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Wide boat boating..?


rivergate

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You can get 12' 6" wide up as far as the first bridge north of Shrewley tunnel. The hotel boat Tranquil Rose got stuck there a few years ago.

There's a 10' 6" boat at Copt Heath but I wouldn't fancy taking a wide beam further north than the winding hole at Henwood bridge which is about a mile south of Catherine de Barnes.

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1 minute ago, J R ALSOP said:

Something that has been bothering me for a few years, this has been printed for the last twenty years in various reprints.

IMG_1725.jpg

well, there were 67 of the buggers in December, between Ivinghoe and Weedon alone...

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5 hours ago, cuthound said:

Is that to repair them after they have clouted the bridges?  -_-

I've only been up as far as Marsworth on my 12ft widebeam but never touched a single bridge. Been all the way from Reading to Bristol on the K&A and had similar results. ;)

Edited by blackrose
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On 04/04/2017 at 13:13, matty40s said:

The new Dunchurch Pools marina on the narrow North Oxford is building slipway and dock access for widebeams.:unsure:

 

I'd do the same if I were building a marina. 

There are hundreds of widebeams being launched that are for accommodation only, representing a nice fat flow of well off customers willing to pay top dollar for a 'home' mooring.

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20 hours ago, Mike the Boilerman said:

 

I'd do the same if I were building a marina. 

There are hundreds of widebeams being launched that are for accommodation only, representing a nice fat flow of well off customers willing to pay top dollar for a 'home' mooring.

So Mike, you are prepared to make lots of money out of wide boats but don’t like seeing them on the canals.

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On 06/04/2017 at 22:07, F DRAYKE said:

So Mike, you are prepared to make lots of money out of wide boats but don’t like seeing them on the canals.

 

Correct. Tucked up safely out of sight in a marina is the best place for them, no doubt you'll agree.

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No and we are heading your way. Just about ready to leave T&K for the K&A and hoping to get as far as Stratford with no time scale. We don’t mind having a chat and or a drink with you skinnies, so if you see us give us a shout, and I don’t mean slow down either. Anyone else up for a brew and a chat?

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On 4/4/2017 at 13:14, peterboat said:

I have a wide beam and stay up north cos the canals are designed for proper size boats no messing around wondering whether you can make it or not

You are so right but thats not the way things are going. People are taking widebeams on piddly little canals such as the K and A and the Grand union to name but two neither of which are suited.

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9 minutes ago, mrsmelly said:

You are so right but thats not the way things are going. People are taking widebeams on piddly little canals such as the K and A and the Grand union to name but two neither of which are suited.

You forgot to add a smiley.

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Just now, F DRAYKE said:

You forgot to add a smiley.

Why a smiley? People are taking widebeams on such canals and they are piddley? Widebeams are moocho better suited to serious northern canals and rivers :)

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4 minutes ago, mrsmelly said:

Why a smiley? People are taking widebeams on such canals and they are piddley? Widebeams are moocho better suited to serious northern canals and rivers :)

I thought the K&A was built for wide boats and the GU got widened to take them or is that not so?

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Just now, F DRAYKE said:

I thought the K&A was built for wide boats and the GU got widened to take them or is that not so?

I think it depends on your take of such canals. I have been on both quite a lot and they are far more suited to pairs of narrowbeam boats rather than anything wider, just two 12 foot beam boats passing in many places is a nightmare due to width and depth etc and the small bridges.  You only have to take a look at maximum boat dimensions on say the K and A and maximum dimensions on the A and C to see which are better suited. For instance if wanting to wind my seventy footer on the A and C I would have just put power on and booted it round in a u turn, try doing that on the K and A. And depth is minimum of 8 feet at the side but more int middle. If you fall in on the K and A you just stand up. Horses for course though and piddly boats like my present narrowboat like piddly canals such as the Oxford :)

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49 minutes ago, mrsmelly said:

