will I be ok with a 60ft boat on my own

[Lisaj72]

Hey just wondered what your thoughts are on handling 60ft boat alone, yes I am a woman lol but not sure if that matters. Just weighing up whether im best off with smaller live aboard

 

Yout thoughts .?

[RLWP]

Yes. A longer boat is easier to handle than a short one, mostly because it changes direction more slowly. It is very noticeable how much a small boat moves about the cut when watching from the back of our 70' boat

 

One thing that is more difficult is doing the leap-and-drag to stop the boat. Jumping off with a rope and pulling like mad takes more effort than in a lighter boat. Best solution is to learn to really stop a boat when you intend it

 

Richard

Edited September 1, 2014 by RLWP

[Sabcat]

Hey just wondered what your thoughts are on handling 60ft boat alone, yes I am a woman lol but not sure if that matters. Just weighing up whether im best off with smaller live aboard

 

Yout thoughts .?

 

I don't think being a woman matters, I've never once found my man bits useful for steering.

[DeanS]

You'll have no problem. I've seen some really old folk on long boats, and they manage fine, and I'm sure you've got more energy than some old folk:)

[peterboat]

My first boat was a 60 foot cruiser stern and only in the wind mooring up did I have real difficulties so I would say yes go for it

 

Peter

[Starling]

I say go for it, too. I'm a woman who single hands a 60ft boat and have had no problems yet.

 

I agree that a longer boat is better at steering and harder to stop/moor especially in windy weather but it gets easier with practise.

Layout inside the boat is also a factor .... a friend of mine has a 52ft boat, and somehow it seems to be only half the length of mine!

[MtB]

I have two botes, one 45ft and one 68ft.

 

They are different to handle but equally easy. Ask Starcoaster! She can deal with both perfectly well. I don't think you need to worry about 60ft being too tricky.

 

As Starley says, internal layout makes a HUGE difference. A shorter well laid out boat will seem more spacious than a crappily laid out sixty-footer.

 

Hope that helps....

 

MtB

[Arthur Brown]

It depends on the boat, and you! Do you really like the cabin layout! If so then go for it if not then keep looking.

 

If you make time to practise you will learn how to put the boat exactly where you want it with the controls and not with manual effort, fighting winds and currents may take more practise. Give yourself some wide clear water for the first tries at anything.

[Phil Ambrose]

Yes. A longer boat is easier to handle than a short one, mostly because it changes direction more slowly. It is very noticeable how much a small boat moves about the cut when watching from the back of our 70' boat

 

One thing that is more difficult is doing the leap-and-drag to stop the boat. Jumping off with a rope and pulling like mad takes more effort than in a lighter boat. Best solution is to learn to really stop a boat when you intend it

 

Richard

Richard has put it about right, I'm soon to be 69 and though my wife is with me her mobility ad the fact she is only partially sighted means that to all intents and purposes I boat single handed, no real problems so go for it ( 60ft semi trad)

Phil

[Bones]

Hey just wondered what your thoughts are on handling 60ft boat alone, yes I am a woman lol but not sure if that matters. Just weighing up whether im best off with smaller live aboard

 

Yout thoughts .?

60ft single handing isn't a problem.

[John Williamson 1955]

All of the above. In handling a boat, there are very few jobs that require much physical strength, as long as you know what you're doing. Which is a cue for you to take the RYA inshore helmsman's course, preferably on your own boat or one very similar to it.

 

My boat is only 36 feet long, but I can almost spin her round on her centre point only using the normal engine and rudder. I did have to cheat to do the same thing on a 70 foot widebeam by using the bow thruster, though.

[cotswoldsman]

Know what you are doing!!! Can't wait for that day to arrive

[MtB]

60ft single handing isn't a problem.

 

I'd quailify that by saying if the OP is a complete novice (and she doesn't say), a 60ft boat is still more of a handful than 35 or 40ft. I'd suggest getting some help or at least some company for a first cruise. But it's quite easy to pick up with a few hours of practise.

 

Or as John says, take a one day RYA traing course.

 

MtB

[John Williamson 1955]

Know what you are doing!!! Can't wait for that day to arrive

Yeah, well, me too, but I can cope for now.

[RLWP]

60ft boat is still more of a handful than 35 or 40ft

 

In what way, Mike?

 

Richard

[MtB]

It's harder to judge where the bow is, takes longer to stop coz its heavier, catches the wind more easily when using the centreline, further to run if you need to grap the bow line, a short boat is slightly easier to deal with in many little ways.

 

Not big differences, but differences all the same.

 

MtB

[RLWP]

On the other hand, a small boat needs constant attention when steering, is more vulnerable to wind and bye wash. I would say it is more of a handful to steer

 

Depends what you want, and shows how hard it is to answer the OPs question

 

Richard

[PaulG]

Hey just wondered what your thoughts are on handling 60ft boat alone, yes I am a woman lol but not sure if that matters. Just weighing up whether im best off with smaller live aboard

 

Yout thoughts .?

