What sort of boat do I need?

[Boat&Bikes]

Reference the laws and rules etc i am newish to boating so have little idea about them.I have finished a book written by a chap who crossed the channel with his wife and travelled through some of europes waters.In his follow up book he transports his NB to America...his book lets you believe he has little experience...if so how does he survive? Or is he misleading his readers?

 

 

Ali.

[Albion]

Reference the laws and rules etc i am newish to boating so have little idea about them.I have finished a book written by a chap who crossed the channel with his wife and travelled through some of europes waters.In his follow up book he transports his NB to America...his book lets you believe he has little experience...if so how does he survive? Or is he misleading his readers?

 

 

Ali.

 

That sounds like the Darlingtons with 'Narrow Dog to Carcassonne' and 'Narrow Dog to Indian River'. There is a body of opinion that suggests that the trip was done for the purposes of creating the books rather than the other way round. I can't comment on that, but I don't think they were totally inexperienced as I believe they had boated in the UK for some time before they took to the sea etc.

Roger

[Guest]

That's how I read his posts too. It isn't easy to get the balance of tone right between encouragement and caution in a text-based medium

 

Richard

 

thanks Richard...

[RLWP]

Reference the laws and rules etc i am newish to boating so have little idea about them.I have finished a book written by a chap who crossed the channel with his wife and travelled through some of europes waters.In his follow up book he transports his NB to America...his book lets you believe he has little experience...if so how does he survive? Or is he misleading his readers?

 

 

Ali.

 

Trevor Darlington is a good writer - a teller of stories. I have no doubt that he isn't the character he portrays himself as in his books

 

Dunno about his dog though

 

Richard

[ditchcrawler]

Reference the laws and rules etc i am newish to boating so have little idea about them.I have finished a book written by a chap who crossed the channel with his wife and travelled through some of europes waters.In his follow up book he transports his NB to America...his book lets you believe he has little experience...if so how does he survive? Or is he misleading his readers?

 

 

Ali.

Narrow Dog to Carcassonne and Narrow Dog to Indian River

[Fyre-Faery]

Yes, it looks to me like there are several different things going on here:

 

1. Negotiating with local county/insurers/governing bodies etc to safely set up a party business that meets Elf & safety requirements

 

2. The type of boat that would be good for both that and permanently living aboard

 

3. The type of boat that would be good for canals but also be able to cross the English Channel

(with life boats, navigation equipment etc)

 

4. Collection of credentials needed to boat in France

 

The most daunting thing so far seems to be the boatmasters licence needed to carry over 12 passengers. I'm intending on hiring someone to drive while I do the parties... but I didn't realise I needed such a specialist... are they rare? Of course we could just have 8 kids, 2 parents, 2 crew at each party but that might be a bit limiting.

 

Can anyone tell me about the expense and time behind the French requirements?

 

I am now thinking the best thing to do would be focus on a nice house/party boat; not worry about the French crossing and consider hiring it out to families over the summer instead (while I fly away as opposed to sail!). Does anyone here do that with their own boat?

[RLWP]

There is another trap to fall into there. If you hire the boat out - it becomes a hire boat with a different license, commercial requirements on moorings (rubbish disposal, car parking, hand over procedures), different safety certificate, different insurance...

 

There will be a way through all this, like setting up any business it is never quite as easy as it may seem. Stick at it, do your homework, you'll get to where you want in the end

 

Richard

Edited January 31, 2012 by RLWP

[Fyre-Faery]

Thanks Richard.

 

Good to know. Is it the waterboard I contact to find out about the different licences?

[RLWP]

This isn't quite the right page, but it is somewhere to start:

 

http://www.waterscape.com/things-to-do/boating/licensing

 

We found out about some of the stuff by 'phoning BW when we were thinking of hiring out Tawny Owl some years ago. They were very helpful

 

Richard

[Lady Muck]

you asked...

 

Are there many people who hire out their own 'live aboard' boats while they are away and what are the complications involved with that?

