were doing i cast the bow off, jumped on at the stern an watched as the wind took us straight into the reeds. Luckily we got off again fairly easily.

 

This was the only incident in a two weeks cruise which is not bad for us.

[bizzard]

My Plimsoll line is marked in increments of thousands of an inch.

A good comical read about sailing on the Norfolk Broads is ''The art of course sailing''by Michael Green,although out of print now B

I

Z

Z

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[Evo]

It depends on how deep the swim sits in the water.

 

 

What..... like ....plus or minus an inch.

[M.t Major]

Well my tug goes up the river lea she got 5ft 8inc and the coal boats got 3ft 5nic going in and out of London

[sebrof]

My Plimsoll line is marked in increments of thousands of an inch.

A good comical read about sailing on the Norfolk Broads is ''The art of course sailing''by Michael Green,although out of print now B

I

Z

Z

A

R

D

.

 

Surely a Plimsoll line is horizontal. I think you mean draught marks.

 

Licensed marine pedant.

[carlt]

Surely a Plimsoll line is horizontal. I think you mean draught marks.

 

Licensed marine pedant.

 

Nope.

 

The original Plimsoll line was a horizontal line, through a circle, but it has been adapted, over the years to include several different maximum load lines at different freeboard measurements, to account for different water densities and potential variations in sea conditions.

 

Then there is a separate set of Timber load lines, for ships carrying deck stored timber, and different lines again, for passenger vessels.

 

All these evolutions, of the Plimsoll line, are known as "load lines" not "draught marks".

 

(I've got a licence but I choose not to display it).

Edited September 30, 2011 by carlt