Brigantine

[RLWP]

Example.

 

That's because you are giving out mixed messages

 

You want to buy the biggest boat possible and put it in an London marina as an investment

 

You want to be part of a vibrant canal community

 

You want a home for your family

 

You want to roam the system enjoying yourself

 

You want to start a political debate about narrowboats 'vs' widebeams

 

What are you trying to achieve?

 

Richard

I'm going to step out of this conversation. I feel my inexperience will grate on nerves already frayed.

 

Thanks all for your advice - I welcome all of it.

 

Steady now - you are not the first newbie on here. You do seem to be thinking hard about this, and are not trying to buy a boat for pennies. Have a think, come back

 

Richard

[MtB]

I'm going to step out of this conversation. I feel my inexperience will grate on nerves already frayed.

 

Thanks all for your advice - I welcome all of it.

 

 

Actually please don't.

 

The way you are challenging entrenched views here is the stuff of the very BEST debates on this forum!

[Edward_M]

 

That's because you are giving out mixed messages

 

You want to buy the biggest boat possible and put it in an London marina as an investment

 

You want to be part of a vibrant canal community

 

You want a home for your family

 

You want to roam the system enjoying yourself

 

You want to start a political debate about narrowboats 'vs' widebeams

 

What are you trying to achieve?

 

Richard

You want to buy the biggest boat possible and put it in an London marina as an investment - no, read my posts. I was talking about buying a boat that would at least retain some of its value should i need to move to land in 5 or 10 years.

You want to be part of a vibrant canal community -yes. I want to be part of the community

You want a home for your family -which means a minimum living space required to meet my needs

You want to roam the system enjoying yourself - yes, i want to roam parts of the system that would safely and comfortably accomodate my boat - hence why I've been asking about realistic dimensions

You want to start a political debate about narrowboats 'vs' widebeams -no, but I'm intrigued by the amount of criticism I've heard from narrowboaters who hear I want to buy a widebeam, and the reasons they state seem to be that widebeams shouldn't be on the canals (I've heard this maybe 20 times?) If this is the case, I want to find out whether buying a widebeam means i can't be part of the community. If this is the case, then I need to go back to the decision making process.

What are you trying to achieve?

 

Everything you said - I want to know where the best compromise is in canal communities, cruising and maximising living space.

I ask, humbly - not to start a rebellion!!! I think you get the wrong idea about my intentions?

Edited December 14, 2016 by Edward Mendelson

[MtB]

The canals and the boaters are a seething mass of tensions. You are shining a torch on a few of them. If you're finding the tenor of the thread awkward then grow a thicker skin, there is a LOAD more tensions you've yet to uncover.

 

Just wait till you get on to types of toilets, or licensing costs of widebeams Vs narrow boats!

[Edward_M]

 

 

Actually please don't.

 

The way you are challenging entrenched views here is the stuff of the very BEST debates on this forum!

I don't think you all realise how difficult this is as an outsider... I want to live in a narrowboat, but that doesn't meet my family's needs... does that mean I can own a boat but not take it outside of a marina? You all need to get your conditions straight. Do you want people like me to be spending money on the canals and helping the canal economy, or would you prefer we stay away?

The canals and the boaters are a seething mass of tensions. You are shining a torch on a few of them. If you're finding the tenor of the thread awkward then grow a thicker skin, there is a LOAD more tensions you've yet to uncover.

 

Just wait till you get on to types of toilets, or licensing costs of widebeams Vs narrow boats!

Yeah, I get that. And have had cassette vs pump out conversations a plenty!

Entrenched views abound, and I work in an industry that monopolised traditions vs modernism!!!

[bizzard]

To be accepted into the canal community is not just about the size of boats. Years ago there were and still are a few wide beam working boats on the Grand Onion and elswhere. They all bomb up and down the GU, trying to race the trains I expect. These days its more about having to drink real ale, learn how to Morris dance, play a Kazoo or paper and comb, and to join in with these activities with great gusto whether you like them or not.