I think it depends on your take of such canals. I have been on both quite a lot and they are far more suited to pairs of narrowbeam boats rather than anything wider, just two 12 foot beam boats passing in many places is a nightmare due to width and depth etc and the small bridges.  You only have to take a look at maximum boat dimensions on say the K and A and maximum dimensions on the A and C to see which are better suited. For instance if wanting to wind my seventy footer on the A and C I would have just put power on and booted it round in a u turn, try doing that on the K and A. And depth is minimum of 8 feet at the side but more int middle. If you fall in on the K and A you just stand up. Horses for course though and piddly boats like my present narrowboat like piddly canals such as the Oxford :)

 

32 minutes ago, F DRAYKE said:

I take your point, then surely a great deal of dredging needs to be done to help ease some of the problem by making the channel wider on these canals.

I agree Tim the A & C is a lovely deep canal very suited to big boats and that is what is coming back to them shortly :D however the toy canals down south and in the Midlands are better suited to Narrowboats and other toy boats like them which they were clearly built for:lol: so I can understand why smaller boat owners get upset with widebeams.

I have 12 x 57 widebeam with wheelhouse, which takes up a fair amount of room and is very comfortable, and very suited to where it is on the Northern canals.

It would cost a great deal of money to get the southern canals up to scratch and by doing so would we just be making the problem worse? ie build it and they will come, and before long there would be no room to move!! 

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12 hours ago, F DRAYKE said:

I thought the K&A was built for wide boats and the GU got widened to take them or is that not so?

The  southern GU canal was originally built to wide, not necessarily deep, dimensions with most of northern section locks being widened in the early / mid 1930's. It was however built for commercial traffic and the boats were built to suit the cut. I don't think any of the board of directors envisioned or even cared of the canal being used for leisure. As a business venture wide boats on the GU were a failure. In the late 1800's - early 1900's they did have limited success on The Regents Canal. So, whilst the GU is deemed a "wide" canal I don't think it is suitable for today's "wide" leisure craft, which of course come in varying widths, not to any standard.

Edited by Ray T
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On 07/04/2017 at 21:19, F DRAYKE said:

I thought the K&A was built for wide boats and the GU got widened to take them or is that not so?

 

I think you're right about the K&A, it was built for wide boats in the first place. Once restored for leisure use after a long period on dereliction I don't think BW and latterly CRT maintain it to those original standards though. There are sections here in Wiltshire barely wide enough for a 12ft beam boat. Two of them going opposite ways meeting each other in such a section could get very interesting.

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16 hours ago, mrsmelly said:

You are so right but thats not the way things are going. People are taking widebeams on piddly little canals such as the K and A and the Grand union to name but two neither of which are suited.

That's because those piddly little canals were built for barges.

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15 hours ago, mrsmelly said:

I think it depends on your take of such canals. I have been on both quite a lot and they are far more suited to pairs of narrowbeam boats rather than anything wider, just two 12 foot beam boats passing in many places is a nightmare due to width and depth etc and the small bridges.  You only have to take a look at maximum boat dimensions on say the K and A and maximum dimensions on the A and C to see which are better suited. For instance if wanting to wind my seventy footer on the A and C I would have just put power on and booted it round in a u turn, try doing that on the K and A. And depth is minimum of 8 feet at the side but more int middle. If you fall in on the K and A you just stand up. Horses for course though and piddly boats like my present narrowboat like piddly canals such as the Oxford :)

But by your reasoning a narrow boat is too wide for the Oxford.

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9 hours ago, Mike the Boilerman said:

 

I think you're right about the K&A, it was built for wide boats in the first place. Once restored for leisure use after a long period on dereliction I don't think BW and latterly CRT maintain it to those original standards though. There are sections here in Wiltshire barely wide enough for a 12ft beam boat. Two of them going opposite ways meeting each other in such a section could get very interesting.

Thanks for that, it should be interesting as we have just left the T&K marina today and are heading down the K&A on a nice leisurely cruise so maybe see you down that way sometime.

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