Restored Dutch Push Tugs Adventure

[bargemast]

The two boats in question, when I spoke to them in Berkhamsted one has a Sabb and the other one has a Faryman.

 

I don't know if their hulls are original hulls (of the good old days) but their engines definitely aren't, even if they are rather nice engines.

 

Opduwers (push-tugs) are quite popular in the Netherlands, and some 40 years ago I had 2 of those myself, of which 1 had a twin cylinder Samofa 30hp, and the other a 120hp Mercedes, that I used for towing houseboats to the boatyards with.

 

They were ideal little boats for the canals in Amsterdam, and they were (are) lots of fun.

 

Nowadays you can buy brand new hulls, or if you are a decent welder you can buy a plate-kit and build one yourself, see the link :

 

http://www.euroshipservices.nl/english/ EURO SLEPERS INFO.

 

The smaller ones are like the boat that's moored against the bank in the photograph.

 

Peter.

[Phil Ambrose]

I'm sure Rachel will be interested. She must be an expert in boat building. I mean she is an expert at everything else after all.

Regards kris

Was this comment really needed? I know you two have history but really, adds nothing to the thread other than a bit of unpleasantness.

 

Phil

[cuthound]

Saw them go past my mooring at Amington about 2:00pm yesterday. Would have posted them but kept getting a database error page rather than the forum. By the time I'd got my phone ready to take a picture they had gone

[bargemast]

Saw them go past my mooring at Amington about 2:00pm yesterday. Would have posted them but kept getting a database error page rather than the forum. By the time I'd got my phone ready to take a picture they had gone

 

 

Too bad, I would have loved to see more pictures of those cute little pusher tugs on their way through the U.K.

 

Peter.

Edited June 8, 2015 by bargemast

[DHutch]

Very nice indeed.

 

 

Daniel

[jake_crew]

I hope they'll be passing through Braunston at the end of the month !

[Hotspur]

Some pictures of these boats passing through Stoke Bruerne last Thursday. Link is to the album on Flickr for full size images (I hope).

 

https://flic.kr/s/aHskdJL7tz

 

 

 

 

 

Edited June 8, 2015 by Hotspur

[bargemast]

Great stuff Hotspur thanks very much, I can't get enough of seeing them, and it's definitely one of the things I miss most from Holland.

 

Peter.

[1agos]

Spotted them at Lechlade two days ago.

[Judgejim64]

On the way down the Thames then.

[valrene9600]

As they came past Yardley Gobion Grand Union.

 

 

 

[bargemast]

Thanks for the posting of these photos, I can't get enough of seeing them.

 

I wonder why the first one is towing a tyre, unless he wants to use more fuel.

 

Peter.

[magnetman]

They are in Limehouse Basin this evening are they going on the tideway??

 

I reckon the tyre is to stop the stern swinging from side to side - maybe these boats are prone to weaving about in shallow water?

 

Very nice little boats sorry I didn't have a camera or phone with me when I was out in the tender earlier...

[bargemast]

They are in Limehouse Basin this evening are they going on the tideway??

 

I reckon the tyre is to stop the stern swinging from side to side - maybe these boats are prone to weaving about in shallow water?

 

Very nice little boats sorry I didn't have a camera or phone with me when I was out in the tender earlier...

 

Hello magnetman, yes, maybe you're right, I've only worked this kind of boats in deep enough waters where they handled really well.

 

But it's the first time I see one towing a tyre behind, which I've never seen before even on the smaller canals (more like ditches) in the Netherlands.

 

Also they wouldn't be allowed to tow a tyre in Holland, Belgium and France and surely other contries too, as they are the main jobs for divers clearing tyres from props and locks etc. they are a sure reason to get fined.

 

Peter.

[magnetman]

Got some pictures

 

They are on my farcebook page..

 

The bloke towing the tyre said it is because the engine(sabb g1 with fnr gearbox) does not run slow enough happily.

https://m.facebook.com/profile.php?ref=bookmarks

[johnthebridge]

 

Hello magnetman, yes, maybe you're right, I've only worked this kind of boats in deep enough waters where they handled really well.

 

But it's the first time I see one towing a tyre behind, which I've never seen before even on the smaller canals (more like ditches) in the Netherlands.