[Edward_M]

Screw it, I'm bringing one of our Australian boats over...

http://resources1.news.com.au/images/2014/06/05/1226944/403849-161a52ea-eb8f-11e3-9fa0-1bddff48c580.jpg

Narrowboats can fit under the hull...

Edited December 14, 2016 by Edward Mendelson

[Alan de Enfield]

Screw it, I'm bringing one of our Australian boats over...

http://resources1.news.com.au/images/2014/06/05/1226944/403849-161a52ea-eb8f-11e3-9fa0-1bddff48c580.jpg

Narrowboats can fit under the hull...

 

Here is my 'fat-boat' (23 foot beam)

 

 

Can only be used on 'BIG' rivers and the ocean.

 

Sailed her across from Croatia last April

Arriving in Hull Marina

 

 

 

Edited December 14, 2016 by Alan de Enfield

[widebeamboy]

^{Screw it, I'm bringing one of our Australian boats over...}

^{http://resources1.news.com.au/images/2014/06/05/1226944/403849-161a52ea-eb8f-11e3-9fa0-1bddff48c580.jpg}

^{Narrowboats can fit under the hull...}

 

^{Leave your tender at home as I can see this guy out the office window....}

 

^{https://isleofdogslife.wordpress.com/2015/12/10/super-yacht-ilona-arrives-in-west-india-dock/}

[Edward_M]

 

Here is my 'fat-boat' (23 foot beam)

 

51948864gallery_wm.jpg

51948863gallery_wm.jpg

 

Can only be used on 'BIG' rivers and the ocean.

play-dead-shark-attack-140556022.jpg

 

Don't go near the ocean. Bad things happen there.

 

Sincerely

-An Australian

Edited December 14, 2016 by Edward Mendelson

[Edward_M]

"Navigating the canals in a widebeam is dangerous"

 

http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2016/05/30/03/34C3915200000578-3615448-image-a-18_1464576439833.jpg

 

;-)

[Athy]

"Navigating the canals in a widebeam is dangerous"

 

http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2016/05/30/03/34C3915200000578-3615448-image-a-18_1464576439833.jpg

 

;-)

So's reading the Daily Mail, but that doesn't stop some people.

No need to sidle off into the shadows (not that I can ever remember an Aussie doing that, though I often wished that Warne and McGrath could have done), advice offered on here may be mixed and may be presented in various ways, but most of the people offering it are experienced and are wishing to be helpful.

[Edward_M]

So's reading the Daily Mail, but that doesn't stop some people.

No need to sidle off into the shadows (not that I can ever remember an Aussie doing that, though I often wished that Warne and McGrath could have done), advice offered on here may be mixed and may be presented in various ways, but most of the people offering it are experienced and are wishing to be helpful.

Reading? Nobody actually 'reads' the Daily Mail, do they?

 

I quickly googled "Crocodile on Canal" to aptly represent my interpretation of everyone's comments of waterborn dangers. In Australia, as almost any living organism is sentient and wants you dead, our primary language is "screaming".

 

I'm actually only moving to the UK because there is a goldfish in our pond that has been plotting to kill me. The Australian Federal Police have tried witness protection for me, but it followed me to the safehouse. I'm just hoping that CanalWorld.net doesn't index my details on a google search so that the goldfish can find me again.

 

I hear you have no snakes in the UK. That's nice. I like the idea of going for a walk without ending up dead.

 

The canals don't have any low-hanging branches over them, do they? Just that I worry about drop-bears.

https://img.buzzfeed.com/buzzfeed-static/static/2013-10/enhanced/webdr06/8/6/original-11880-1381229025-2.jpg

[MtB]

I don't think you all realise how difficult this is as an outsider... I want to live in a narrowboat, but that doesn't meet my family's needs... does that mean I can own a boat but not take it outside of a marina? You all need to get your conditions straight. Do you want people like me to be spending money on the canals and helping the canal economy, or would you prefer we stay away?

