Boat size question from a newbie

[Dbonar]

As mentioned in another thread I am part of a group of 8 planning a trip in July. It will be our first trip on a narrowboat. Due to the size of our party we are going to end up with a long boat (I believe every one we are looking at is 70 feet). Some places say these boat are for experienced skippers. Other places say they aren't any harder to steer. Assuming it fits in locks on our route is there any reason to dread getting a 70 footer?

[Keeping Up]

Don't panic !!!!!

 

In many ways steering a 70 footer is actually easier than steering a shorter boat.

[Dbonar]

No panic. Just need to reassure some of the crew.

 

BTW and apropos of nothing but man is it hard to find boats to sleep 8 without making someone sleep in the dinette or making one of the 3 couples sleep in single beds.

[Bloomsberry]

Don't rule out the dinnette, I slept the whole week on one on one holiday by choice as the guy I was sharing the bunk room with snored so loud it was unreal !

[MtB]

Two people sleeping in a single bed can be enormous fun, if its the right other person...

[Ange]

We found when we were hiring with a big group it's best to go above the number in your party. For 8 I'd go for an 8-10, or even better a 10-12 because them you've got a couple of spare bunks to store your stuff. Storage space is very lacking in hire boats if you fill them to capacity with bodies.

 

Of course that's assuming the budget is available.

 

Two people sleeping in a single bed can be enormous fun, if its the right other person...

Aye but hell on earth with the wrong other person, for some their spouse Edited March 17, 2015 by Ange

[MHS]

No panic. Just need to reassure some of the crew.

 

BTW and apropos of nothing but man is it hard to find boats to sleep 8 without making someone sleep in the dinette or making one of the 3 couples sleep in single beds.

 

When we have visitors, they sleep in our 5' wide cross double, so we have the dinette. We've always found it very comfortable.

 

What's so wrong with 3 couples in single beds? Unless your planning an orgy, the only thing that will normally get stiff on an 8 person trip is people's upper lips.

As mentioned in another thread I am part of a group of 8 planning a trip in July. It will be our first trip on a narrowboat. Due to the size of our party we are going to end up with a long boat (I believe every one we are looking at is 70 feet). Some places say these boat are for experienced skippers. Other places say they aren't any harder to steer. Assuming it fits in locks on our route is there any reason to dread getting a 70 footer?

If you're a novice, just be careful in locks with a 70 footer. You're not going to have a lot of room to spare

[Dbonar]

Don't rule out the dinnette, I slept the whole week on one on one holiday by choice as the guy I was sharing the bunk room with snored so loud it was unreal !

 

Comfort isn't the real issue. I'm much more worried about the sleep schedules with one teenager and one adult who like to sleep in and two 75 year olds who might want to nap midday or go to bed early.

 

What's so wrong with 3 couples in single beds? Unless your planning an orgy, the only thing that will normally get stiff on an 8 person trip is people's upper lips.

 

You've got that right!

 

It might be the route we take although I'm not sure how that will go over with a couple of people in the crew. One thing that isn't going to fly is bunk beds.

Edited March 17, 2015 by Dbonar

[Alan Saunders]

Comfort isn't the real issue. I'm much more worried about the sleep schedules with one teenager and one adult who like to sleep in and two 75 year olds who might want to nap midday or go to bed early.

 

 

You've got that right!

 

It might be the route we take although I'm not sure how that will go over with a couple of people in the crew. One thing that isn't going to fly is bunk beds.

In that case you will need two boats to accomodate your party.

 

Alan

[Jo_]

The very first time we hired as a family, there were 8 or 10 of us depending on which day and who had joined or left! And two boats was what we did and it was perfect because of two kitchens, extra bathroom, two Salons etc. So there were more options for everyone in the evening and two kitchen spaces for food preparation (the young had the usual hollow legs).

[Cruising Mike]

I would second the option of hiring two boats.

 

The oldies can share one while the younger ones on the other. And if the right route is chosen, having both boats together in broad locks will be in your favour.

 

If you wish to stick with just one boat, then i would get the biggest you possibly can for your party because as someone mentioned before, storage spaces is lacking. Bigger boats usually only have bunk beds available so you may need to get your crew to compromise.

[Athy]

Two medium-sized boats travelling in convoy would be more comfortable and convenient for your group. Finding moorings in some popular locations could be a problem - but if the canal is wide enough, you can breast up (= moor side by side).

[DeanS]

Going around bends where other boats have moored on the towpath..in a long boat, will be much trickier....because in order for you to get the nose to go left, you have to move the tiller end....right....but if there's not enough space on your right....the nose wont move left enough...and you wont make it round the bend without hitting something.

 

Being in shorter boats, is a lot easier to steer round bends.

 

 

;-)

[Dbonar]

From car trips with this very same group (two just shy of 50 year old couples, our 75 year old mom and dad, and my two late teen aged sons) I'm hessitent to do two boats. The natural break points make our family of 4 in one car/boat and everyone else in the other. Since the reason to vacation together is to spend time with my parents, brother, and sister in law I"d like to keep us together.