 

Also they wouldn't be allowed to tow a tyre in Holland, Belgium and France and surely other contries too, as they are the main jobs for divers clearing tyres from props and locks etc. they are a sure reason to get fined.

 

Peter.

 

If you were to go to West Bay, the harbour for the small Dorset town of Bridport, you might see fishing boats returning from their work. On one occasion there, with an on-shore wind blowing, I noticed that all the returning crews dropped a large bucket over the stern, tied on a longish line. I subsequently asked one of the crewmen why they'd done this, and his answer made it obvious. He said that the bucket slowed the boat up considerably so that entry to the narrow harbour with a following wind could be made safely but, at the same time, more power was also applied to counteract the ensuing drag, thus affording more steerage control. Hope I've made that clear? Come in on full chat but actually moving at a controllable pace.

I don't know whether that explanation applies to these little opdrukker, but it looks like that to me.

Edited July 3, 2015 by johnthebridge

[magnetman]

The one with the white cabin is in fact a faithful replica of an old push boat which was too far gone and the one with the yellow cabin is apparently actually a large dinghy which has had a cabin and inboard engine added.

 

They came from Lechlade to Limehouse !! That's a bit bonkers going through the pool of London in those things

[magnetman]

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Edited July 3, 2015 by magnetman

[bargemast]

 

If you were to go to West Bay, the harbour for the small Dorset town of Bridport, you might see fishing boats returning from their work. On one occasion there, with an on-shore wind blowing, I noticed that all the returning crews dropped a large bucket over the stern, tied on a longish line. I subsequently asked one of the crewmen why they'd done this, and his answer made it obvious. He said that the bucket slowed the boat up considerably so that entry to the narrow harbour with a following wind could be made safely but, at the same time, more power was also applied to counteract the ensuing drag, thus affording more steerage control. Hope I've made that clear? Come in on full chat but actually moving at a controllable pace.

I don't know whether that explanation applies to these little opdrukker, but it looks like that to me.

 

Hello John, I know about the large bucket the fisherman used, in real life this sort of thing is called "sea-anchor or drogue", in Dutch we call them "zee anker", in the late 60s and early 70s, I often went sailing on a twin mast Klipperaak in the Netherlands, and we used a sea-Anchor too for more contrôle on the steering when entering a Harbour in strong-to stormy wind conditions.

 

But never seen it used on a canal .

 

Peter.

[bargemast]

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Hello magnetman, looking at the pictures of these lovely boats I thought already that the "Kwart" was a new build one, as is of welded construction, and could well have been built from one of the kits of which I'd put a link in an earlier post.

 

In the very beginning many of these boats (the bigger sized dingy's) used to have Ford-T petrol engines, but the ones like "Kwart" were purposely build to do this job, and look more like a smaller version of a real tug.

 

The bigger versions of the vlet were purposely built too, and they were much heavier than the rowing dingy's shaped like that.

 

In case you're interested in a bit more history about them : https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Opduwer

 

Peter.

[Naughty Cal]

I'm sure Rachel will be interested. She must be an expert in boat building. I mean she is an expert at everything else after all.

Regards kris

Actually I would quite like to see the plans and dimensions.

 

If we could get it back out again I know where there is a perfect spot to build one and two guys who could easily fabricate the metal work.

[Pluto]

 

Hello John, I know about the large bucket the fisherman used, in real life this sort of thing is called "sea-anchor or drogue", in Dutch we call them "zee anker", in the late 60s and early 70s, I often went sailing on a twin mast Klipperaak in the Netherlands, and we used a sea-Anchor too for more contrôle on the steering when entering a Harbour in strong-to stormy wind conditions.

 

But never seen it used on a canal .

 

Peter.

I always used one on the unpowered boat when towing, something which I did occasionally do on my own, though only for comparatively short distances, such as moving short boat George from Burscough dock back to its mooring. Oh for the carefree days of the 1970s when there weren't so many pleasure boats about and you could let a barge float about unattended.

[Giant]

We saw these in Limehouse today and both immediately went "awww" like we were looking at a box full of kittens or something. They're adorable.

[bargemast]

We saw these in Limehouse today and both immediately went "awww" like we were looking at a box full of kittens or something. They're adorable.

 

I agree entirely.

 

Peter.