Boat Size question

[RLWP]

You can certainly get up the Nene to Earith and beyond. There is a small Marine in Earith that should also be able to crane you out

 

<snip>

 

Roger

 

That's my brother, Sylvest!

 

Richard

[Roger Gunkel]

That's my brother, Sylvest!

 

Richard

My son bought me an iPad2 for Christmas and I live on it now, trouble is it has a spell corrector that sneaks corrections in when I'm not looking. You've just reminded me that I must switch it off!

 

Roger

[Alan de Enfield]

My son bought me an iPad2 for Christmas and I live on it now, ...........

 

Roger

 

And some folks say a narrowboat is small !!!!!!

[Roger Gunkel]

And some folks say a narrowboat is small !!!!!!

As soon as I posted that I thought some joker would pick me up on it - thanks Alan

 

Roger

[mrsmelly]

Jimmy, I took my 25ft seagoing motorsailer from the Wash to Great Yarmouth and that is fully equipped for sea work including nav gear, VHF, safety equipment etc. It also has a speed of about 7-8kts. There is absolutely no way that you will get from The Wash to GY in 15 hours in a widebeam canal boat. Firstly the tidal streams will slow your progress, as will any sort of seaway, the conditions on the East Coast are very variable and wind over tide are notorious for kicking up short nasty seas. A wide beam with a top speed of 5-6mph will struggle at times to make any progress at all and there are no ports to run to in an emergency.

 

We planned to take two hops of about 9 hours with a stopover in Wells. In fact we had to wait for clearance over the bar into Wells and were at sea for over 10 hours on the first day. Weather changed from a forecast force 2-3, confirmed by the CG when leaving Kings Lynn into a force 5 by the time we reached Wells. we were forced to anchor off Wells, but it was so rough with breaking waves that we headed out about 5 miles offshore to find deeper smoother water. The second day was also a good forecast, but it was obvious as we left Wells channel marker that the conditions were far worse than forecast we had 6ft breaking seas until we were further out, fighting to stop the boat from broaching. We live on a 57ft widebeam and if we had been on her at that stage, we couldn't have turned back and the boat would have been overwhelmed. As it was, it took us 10 hours to GY and was not a pleasant trip. I wouldn''t contemplate an East Coast trip on any boat that wasn't specifically designed for sea work, and even short hops across the Wash from Boston to The River Nene are not to be taken lightly.

 

Roger

 

Well said Roger an eminently sensible well informed post. Put simply Fat narrowboats, Pretend dutch barges ( cat d ) and narrowboats are simply not safe at sea ever. I have taken to sea on serious blue water yachts in flat calm and 3 hours later a fat narrowboat would have been sunk.

[Lady Muck]

Hmm, I'm not so sure about that comment!!

 

Me neither! Have never done the K&A, but plenty of the GU locks are very heavy and hard to work. The River Lee Lock gates are really heavy to move.

 

If you're moving for better weather then that's one thing. If you're moving for better maintenance, then I'd say there's no difference at all. If you're moving for easier to work locks, then ditto.

 

BUT you could get a Gold license - the Thames is certainly much easier as there's a lockie to do everything for you. But what you can't do on the Thames is move only every fortnight. Pay to stay put or keep moving.

[Hairy-Neil]

I only now one narrowboat to successfully sail from the Wash to Gt Yarmouth and that was Chris Coburn. He made a video called Wash and Go http://www.laurencehoggproductions.co.uk/washandgo.htm

 

 

 

I remember an unsuccessful attempt by narrowboat being reported and pictured 'beached' in Waterways World around 20 years ago.....

[bizzard]

I remember an unsuccessful attempt by narrowboat being reported and pictured 'beached' in Waterways World around 20 years ago.....

Chris Coburn who i believe is the managing director of Lee Sanitation,correct me if i'm wrong, is a wealthy man and when he took his narrow boat to sea always had big rescue inflatables accompanying him,and all singing and dancing safety and electronic equipment.Many years ago Waterways World ran a month by month article about his adventures.

Edited February 16, 2012 by bizzard

[Hairy-Neil]

Chris Coburn who i believe is the managing director of Lee Sanitation,correct me if i'm wrong, is a wealthy man and when he took his narrow boat to sea always had big rescue inflatables accompanying him,and all singing and dancing safety and electronic equipment.Many years ago Waterways World ran a month by month article about his adventures.

