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11 hours ago, Mike the Boilerman said:

Avoid GRP, flippin' hard to keep warm in winter!

Had you said "some GRP" or "check the insulation levels on the one you are looking at" I would agree that they can be (will be) cold in the Winter.

 

However you said "avoid GRP" 

 

There are Insulated GRP boats WITH stoves so it should not be a catch-all "avoid GRP"

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16 minutes ago, Alan de Enfield said:

Had you said "some GRP" or "check the insulation levels on the one you are looking at" I would agree that they can be (will be) cold in the Winter.

 

However you said "avoid GRP" 

 

There are Insulated GRP boats WITH stoves so it should not be a catch-all "avoid GRP"

 

 

Yeah but I MEANT "avoid most GRP, or check the insulation levels first". You should have known that!

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On 19/03/2019 at 09:31, Tumshie said:

Good Morning Meg and welcome to the forum - I see you met the night shift :giggles:

 

By pure coincidence I was reading through some of the older archive post on the forum last night and found a conversation very similar to what you're asking about, so I'll post a link. You have some really interesting questions there and it might be worth reposting them as a new thread in this new to boating section because that would give you room to have a more in-depth discussion with more people. 

 

 

This is an old thread so not worth replying to but still worth a read - just click the arrow in the top right hand corner. 

 

:boat: Good luck with you new adventure and happy boat hunting  

Tumsh.

 

 

 

I ended up on a 65fter, been on it 12 years now, handles fine (that's as much to do with the make than anything else). And I have a long tiller extension to make up for lack of shoulder strength compared to a chap.

 

The boat length actually makes climbing in and out of narrow locks easy coz it doesn't matter if I get on the front or back of the roof. I do have to watch the a*se end near the cill which would be less of an issue in a short boat, and warn "helpful" other boat crews not to open gate paddles for me when they think they're being helpful but they instead just fill up the bow with water (had that happen on Hatton Flight - swines nearly sank me, people used to short boats don't always use their common sense when sharing a lock with a longer boat).  

 

I wouldn't go for a boat with a closed end like the old Canal Time boats because I've found it useful when single handing (being a not-that-strong lass and not exactly a gazelle when leaping to the bank) to be able to run from the bak deck through the boat to the bow sometimes, especially when mooring up. 

On a windy day it's tricky to handle with ropes because I'm not heavy enough/strong enough to always pull it in against the wind on my own. So I just didn't cruise in windy weather if I could help it. 

A lightweight plastic boat would be easier to manoeuvre on ropes only. And a short boat would have a larger choice of winding holes to turn around in. But for that you sacrifice living space. 

Edited by BlueStringPudding
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11 hours ago, BlueStringPudding said:

I have a long tiller extension to make up for lack of shoulder strength compared to a chap.

[...]

I've found it useful when single handing (being a not-that-strong lass and not exactly a gazelle when leaping to the bank) 

[...]

On a windy day it's tricky to handle with ropes because I'm not heavy enough/strong enough to always pull it in against the wind on my own. So I just didn't cruise in windy weather if I could help it. 

I'm a bloke over 6ft and over 16 stone, but I was trained by ex-working boatmen:  "You've got a friggin' engine and some bloody rope! Use 'em!"

 

There isn't a bloke on the planet that can stop a 40 ton laden L&L shortboat by pulling on a rope that isn't strapped round a bollard or fed through a ring, and you can't always rely on them as the coping stones get ripped out! 

 

My technique is to slow the boat right down using it's own power, and then give it just that little bit longer so it is actually stopped.  I despair at seeing 4 ft 6 stone women being screamed at by their 6ft 20 stone husbands that they are not pulling hard enough.

 

Don't apologise for being female - just use the brains us blokes were not given(!) and don't try and make excuses for lack of upper body strength.  It's much easier if you learn some of the more advanced rope & engine techniques ... for example tie the centre line to a bollard with some slack and then just power forward until the boat touches the side all the way along it's length.

 

ETA:

Not a dig @BlueStringPudding, just a general thing about women not handling boats like most men (who usually do it wrong anyway!)

Edited by TheBiscuits
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TheBiscuits, that is heartening! I plan to do a 2 day helmsman's course, and a diesel engine course, so hopefully at least then I will really understand what I'm capable and incapable of doing.  

