Why a Narrow Boat or GRP

[Dr Bob]

15 minutes ago, catweasel said:

Indeed we have seen a good few GRP boats with solid fuel stoves. I can only think of one with a washing machine, but it is of course perfectly feasible.  
My neighbour lives on a 19ft grp ex-yacht that has a tiny wood burner in it (no washer though!)

When we lived on our lumpy water boat, we and all the other boats we were sailing with yearned for a washing machine. The occasional big boat turned up with one. That was respect.

[tony collins]

49 minutes ago, Dr Bob said:

When we raced our 40' grp yacht, we had the misfortune to broach just  after the start of the race (actually I didnt dump the main quick enough) and turned into the boat on the port side and gave it a whack on the rear quarter with our anchor. He needed £1500 of grp repairs. No damage to us whatsoever. We were only doing 6 knots. Steel vs grp is like rock, paper sissors without the paper.

Two things about that, one we were looking at a commercially built small GRP boat not originally intended for canals, but small rivers and estuaries, quite a different thing to a sea-going yacht. Your boat will have been substantially stronger than anything we would have seen.

The second thing is, as I understand it your prow hit the side of the other boat. The prow would have inherent strength merely from the shape of it as against the flank of your, or any other boat on the water that day.

I would feel safer in a steel boat that a GRP one on the canals, on other waterways I might make a different choice. - Horses for courses.

[Guest]

6 minutes ago, Dr Bob said:

When we lived on our lumpy water boat, we and all the other boats we were sailing with yearned for a washing machine. The occasional big boat turned up with one. That was respect.

I can imagine!
I would have thought that a lumpy boat would be well suited to the camper van type washing machine; a plastic bucket with a sealed lid?

[Alan de Enfield]

18 minutes ago, Dr Bob said:

When we lived on our lumpy water boat, we and all the other boats we were sailing with yearned for a washing machine. The occasional big boat turned up with one. That was respect.

If a twin-tub is a washing machine both my GRP lumpy-water boats have a washing machine.

[macc]

On 13/07/2017 at 12:59, Naughty Cal said:

But who has mentioned narrow beam boats?

The OP certainly didn't. In fact quite the opposite. The only people mentioning narrow beam are those confined to their tin tubes.

Why would it be a wreck?

Unless of course you make a habit of smashing your boat into things!

but the question was asked on a canal forum

[Canal321]

3 minutes ago, macc said:

but the question was asked on a canal forum

Please expand 

[Dr Bob]

5 minutes ago, Canal321 said:

Please expand 

If I inhale, I expand a bit. Is that enough?

[cereal tiller]

1 minute ago, Dr Bob said:

If I inhale, I expand a bit. Is that enough?

I heard that you tend to Extrapolate Barb?

[Dr Bob]

2 minutes ago, cereal tiller said:

I heard that you tend to Extrapolate Barb?

No I never extrapolate. I have been know to interpolate a few times though.

[cereal tiller]

18 minutes ago, Dr Bob said:

No I never extrapolate. I have been know to interpolate a few times though.

Gosh ! never knew you were a Euro Detective  ? good Career move for a Mere Muppet

[Alan de Enfield]

37 minutes ago, macc said:

but the question was asked on a canal forum

What has that got to do with the price of fish - Both historically and latterly canal boats have been known to be up to 12+ feet wide and still 'fit' on the canals

[Dr Bob]

24 minutes ago, cereal tiller said:

Gosh ! never knew you were a Euro Detective  ? good Career move for a Mere Muppet

No Material Filler, I was refering to the other meaning. To interpolate is to work out all the points you know and then make up everything in between.

[Phil Ambrose]

14 hours ago, Dr Bob said:

There's GRP and GRP. The mine hunters were laid up using woven rovings rather than chopped strand mat and were thick. 70% glass rather than 35%. Not much different than steel. GRP on rivers is wonderful. Steel on canals is wonderful. You don't get solid fuel stoves or washing machines on yoghurt pots. I'd never live on a boat without a stove again. 

