Historic Boats for sale online

[rusty69]

2 minutes ago, matty40s said:

Cant believe theres not a good picture of the best Gardner there is....

Alan:

[Derek R.]

Geroff - that's John Bercow . . .

[alan_fincher]

1 hour ago, matty40s said:

Cant believe theres not a good picture of the best Gardner there is....

Well you can just about see bits of it!

 

[Jrtm]

1 hour ago, Parahandy said:

As a live aboard I found it difficult , especially with a work life and cooking in Summer on a Boatmans Stove . I salute you Billy ?

It certainly is a delightful boat , a pity about the lack of Pictures

Years of having no electrics, just a good old boatman stove, primus stoves and silencer hot water for washing your hands.

 

Towy Seams quite posh compared to dane Dutton and squire (before the work was done)

[Tim Lewis]

3 hours ago, matty40s said:

Cant believe theres not a good picture of the best Gardner there is....

Wasn’t he the Waterways minister a few years ago?

[noddyboater]

16 hours ago, matty40s said:

Cant believe theres not a good picture of the best Gardner there is....

This one?

[Derek R.]

More like this one:

 

 

Expensive toys. Not really narrow boat engines. We had a 6LW in the Dutchman, 94hp, 1400rpm max. Delicious.

[Pluto]

On 10/01/2020 at 19:35, Parahandy said:

 

It certainly is a delightful boat , a pity about the lack of Pictures

This is at the top of the Tinsley flight, Sheffield, shortly after Geoff Wheat bought her in 1968.

[Parahandy]

25 minutes ago, Pluto said:

This is at the top of the Tinsley flight, Sheffield, shortly after Geoff Wheat bought her in 1968.

Thanks for that , an incredible 50 years ago and as Alan said earlier , clearly there has been a lot of Money spent on bringing her up to her present condition

Edited January 12, 2020 by Parahandy

[pete harrison]

TYCHO back on Apollo Duck - now @ £33000 

 

https://narrowboats.apolloduck.co.uk/boat/yarwoods-45-tug/473783

[magnetman]

Who is going to cut the ram off 

[rusty69]

2 minutes ago, magnetman said:

Who is going to cut the ram off 

RamBow perhaps, or Mickey mouse,

[magnetman]

It's a serious question. 

 

This boat (Tycho) would look lovely without that ram on it, a real honey of a short narrow boat but everyone would be chattering about the ram being taken off and how rude it was to do that with it being so hysterically important despite there being no thick ice any more. 

 

It's a catch 22 situation. 

 

It really would look good without it, a nice boat rather than an ice boat. 

 

ETA There is a nice Yarwoods boat behind there I believe 

 

The best solution seems to be to remove the ram (perhaps it's just a few rivets) and store it in a safe location then use the boat. 

 

Edited January 16, 2020 by magnetman

[Yellownev]

23 minutes ago, magnetman said:

Who is going to cut the ram off 

Save yourself a few quid on license and mooring fees .... but be excommunicated from the historic boat gatherings !  

[pete harrison]

18 minutes ago, magnetman said:

Who is going to cut the ram off 

 

2 minutes ago, magnetman said:

It's a serious question. 

 

This boat (Tycho) would look lovely without that ram on it, a real honey of a short narrow boat but everyone would be chattering about the ram being taken off and how rude it was to do that with it being so hysterically important despite there being no thick ice any more. 

 

It's a catch 22 situation. 

 

It really would look good without it, a nice boat rather than an ice boat. 

I have known TYCHO for about 50 years. and the reason it has always stuck in my mind is because of the ram - but I love it.

 

As has been discussed in this thread before I was keen to buy TYCHO when it was for sale in mid 2016, but we were unable to agree on a value. If TYCHO did not have its ram it would not have interested me at all as there is a choice of cut down Grand Union motors to choose from, including three other middle Northwich motors. Obviously 'the eye of the beholder' is a varied thing, but I can understand that the industrial appearance of TYCHO will not appeal to everybody 

[magnetman]

I quite like the look of it as it is but apart from anything else it seems a bit impractical and possibly slightly dodgy in locks. 

 

To be fair looking at it there is no obvious danger but it seems to be an extra worry which would perhaps be good to avoid. 

 

I bet one would find other narrow boat steerers giving way at bridge holes fairly readily though which could be quite enjoyable. 

Edited January 16, 2020 by magnetman

[pete harrison]

42 minutes ago, magnetman said:

I quite like the look of it as it is but apart from anything else it seems a bit impractical and possibly slightly dodgy in locks. 