 

Like bunk beds this might have to be flexible but I'd rather be careful on bends then take two boats.

[Athy]

From car trips with this very same group (two just shy of 50 year old couples, our 75 year old mom and dad, and my two late teen aged sons) I'm hessitent to do two boats. The natural break points make our family of 4 in one car/boat and everyone else in the other. Since the reason to vacation together is to spend time with my parents, brother, and sister in law I"d like to keep us together.

 

Like bunk beds this might have to be flexible but I'd rather be careful on bends then take two boats.

Fair comment.

[cuthound]

My first canal holiday back in 1973 was on a "camping boat", which were unconverted 72 foot working boats with bunk beds in the hold. I cannot recall any steering difficulties, although I acknowledge the canals were a lot quieter in those days (if you saw more than 3 boats on the move in July it was considered to be busy).

 

Whatever length boat you will get used to steering it in a couple of days.

 

Taking two boats will incur a significant cost penalty, so I would go with the 70 footer and spend the savings in the pubs

[OldGoat]

A full length boat won't be appreciably more difficult to steer than a 60 or 65 footer - EXCEPT where the navigation is tight, you just have to use the tiller and engine more.

You may well have trouble finding moorings - we do and ours is only 60 foot and we do stop later.

 

Two boats didn't work for us on a family cruise. We were constantly waiting for the other boat.

It's doable if you take a military approach to the problem - but that's not the essence of boating.

[Hawthorn]

Endorse all the OPs. Bigger the better. Agree rules that are never broken, such as no riding on the roof in tunnels. No walking on the roof while moving, no jumping across lock gates. 75 year olds unaccustomed to canal boating will have fits of apoplexy if the teenagers are too adventurous. Aim for agreed hours with no noise or light pollution. Remember water pumps can be very noisy. Encourage walking. Going down locks, you won't have much room behind you, so watch out for the cill..in a sociable group it's easy to distract the driver. Try to sort out menus and galley responsibilities in advance. My brother took a mixed group of 12 and found that there was always someone cooking. Try to avoid giving everyone choice at every meal. Accept that you may have to use UHT milk, or you will be driving along hoping to come across a shop. Try to agree other responsibilities too so that it isn't the ladies who have to keep everything ship-shape, clean the loos and the galley every time. And don't feed white bread to the ducks! Have a lovely time. I'm sure you will as you are putting an effort into thinking about it. Seen too many to haven't and then don't

[matty40s]

Going around bends where other boats have moored on the towpath..in a long boat, will be much trickier....because in order for you to get the nose to go left, you have to move the tiller end....right....but if there's not enough space on your right....the nose wont move left enough...and you wont make it round the bend without hitting something.

 

Being in shorter boats, is a lot easier to steer round bends.

 

 

;-)

You've not steered one of these have you Dean? ☺

[David Mack]

Endorse all the OPs. Bigger the better. Agree rules that are never broken, such as no riding on the roof in tunnels. No walking on the roof while moving, no jumping across lock gates. 75 year olds unaccustomed to canal boating will have fits of apoplexy if the teenagers are too adventurous. Aim for agreed hours with no noise or light pollution. Remember water pumps can be very noisy. Encourage walking. Going down locks, you won't have much room behind you, so watch out for the cill..in a sociable group it's easy to distract the driver. Try to sort out menus and galley responsibilities in advance. My brother took a mixed group of 12 and found that there was always someone cooking. Try to avoid giving everyone choice at every meal. Accept that you may have to use UHT milk, or you will be driving along hoping to come across a shop. Try to agree other responsibilities too so that it isn't the ladies who have to keep everything ship-shape, clean the loos and the galley every time. And don't feed white bread to the ducks! Have a lovely time. I'm sure you will as you are putting an effort into thinking about it. Seen too many to haven't and then don't

 

Every hire boat comes with a fridge. You only need to buy milk every 2-3 days, just as you would at home, and shops along the cut are not that hard to find!

[Hawthorn]

Every hire boat comes with a fridge. You only need to buy milk every 2-3 days, just as you would at home, and shops along the cut are not that hard to find![/

 

That's a bit picky. A party of eight will find it hard to keep a 3 day store of fresh food , and still have room for the lager and Sauvignon Blanc!

[Dbonar]

This boat is going to run on real ale and coffee.

[The Pipe]

More importantly you want a boat with 2 bathrooms.

Alvechurch 'Goose', 'Owl' and 'Swan' classes and Viking Afloat 'Wye' are sized for your type of group there are many other hire firms with suitable boats.

I allways ended up with 'Owl' class boats when it was just me and my parents as I used to ring on Thursday to see what is availabe for Satuday start.

Edited March 19, 2015 by Jim Evans

[Dave_P]

 

Every hire boat comes with a fridge. You only need to buy milk every 2-3 days, just as you would at home, and shops along the cut are not that hard to find!

Cravendale will last up to 2 weeks.