Slightly warped hull at weld.

[pbuk]

I viewed a 70 ft narrow boat the other day that is made up of two hulls welded together. I think it was a Butty that then had a motor stern put on it. The thing is where the hulls join there is a slight bend in the boat. If you look straight down the boat's roof from the bow to the stern it bananas slightly. The owner said the 'twist' in the hull is due to it constantly being knocked bashed a bit in the same place when entering locks, but that doesn't sound feasible to me.

 

Just wondered what others in theses forums, with a lot more experience than I, thought...?

 

Thank you.

 

 

[Paul C]

The answer is obviously balaerics, otherwise every other 70 footer would have a bend/twist in the same place. And in any case, if one did knock the boat while entering a lock 1) it would be in slightly different places each time and 2) the boat should be able to withstand this, eg if it bends ever so slightly it would return to straight. If you can see a twist, then I'd say its quite significant because normally you can't see a slight distortion in a hull. With it being 70', I'd worry that its misaligned enough at the join area to make it slightly banana shaped, and thus while at any point the boat might be say 6'10", the overall rectangle described by the boat might be 7'1" or so, meaning that some locks are out of the question (Hurleston for one, but not just that lock, possibly other narrow ones too) and thus limit your cruising range.

 

If you're still keen on this boat, I'd recommend its thoroughly checked over for the work done in joining the two together. eg a surveyor to look at it.

[b0atman]

A cut and shut probably done badly.

[RLWP]

I don't know where the join is on that boat, ours has very pronounced dents on both sides about twenty foot back from the stem from many years of getting cross winded in locks as a hire boat

 

Richard

[furnessvale]

I viewed a 70 ft narrow boat the other day that is made up of two hulls welded together. I think it was a Butty that then had a motor stern put on it. The thing is where the hulls join there is a slight bend in the boat. If you look straight down the boat's roof from the bow to the stern it bananas slightly. The owner said the 'twist' in the hull is due to it constantly being knocked bashed a bit in the same place when entering locks, but that doesn't sound feasible to me.

 

Just wondered what others in theses forums, with a lot more experience than I, thought...?

 

Thank you.

 

 

I am not saying this is the cause of your problem which sounds more like bad alignment when welding but,

 

motors used on the GU often have a dent in the side just behind the mast where the butty following it into a broad lock used to catch if not steered accurately.

 

I cannot say I have heard of a similar problem affecting the butty but others more used to pairs on the GU may be able to help.

 

(Edited to add highlighted words)

 

George ex nb Alton retired

Edited August 13, 2014 by furnessvale

[roland elsdon]

Cross winding and age. Don't start down the how wide is my boat posts again. Our boat twists and turns all over the place but still goes everywhere. If you stand on joshers with the bolinder going you can see the bows move, if you want an old boat don't expect it to look like a new boat just pay the £££££ for the best survey you can, and then decide if it's fit for your purpose.

[magnetman]

Is it a Legend boat (builder) ?

 

When you say two hulls has it got a riveted section at one end or all welded?

[pbuk]

Thanks for all the feedback and knowledge. Yes it is an old boat pre -1910 and there are plenty of issues with it, I'm just hoping they are idiosyncratic traits rather than major structural faults. Only way to find out is a full pre-purchase survey and I'll definitely have that done once the vendor and I can agree on a price.

[pbuk]

Sorry magnetman I missed your question there and I'm not sure I understand it - apologies, my knowledge of boats is rather scant. It does have riveted front section and the hull is iron with a steel base-plate. Why do you ask?

[Tuscan]

This is very common on old boats.

[John V]

Old boats have earned the right to be odd shapes! (even without being spliced together) My barge (1929) has a pronounced twist, the bow's "vertical" being several degrees different from the stern's "vertical", She motors and steers nicely so no problem, but strangers looking along her from the Bow do give her some quizical looks

[magnetman]

pbuk

Sorry I was on a different track, thinking you might have seen a modern boat which was slightly bent. A builder called Legend made some bent narrow boats but they were in the 70s I think so no rivets.

 

If its half old half new then my post was out of place..

[magnetman]

 

 

 

PS have you asked the owner if they have had trouble at any locks? Hurleston and Napton flight might be examples.

I suppose if the boat's name was published on here people might know if it is a 'problem boat' in terms of getting through the narrower locks and bridges.

[pbuk]

Hello - yes Magnetman, we discussed Napton specifically and the owner said it just gets through - I didn't ask about Hurleston. The boat hasn't moved for about four years from where it is moored near Banbury and is sat on a bed of silt churned up by passing narrowboats. The guy who owns it also said that it takes him a day to get it out from the mooring ...just to get over the silt bank that has been created. I've seen the engine running, a Lister JP3 and it seems OK (though there is a leak in the cooling system of the PRM gearbox which needs welding) but never actually taken it out on the water due to the silt bank issue.

 

I'm going to offer quite a bit less than the boat is for sale at just because I think it does need a whole load of work so I'll see if we can get a deal done then get it fully surveyed.