 

No there aren't really, some people might do it on the sly, but if you do it legit, its very hard indeed. The requirements are difficult to meet, the main problem is you need a base to run the operation from, seeing as most commercial marinas and moorings wont let you do it, you have to find a willing private mooring owner.

 

My link

 

Aaah Richard beat me to it!

Edited January 31, 2012 by Lady Muck

[RLWP]

You have a better link

 

Richard

[Fyre-Faery]

I see. Thank You both. Is there not a system like leasing your house when a private rental company sorts all of that out for you?

 

Gosh. There really are so many rules about everything!!! ARgGGGgGgGGggggGGGgggggh!!!

 

Tawny Owl is a lovely name for a boat.

Edited January 31, 2012 by Fyre-Faery

[matty40s]

I see. Thank You both. Is there not a system like leasing your house when a private rental company sorts all of that out for you?

 

Gosh. There really are so many rules about everything!!! ARgGGGgGgGGggggGGGgggggh!!!

 

Tawny Owl is a lovely name for a boat.

 

Richard lends it out to all sorts of waifs and strays........Bok Bok Banter!!

 

British Waterways don't cover the moorings on the Wey, that is National Trust administered.

[Guest]

Gosh. There really are so many rules about everything!!! ARgGGGgGgGGggggGGGgggggh!!!

 

Which is where I came in earlier and got some stick for it, as long as you know them and adhere to them you will be fine.

[Arthur Brown]

Which is why so much caution is shown and advised here!

 

You could look at a deal with a hire fleet operator who has a base and lease them your boat for peak high season, IF you have all the design features built in for it to pass as a hire boat. But it wouldn't feel like your boat, just a well used old boat when you get it back at the end of their season.

[Fyre-Faery]

Right I'll call them in the morning.

 

Thank You!!!!!!!

[ditchcrawler]

There is another trap to fall into there. If you hire the boat out - it becomes a hire boat with a different license, commercial requirements on moorings (rubbish disposal, car parking, hand over procedures), different safety certificate, different insurance...

 

There will be a way through all this, like setting up any business it is never quite as easy as it may seem. Stick at it, do your homework, you'll get to where you want in the end

 

Richard

But nether the Way or the Thames are BW waters.

[Fyre-Faery]

Hi Martin it was:

What are the regulations you need to take a van to Morocco compared to taking a boat to France?? I suspect you are not being serious in your quest so I will bow out here and leave you to it...

 

Sorry Matt but if any body really has to ask if a boat can sink on a canal is intending embarking on a cross channel voyage I think they should really be cautioned against it rather than encouraged....

 

......

 

Morocco is absolute hell!

And the sinking bit (with reference to icebergs in canals) was a joke.

Anyway, thank you for your input.

[Guest]

Hi Martin it was:

What are the regulations you need to take a van to Morocco compared to taking a boat to France?? I suspect you are not being serious in your quest so I will bow out here and leave you to it...

 

Sorry Matt but if any body really has to ask if a boat can sink on a canal is intending embarking on a cross channel voyage I think they should really be cautioned against it rather than encouraged....

 

......

 

Morocco is absolute hell!

And the sinking bit (with reference to icebergs in canals) was a joke.

Anyway, thank you for your input.

 

Yeah I've gathered that...your point now is????

[Arthur Brown]

Search this site for ideas, http://topsailevents.co.uk/ships/thames-sailing-barges/sailing-barge-lady-daphne

 

The "Grand Turk" http://easternyachts.com/grandturk/ may be interesting but not canal or cheap

[Roger Gunkel]

Hi FF, just read through the thread and your ideas sound like a lot of fun and I wish you every success in achieving them

 

You've had wide ranging advice already, so I''ll just add a couple of bits of my own. You appear to be considering a wide beamed boat, so I will assume that you will be sticking to the wider waterways in the UK. As you would like to take the boat across the channel and into Europe for your own enjoyment out of season, then a proper sea boat would appear to be a sensible choice. Dutch barges can be comparatively expensive and there are plenty of other sea boats available at lower prices.