 

The boat was also built with sea trips planned, dual fuel filter systems spring to mind....

[OldGoat]

The boat was also built with sea trips planned, dual fuel filter systems spring to mind....

 

 

- and that's just the beginning.

No air inlets anwhere near the water

No waste water outlets ditto

Completely water tight front end

Proper mast for radar reflector, beacon and VHF.

 

He must be (is) a good sailor 'cos Progress rolls and pitches "something rotten" in the slightest sea, indeed, even in a flat calm.

 

In his dotage (!) he's seen sense and has a dutch barge - amongst others.

[wrigglefingers]

Thank you. I knew I could not get the whole way up the Nene, possibly to a place called Earith?, so asked if Oundle Marina had a spot for winter and a lift-out to shift us to the GU.

The marina replied that we would not get through the marina cut; this confused me, making me wonder about the 'cut' - I assume it is the entrance to the marina and not the canal cut in general. I am still researching and soaking everyones info, much appreciated.

Jimmy

 

The cut is the gap in the rock that they've blasted through to provide an entrance to the marina. It is very narrow and the river is very shallow - so shallow in fact that I doubted that I could get Cobbett through although I think we reckoned that the clever steerers could manage it. You would never get a widebeam through, although long-term the plan is to build a wider entrance. Moreover, the cranes on that stretch of the Nene are small - a 62ft narrowboat, whilst not unknown, would be rare and Oundle is the only crane that could lift her without going back to Northampton - and that would be at the limit of what the crane could lift.

 

I also asked for mooring for Cobbett on the Ouse around St Ives and Earith and was told that there's no capacity for larger boats and no craneage either so i would tread cautiously around this area and ask clearly and carefully. My guess is have her taken out further north and plonked back in at MK.

[Roger Gunkel]

 

I also asked for mooring for Cobbett on the Ouse around St Ives and Earith and was told that there's no capacity for larger boats and no craneage either so i would tread cautiously around this area and ask clearly and carefully. My guess is have her taken out further north and plonked back in at MK.

There is craneage capable of lifting my 57x10' and larger at Westview Marina at Earith and Upware Marina on the River Cam as I mentioned in an earlier post. I was lifted out last year for blacking and both marinas have an identical crane. There are also moorings available around the area at the moment.

 

Roger

[wrigglefingers]

There is craneage capable of lifting my 57x10' and larger at Westview Marina at Earith and Upware Marina on the River Cam as I mentioned in an earlier post. I was lifted out last year for blacking and both marinas have an identical crane. There are also moorings available around the area at the moment.

 

Roger

 

Ah sorry, Roger - missed that. I was told at Earith that they couldn't lift Cobbett at 22 tonnes though - perhaps they simply didn't want me looking for a mooring - didn't consider the Cam as I really needed to be further north west-ish really. I could be taken out at Bedford Priory Marina, but it's along cruise down a cul de sac atm (and far too close to my mother for comfort). It'll be brilliant when the Bedford to MK Link is built though - by a roundabout way there'll be a North South link ... just!

[Jimmy P]

Ah sorry, Roger - missed that. I was told at Earith that they couldn't lift Cobbett at 22 tonnes though - perhaps they simply didn't want me looking for a mooring - didn't consider the Cam as I really needed to be further north west-ish really. I could be taken out at Bedford Priory Marina, but it's along cruise down a cul de sac atm (and far too close to my mother for comfort). It'll be brilliant when the Bedford to MK Link is built though - by a roundabout way there'll be a North South link ... just!

 

Thanks again guys. Oundle is out, but we are looking at other possibilties - all info is useful, even the negative. I don't know the mass of our boat, but the guy who sold it to us said '...about 24 tonnes'. The cranes I noticed at Earith are both tracked types and there is not much in the way of hardstanding (but enough to load onto a truck), this is from the Google Earth view. There was a large craft on the hard at the time of the photo.

We won't be able to take advantage of the new link (if and when) as from Earith up, it's for <10' 6" beam only.

Thanks to this thread, I'm getting a much better feel for things; I hope our originator is finding it useful too (billi?).