It is a lot less impractical than a full length unconverted boat where the owner pays maximum licence and mooring fees but has very little accommodation. I can't really see what difference the ram makes regarding practicality

Edited January 16, 2020 by pete harrison

[alan_fincher]

In my view it would be a crying shame to remove the ram.  It is so much part of the boat's history, and is completely unique in having survived.

All the other 3 Middle Northwich icebreaker / tugs have lost theirs, and I have not even been able to turn up very much evidence as to when each might have done so. (I have never, for example, found any picture that is known to be Sickle carrying one).

Sextans/Sextant has been progressively re-lengthened, and its front sanitised with all evidence of the ram now gone, and the boat giving very little evidence of the conversion it received.

At least Sickle and Theophilus retain very clear evidence there was a ram, and how it was crudely torched off in each case, and both retain their 40 foot length hull length.

Tycho is hardly a danger in a lock that will typically be nearly 30 feet longer than it is, and as Pete suggests it offers potentially as much accommodation as if it were its original length, (although one of its current complications is only has a "day" cabin at the back, not a full traditional back cabin, making it less practical than if it had the usual arrangements).

The difference in costs in licencing a 40 foot boat versus a 45 foot one would be minimal, compared to the cost associated with owning this kind of boat in the first place.  Either will be significantly cheaper to run than a 72 footer, and far easier to find a mooring for.

I'm not convinced it is the presence of the ram that stops Tycho from selling - some, like Pete, will be attracted to Tycho in no part because it still has one.

 

However I can't logically justify the continued ownership of the one I do have, so I'll not be buying it.  (Birmingham, on he other hand.... ?)

Anyway,perhaps this will help people decide?.....

(Photos: Derek R)

[TheBiscuits]

On 26/12/2019 at 14:25, alan_fincher said:

I think I'm too old for buttys now, though!

I like butties. 

 

It's not that I'm younger than you, it's just a convenient meal.  Cheese or chip or beef salad or ...

[Mike Tee]

1 hour ago, magnetman said:

 

I bet one would find other narrow boat steerers giving way at bridge holes fairly readily though which could be quite enjoyable. 

Wouldn't matter if they didn't!!

[TheBiscuits]

1 hour ago, alan_fincher said:

The difference in costs in licencing a 40 foot boat versus a 45 foot one would be minimal,

It's 2 bands, so £757.80 vs £829.63 at the prepay discount rate - a difference of £71.83.

 

I agree - it's irrelevant on the scale of running a boat.  Change from £1.50 a week.

[pete harrison]

1 hour ago, magnetman said:

I quite like the look of it as it is but apart from anything else it seems a bit impractical and possibly slightly dodgy in locks. 

 

To be fair looking at it there is no obvious danger but it seems to be an extra worry which would perhaps be good to avoid. 

 

I bet one would find other narrow boat steerers giving way at bridge holes fairly readily though which could be quite enjoyable. 

I can not see why the ram on TYCHO would present any more of a problem in a lock than the fore end any other narrow boat, especially when compared to those that deploy the most dangerous of attachments - a stem fender.

 

The best boats to encourage approaching boaters to concede to a bridge hole are empty Grand Unions, especially those of the larger variety - but there is not that much between large and small 

[alan_fincher]

2 hours ago, magnetman said:

I bet one would find other narrow boat steerers giving way at bridge holes fairly readily though which could be quite enjoyable. 

 

15 minutes ago, Mike Tee said:

Wouldn't matter if they didn't!!

 

Here is a certain "Mr Boilerman" chancing his luck with Tycho's twin Sickle, (which admittedly lacks the ram).  It didn't go particularly well! ?

[TheBiscuits]

7 minutes ago, pete harrison said:

especially when compared to those that deploy the most dangerous of attachments - a stem fender.

Are they not a legal requirement?

Just now, alan_fincher said:

 

 

Here is a certain "Mr Boilerman" chancing his luck with Tycho's twin Sickle, (which admittedly lacks the ram).  It didn't go particularly well! ?

 I find that standing nearer the tiller helps with steering ...

[pete harrison]

1 minute ago, TheBiscuits said:

It's 2 bands, so £757.80 vs £829.63 at the prepay discount rate - a difference of £71.83.

 

I agree - it's irrelevant on the scale of running a boat.  Change from £1.50 a week.

Licence and mooring charges are fairly insignificant when compared to ongoing maintenance costs of these boats, especially as less sympathetic owners have a habit of not doing things properly which a later owner has the pleasure and cost of sorting out (this includes bodges carried out by the big carrying concerns when in trade)