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2 minutes ago, meg999 said:

TheBiscuits, that is heartening! I plan to do a 2 day helmsman's course, and a diesel engine course, so hopefully at least then I will really understand what I'm capable and incapable of doing.  

Meg, you are very welcome.  Nobody I know would even consider pulling an articulated lorry on a bit of string, but most boaters try to without understanding it!

 

The helmsman's courses will help, but if you want to know how to do it properly try and find an old boatman (or boatwoman but they are much rarer!)

 

My training technique boils down to "if you think you are working too hard, you have done it wrong."

 

Don't fight wind wave and boat - use them to help you do what you want to do.  Sometimes that means you need to turn the boat the other way so the wind helps you.  Sometimes you need the correctly placed rope to "spring off" when the wind is pinning you to a bank.  Sometimes you need to use a rope to turn the boat tighter than you think it will go.  All of this comes with experience and practice, and the chaps that did it for years are the ones whose brains you need to pick.

 

Ignore the golf bores from the local boatclub - they are usually full of ... themselves, and most of them just shout at their wives when it goes wrong. :D

 

MrsBiscuits took a pair of boats down an unfamiliar lock flight last week, steering a boat she has never driven before.  Her first comment at the bottom was "That gear lever needs adjusting - it's too stiff."  It is all about practice and expectations, and most of the blokes who try and tell you otherwise have only ever steered one boat ...

 

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9 hours ago, TheBiscuits said:

 

MrsBiscuits took a pair of boats down an unfamiliar lock flight last week, steering a boat she has never driven before.  Her first comment at the bottom was " gear lever needs adjusting - it's too stiff."  It is all about practice and expectations, and most of the blokes who try and tell you otherwise have only ever steered one boat ...

 

I hope you didn't try and "improve"it like you did the tension on the Morse lever? 

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13 hours ago, TheBiscuits said:

Don't apologise for being female

?

 

Nobody was apologising for any thing !!! BSP was just explaining how she adapts to deal with the things she find more of a challenge. 

 

 

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Hi, myself & my partner are aiming to buy a project boat (ie ideally a a boat that'll work but needs some more work doing to it) next year; on a limited budget at the moment & wondering what the ptos & cons are of GRP v traditional narrowboat hull, for us to be continual cruisers & liveaboards?

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15 minutes ago, Dearhound said:

Hi, myself & my partner are aiming to buy a project boat (ie ideally a a boat that'll work but needs some more work doing to it) next year; on a limited budget at the moment & wondering what the ptos & cons are of GRP v traditional narrowboat hull, for us to be continual cruisers & liveaboards?

Hiya Deerhound, nice to meet you and welcome to the forum. 

 

If you don't get any/many answers to your question on the pros and cons of GPR vs Narrowboat then perhaps reposting it in the general boating section might help. You could also try the search function in the top right hand side of the site header. 

 

Good luck with your new adventure. 

 

Tumsh. 

 

 

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38 minutes ago, Tumshie said:

Hiya Deerhound, nice to meet you and welcome to the forum. 

 

If you don't get any/many answers to your question on the pros and cons of GPR vs Narrowboat then perhaps reposting it in the general boating section might help. You could also try the search function in the top right hand side of the site header. 

 

Good luck with your new adventure. 

 

Tumsh. 

 

 

Thanks Tumshie

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4 minutes ago, rusty69 said:

I nominate Tumshie as the official CWDF welcomer. Very helpful, very polite,very welcoming.

 

Do I have a seconder?

 

2 minutes ago, Mike the Boilerman said:

Seconded.

 

But does she actually want the job? The pay is carp!!!

:blush: shurrrup......

 

1 minute ago, rusty69 said:

Too late.......

 

Motion carried.

 

Tumshie. Congratulations in your new job. The hat is in the post

:huh: Oh.... Errr..... Thanks 

 

 

:giggles:

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Just now, Tumshie said:

Oh No I am so not getting roped into that one ?

Ropes as well now Tumshie. Enough with the  BDSM thing.

7 minutes ago, WotEver said:

There was me thinking it was a wet Afghan...

A dearhound is just an expensive dawg init?

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