 

 

Here's an entrenched view you'll hear from time to time:

 

The canals are teeming with boats to bursting point. The last thing they need is another 'land grabbing' monster widebeam launched and taking up more than their fair share of space, whilst paying no more for their licence than a narrow boat half the size.

[Edward_M]

I'm going to quit before the admins delete the entire thread. Thanks everyone for the advice and stimulating conversation!

 

See you all soon from my ocean liner!

 

 

Here's an entrenched view you'll hear from time to time:

 

The canals are teeming with boats to bursting point. The last thing they need is another 'land grabbing' monster widebeam launched and taking up more than their fair share of space, whilst paying no more for their licence than a narrow boat half the size.

Then a widebeam tax or increase CRT fee... if widebeam owners want to pay more for a big boat, they'll pay more for canal use... I know I would happily pay my way.

[Athy]

I think they pay more on the Thames, where fees are determined on an area rather than a length basis.

 

Oh, and we DO have snakes in the U.K. You need to go to Ireland, they don't have any.

 

You send us a consignment of sentient beings that want to kill us from time to time. Mitchell Johnson and Stevie Smith were in the last package that I saw.

[BruceinSanity]

Yes!, its not mucking around in boats, its boating around in muck.

You're quoting Michael Green again, The Art of Coarse Sailing. And that was about boating on the Broads...

 

As for calling canal boaters weird...

 

[BruceinSanity]

I'm going to quit before the admins delete the entire thread. Thanks everyone for the advice and stimulating conversation!

 

See you all soon from my ocean liner!

 

Then a widebeam tax or increase CRT fee... if widebeam owners want to pay more for a big boat, they'll pay more for canal use... I know I would happily pay my way.

 

Please don't go, this thread is the most fun I've had with my clothes on since I stopped dancing.

[ditchcrawler]

 

I don't know enough to know if you're being sarcastic. My impression was a boat of 250k should have AGM or Victron GEL batteries?

 

That depends if they are Good Lead Acid

[cereal tiller]

Please don't go, this thread is the most fun I've had with my clothes on since I stopped dancing.

Morris Dancing?

 

Don't tell Bizzard.

 

CT

[Graham Davis]

But you all understand my conundrum right? I grew up in the UK. I love the romantic notion of narrowboats on the canal systems. My favourite holidays were on them... But the system is changing.

 

Now, I'm returning to the UK, and I look for a solution for my family. A floating home, but I want to explore too... I don't want to ruin the canals for others, but I also can't afford two boats. What do I do?

 

I build a boat of decent size for my family, and I 'respectfully' use the canals that are safe to do so. I use the locks respectfully. I give way respectfully. I don't generate wake. I add bow thrusters (and probably a stern thruster on the build I'm looking at) to ensure I don't hit anyone.

 

What would you have me do?

 

But to use the whole system you need to have a narrow boat, unless you are willing to forego using the lovely bits in the middle.

Edited December 14, 2016 by Graham Davis

[BruceinSanity]

Morris Dancing?

 

Don't tell Bizzard.

 

CT

No, worse than that, secret line dancing. I stopped at 1540 'cos I wanted a cup of tea

[MtB]

My impression was a boat of 250k should have AGM or Victron GEL batteries?

 

But AGM and GEL batteries ARE lead acid!

 

Just not flooded.

 

And not possible to maintain like proper flooded LA batteries.

[matty40s]

But to use the whole system you need to have a narrow boat, unless you are willing to forego using the lovely bits in the middle.

But to use the whole system you need half a full length narrowboat....

There's plenty I can't do in my 70 footer.

[Naughty Cal]

 

But to use the whole system you need to have a narrow boat, unless you are willing to forego using the lovely bits in the middle.

Just hire a boat to see the narrow bits in the middle.

 

No point restricting your living space just in case you might one day fancy seeing a narrow muddy ditch in the midlands.