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captain flint

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If you are going to CC I would say a narrow beam is the better option as you have far greater range to explore. You can also share wide locks with other NB's, with a WB you will always be locking on your own.

if you are going to sit in a marina or perminent mooring a wide beam is the better option for living space.

it all depends on how much space you really honestly need. We've all seen narrowboats with the roofs completely covered in junk, this makes me think they should have just bought a bigger boat. Though I have a feeling these people could easily fill the roof of a wide beam. For me the whole point of getting a boat was to declutter my life, live simply and explore the country; so a narrow boat was the obvious choice. It is a matter of working out what you really want and what you really actually need. 

A well built narrow boat will have a lot more storage space than you think. And once you are sat in your comfy chair for the evening does it matter that you can touch both sides of your home at the same time?

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From the point of a narrowboater it is annoying when you are behind a very wide boat. Firstly they mainly go very slow and then there is no chance of lock share. I reckon I see 15-20 narrowboats moving for every widebeam moving. (Lower GU).

I do notice collateral damage on these new wider ones. That must make them think about moving even less!

Edited by mark99
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On 14/07/2017 at 17:46, OldGoat said:

Sadly, some of the stretched narrowboats can and do look quite horrible, but folks don't buy them for their looks. A step up was a sort of dutch barge style that Peter Nicholls (?sp) built for that TV personality 'whats-his-name'.

I mourn the demise of Sagar Marine's boats which - for me - at least bridged the gap between inland waterways and sea going boats. There was one moored behind us for some years and she was lovely (the boat was too...)

 

Comment.

I think that a fair judgement. 

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If anyone's still reading this thread, what do you think of this boat? More out of curiosity than anything. I imagine people will say best to keep it in Europe, and that a boat from 1885 is hardly a sensible idea for anyone, let alone a novice... But I'm intrigued as to whether people think it's pretty, or, having lost the mast, has lost its soul... I think it looks great, and they do say iron hulls can last forever. Could be a snip. Or the kind of thing that could bankrupt a person!!! 

https://www.apolloduck.com/boat.phtml?id=411764

Like I say, cannot imagine for a minute I'll buy it, but as I'm going to Holland this week and will be 45 minutes up the road so I might go and have a look out of interest of the seller's willing.

 

 

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I think she's lovely but I have no idea what kind of a liability she might be. 

Nor how you'd get her back to the UK. 

Edited by WotEver
Spillung
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I'd not have any problem with the age per se, but would obviously want a thorough survey. Also it would be no problem getting it to the UK on a low loader. BUT.... on UK canals a fore end like that is going to lift gates off with no trouble at all. At about 8' 6" it is obviously limited in its cruising range too.

 

Tam

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Yeah, I strongly think she's one to dream* about rather than anything else. But since I'm going away to Holland this week, and I'll just be up the road, seems a shame not to have a peak. I won't buy it. I'm sure. That would be mad. Then again maybe I won't go and se it, no need to tempt fate re doing something mad XD

*for me, in my circumstances, I mean. She might be perfect for someone, somewhere (survey permitting)

Edited by captain flint
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Just now, captain flint said:

Yeah, I strongly think she's one to dream about rather than anything else. But since I'm going away to Holland this week, and I'll just be up the road, seems a shame not to have a peak. I won't buy it. I'm sure. That would be mad. Then again maybe I won't go and se it, no need to tempt fate re doing something mad XD

You only have one life and it's fleetingly short...

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Just now, WotEver said:

You only have one life and it's fleetingly short...

You're a trouble maker, huh? ;-)

3 hours ago, Tam & Di said:

on UK canals a fore end like that is going to lift gates off with no trouble at all

Ah yes, how difficult would it be to guard against that? Could you take preventative measures or might you end up having to pit your strength against the boat in rising waters? That doesn't sound ideal... !
 

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8 minutes ago, captain flint said:

 

You're a trouble maker, huh? ;-)

Ah yes, how difficult would it be to guard against that? Could you take preventative measures or might you end up having to pit your strength against the boat in rising waters? That doesn't sound ideal... !
 

It's a short boat so hold it back with rope on bollard when rising. Quite easy.

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10 hours ago, mark99 said:

It's a short boat so hold it back with rope on bollard when rising. Quite easy.

Ta.

[I do get the feeling with boats that the more I look, the more realise there is, and every little step of understanding just makes me see I'm even more ignorant than I'd realised, little drops of learning in a landscape which is constantly unfolding into areas I know precisely nothing about whatsoever. A bit like life, really... But it's quite fun!]

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Well, I've seen the 2015 survey, and although there's a fair bit of base with more than 5mm, there's plenty with less, including an area with less than 4. So, sadly, I think I'll pass.

Some fake fiddle-dy-dee liverpool narrowboat I see wending my way. That sounds harsher than I mean it. If I buy a narrowboat I will love it (and never let it hear me say things like that. Maybe when I'm down the pub, but never in earshot)

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22 hours ago, captain flint said:

If anyone's still reading this thread, what do you think of this boat? More out of curiosity than anything. I imagine people will say best to keep it in Europe, and that a boat from 1885 is hardly a sensible idea for anyone, let alone a novice... But I'm intrigued as to whether people think it's pretty, or, having lost the mast, has lost its soul... I think it looks great, and they do say iron hulls can last forever. Could be a snip. Or the kind of thing that could bankrupt a person!!! 

https://www.apolloduck.com/boat.phtml?id=411764

Like I say, cannot imagine for a minute I'll buy it, but as I'm going to Holland this week and will be 45 minutes up the road so I might go and have a look out of interest of the seller's willing.

 

 

She's a little beauty! A good price too.

You'd need to factor in trucking it to the U.K. and work to make her comply with B.S.S.

Before thinking about buying a Dutch barge I suggest you get hold of a copy of The Dutch Barge Buyer's Handbook from www.barges.org 

Keith

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On 16/07/2017 at 14:52, Bewildered said:

You can also share wide locks with other NB's, with a WB you will always be locking on your own

To be honest, this is a big factor.

I've a lot to learn and I'm a beginner, so I figure I shouldn't get a boat which will reduce opportunités for people to help me (both in terms of lock sharing, and more generally, I can see how a novice with a big boat would lead some to just think I'm an eejit and might not be so willing to help, or at least not in such a friendly way. I'm sure most wouldn't really care, but it would be sods law to be somewhere tricky and find the people who happen to be there don't feel so inclined to lend a hand/advise)

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On 14/07/2017 at 14:52, mrsmelly said:

I personaly think that the problem lies with narrowboat owners not non narrowboat owners. In the world narrowboats are a miniscule percentage of boats, they are simply a daft inherited dimension that we have to live with in the uk if we wish to use most of our system. I vastly prefer wider boats as they look more sensible, handle better are vastly more stable and humungously nicer to live in.

Wider boats/barges etc are widely used in the northern waterways of the uk and countries like err anywhere else developed wider beam boats as they make much more sense.

:clapping:Bravo well said & of course I totally agree x

 

On 16/07/2017 at 14:55, mark99 said:

From the point of a narrowboater it is annoying when you are behind a very wide boat. Firstly they mainly go very slow and then there is no chance of lock share. I reckon I see 15-20 narrowboats moving for every widebeam moving. (Lower GU).

I do notice collateral damage on these new wider ones. That must make them think about moving even less!

We often share a lock with other narrowboat no problem and I can honestly say we are definatly not slower quite the opposite 

B) sue 

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