The lady who moors opposite me is of a "certain age" and has a tug-style Hudson that looks at least 65ft to me, maybe 70. I met her coming the other way as I was going up the Staffs & Worcs in the summer, so she'd got it up the Severn from Tewkesbury to Stourport singlehanded, as well as doing a decent stretch of narrow canal.

[patty-ann]

I have 60 ft boat as single woman and steering fine, can manage steering in locks fine but not yet tackled solo locking as family have escorted me on my trips...am novice,but love my boat, really really love my boat. She feels part of me.

Find it difficult to stop her when parallel parking and getting into Marina slot and yeah if honest turning in winding place though improving but love my boat.

You know if boat you have found feels right for you go for it.

Advise getting someone along for first few trips but get someone whose chilled and not critical...ok got that wrong!

Good luck, keep posting and enjoy...and did I mention I really really love my 60ft monster!

[Odana]

Whatever you start with will be 'normal' for you to handle - you'll never know the difference between that and something you never tried. And all boats steer differently so there are more important things to consider in making a choice. Buy the boat you like, can afford, and which you feel you can live on most easily. 50'+ is better for living on in general. You spend more time inside than outside!

[Wanderer Vagabond]

We've also got a 60 footer and I would agree with the other comments that you will get used to manoevering it in the same way that you would have got used to manoevering a smaller boat, after all the engine is there to do all the 'heavy lifting' all you need to do manually are the minor tweaks.

 

The only place I would say that it becomes more difficult is on some of the more bendy canals. We are just up the Caldon at the moment and the tight corners (and narrow bridge holes) are more of a challenge than straighter canals such as the Trent and Mersey or Grand Union.I usually pride myself on not hitting much but up this canal I have managed to (lightly) bump a couple of bridges because I haven't been able to turn the boat enough whilst lining up for the bridge. Having followed a 50 footer for some way along here, he didn't have half the problems on the corners that I had, but then it is a bit obvious innit! a longer boat will be more difficult to turn in a tight situation.

 

With all that said however the extra living space is well worth it.

Edited September 2, 2014 by Wanderer Vagabond

[muddywaters]

You'll have no problem. I've seen some really old folk on long boats, and they manage fine, and I'm sure you've got more energy than some old folk:)

Where they lost Vikings

[Bones]

 

I'd quailify that by saying if the OP is a complete novice (and she doesn't say), a 60ft boat is still more of a handful than 35 or 40ft.

Only if someone tells you so. The first time I stepped on the first boat it was +60ft and I reversed it 1 mile to the winding hole. The owner was flabberghasted when he found out proclaiming "but this boat is impossible to reverse" good job no-one told me. I also had no idea that narrowboats didn't go backwards at all well. Nor did I know that single handing a 63ft boat was difficult.

The only thing I wish people had told me was that boats are meant to be warm!

 

Now, I did spend an inordinate amount of time getting stuck and wedged but I am sure that put me in good stead for my life on boats.

 

I love the space on the +60ft but I prefer the maneuverability of my 54ft.

Edited September 3, 2014 by Bones

[ditchcrawler]

You'll have no problem. I've seen some really old folk on long boats, and they manage fine, and I'm sure you've got more energy than some old folk:)

 

 

Where they lost Vikings

I didn't know the crew of Willow were Vikings

[MyLady]

On the other hand, a small boat needs constant attention when steering, is more vulnerable to wind and bye wash. I would say it is more of a handful to steer

 

Depends what you want, and shows how hard it is to answer the OPs question

 

Richard

 

One thing that no-one's mentioned is that a 60-footer won't fit in some locks (unless you do something fancy like positioning her diagonally). An important question is where you want to cruise - if the answer is, "everywhere" then you should, I understand, look at a maximum around 55' to 57' long and a NARROWBOAT - max width 6'10" (even at that, you have to take in all fenders to enter/leave some locks on the Huddersfield Narrow - I know because I didn't!)

 

That aside, boat handling is just something you learn, as is the fact that you turn faster if you open the throttle - that's much more counter-intuitive than pushing the tiller the way you DON'T want to go, that's easy: just remember that the back (where you are) moves the same way as you move the tiller, but when she isn't going where you want her to, it's instinctive to slow down - but that reduces the effect of the rudder, so you can't turn as quickly as you need to - instead, if you can brace yourself to do it, it's better to open the throttle, which pushes more water past the rudder, so you turn faster!

 

A very few things are completely opposite to your instincts; like towing a caravan that's started to snake - every fibre of your being wants to press the brake pedal, but that will make the swinging increase, and may cause a full blown 'jack knife', instead you have to accelerate, gently but firmly, until the snaking stops, then even more gently slow down... Opening the throttle when you're going to hit a bridge or boat is just as hard to do, but going into reverse just makes the collision more certain (my pram hood is being repaired right now, to prove my point). The real answer is going slowly enough to start with, but if there's a cross wind, you can't! That must have been one of Sod's unpublished laws...

 

An RYA course will help enormously, but to get the most from it, you probably need lousy weather...

 

Otherwise, time is the great teacher, but expect to have a red face a few times!

 

Roger