 

If you are intending to buy a boat capable of going to sea, then you really need to get boat handling experience before you commit yourself to buying. You may well be able to hire a skipper to get you across the channel, which won't be cheap, but you will still need experience and qualifications to handle a boat in the rough and tumble of many European waterways. I would also suggest looking at taking the RYA Daysikipper course and qualification, which will automatically qualify you for the ICC certificate that has been mentioned. It will also give you a proper understanding of navigation, tides, bouyage, lights, colregs and many other aspects that are essential to understand when taking a boat to sea. This applies to short coastal hops as much as it does to cross channel or long passages. It would also mean that you could eventually go through the French waterways to the Med, then really enjoy the benefits of boating around the Med including Italy and perhaps even a visit back to Morocco.

 

When it comes to moorings, certainly in the Med, you'll find that there is a big price hike once you have a boat over 40ft. Because of the generally more benign weather and lack of tide in the med though, many cruising people find that a lot of time through the Summer months can be spent in free anchorages rather than expensive marinas. So I you are serious about European cruising, it will require more study, qualifications and experience than sticking to inland UK, but is worth it and perfectly achievable if you have the enthusiasm, which you obviously do.

 

Roger

[Guest]

So I you are serious about European cruising, it will require more study, qualifications and experience than sticking to inland UK, but is worth it and perfectly achievable if you have the enthusiasm, which you obviously do.

 

Roger

 

Thanks Roger - just highlighted this bit for further clarity,,,

[Ange]

Have a greenie Roger - an excellent informative post from someone who clearly knows what he's talking about.

[Albion]

Trevor Darlington is a good writer - a teller of stories. I have no doubt that he isn't the character he portrays himself as in his books

 

Dunno about his dog though

 

Richard

 

It's Terry Darlington, Richard.

 

Yes, it looks to me like there are several different things going on here:

 

1. Negotiating with local county/insurers/governing bodies etc to safely set up a party business that meets Elf & safety requirements

 

2. The type of boat that would be good for both that and permanently living aboard

 

3. The type of boat that would be good for canals but also be able to cross the English Channel

(with life boats, navigation equipment etc)

 

4. Collection of credentials needed to boat in France

 

The most daunting thing so far seems to be the boatmasters licence needed to carry over 12 passengers. I'm intending on hiring someone to drive while I do the parties... but I didn't realise I needed such a specialist... are they rare? Of course we could just have 8 kids, 2 parents, 2 crew at each party but that might be a bit limiting.

 

Can anyone tell me about the expense and time behind the French requirements?

 

I am now thinking the best thing to do would be focus on a nice house/party boat; not worry about the French crossing and consider hiring it out to families over the summer instead (while I fly away as opposed to sail!). Does anyone here do that with their own boat?

 

It's not particularly difficult or massively expensive to get the ICC + CEVNI qualification. It can be done here in the UK or, if you want hands on experience of a larger barge in France then Tam and Di (of this forum) offer courses over there. For lots of info try their site Barge Handling

Roger

[Fyre-Faery]

Hi Arthur,

 

Thank You I will look up those links tomorrow. Fantastic.

 

 

Hi Roger,

Great advice. Can you give me a little advice on what sort of seaboat I should be looking at?

I have a maximum budget of £70,000 and was under the impression sea boats were more pricey.

Someone earlier suggested GRP boats... is that along your lines of thinking?

It would be amazing if there was a boat that could both get into the wider canals and the Med Sea.

 

The course sounds wonderful. Even if I start will a canal boat I'd like a sea-boat eventually so I will check that out.

 

Much thanks to you both!!!

 

Hi to Albion Roger,

 

I'm getting excited again!

After all if I can scrounge £70,000 for a boat I can surely afford a good boating course and qualification.

Brilliant! Thank You