You need to get out more, our GRP had a stove and a full size washing machine plus a tumble dryer oh I should have mentioned the full size under counter 12v fridge and the 12v under counter freezer. 

Plenty of friends and acquaintances who also lived aboard GRP boats were similarly equipped, one pal of mine even had a Jacuzzi.

Phil 

[tony collins]

On 13/07/2017 at 12:59, Naughty Cal said:

But who has mentioned narrow beam boats?

The OP certainly didn't. In fact quite the opposite. The only people mentioning narrow beam are those confined to their tin tubes.

Why would it be a wreck?

Unless of course you make a habit of smashing your boat into things!

The question was in the title of the thread "Narrowboat or...."

[Canal321]

11 minutes ago, tony collins said:

The question was in the title of the thread "Narrowboat or narrow GRP?"

Now if the topic title was that, I would agree with you. As that is not the case, Naughty-cal is right.

[tony collins]

12 minutes ago, Canal321 said:

Now if the topic title was that, I would agree with you. As that is not the case, Naughty-cal is right.

 

"Why a Narrowboat or GRP" Is the title of the thread now whether it was that at the start I don't know.

[Alan de Enfield]

5 hours ago, tony collins said:

 

"Why a Narrowboat or GRP" Is the title of the thread now whether it was that at the start I don't know.

Your interpretation of the title maybe "Narrowboat or narrow GRP?"  but it could just as easily be read as a 'Narrowboat or GRP of any width'

The OP is new to boats / boating and possibly would not understand the nuances, or, to realise that there are a number of GRP narrowboats.

If his intention was to discuss Narrowboat alternatives then the title would probably have been better crafted as "Narrowboat, - Steel or GRP"

Edited January 22, 2018 by Alan de Enfield

[X Alan W]

it seem the more posts from the Op that rather than discuss the pro's con's of a narrowboat V GRP boat(Narrow beam?) his posts tend to my GRP can do this turn in it's own length & other Pro's comments on what a narrow boat can & cannot do but err towards con's this is fine & his entitled to opinion but why not make his thread like my GRP boat because & state his views

[manxmike]

Wow, at times this thread has got fairly heated!

I have until recently owned a 43 foot Steel Hull. I decided to sell it to finance the purchase of a new build steel hull but when the prospective buyer's survey showed the hull to be down to 2mm in places the price I was able to ask therefore fell through the bottom of the canal!

As a consequence I bought a GRP narrow cruiser instead, 27 foot Norman centre cockpit. OK, she needs the interior re-fitting due to the dreadful work done by a previous owner, but for £3,000 I have a good looking, sound boat which should last me a long time.

I have no intention of living aboard, it is for holiday use only, but the double bed in the bow is much bigger than the double on the steel hull, there are five berths and plenty of space.

[Mad Harold]

Having owned a Norman GRP cruiser,and now have a 30ft steel narrowboat,I would like to give my opinion.

There were several features of the Norman that I didn't like;    crampted cabin,awkward to get in and out of,difficult to keep to the middle of the canal even on calm days,and if a bit of breeze blowing,horrible.

Most GRP cruisers have a semi planing hull,and although they are directionally stable at speeds above about 6-7kts,at 3-4mph they are not.I fitted a rudder to my outboard,and although it improved steering response,it did nothing for directional stability.Adding ballast helped a bit,but in a small cruiser it takes up storage space.

Most outboard powered boats need at least 3ft of water for the engine,[not always the case on our canals].

Some of the locks around here only have a 7ft entrance,so it was necessary to lift the fenders when locking,resulting in scratches to the hull.A regular job was filling all the scars and after the first few times I didn't bother sanding them down because it would have to be done again after the next trip.

My narrow boat on the other hand is roomy,I can stand upright inside,it is easy to get on and off,and most importantly for me,it steers properly,I feel now that I am in charge of the boat instead of the other way around.The prop on a narrow boat spins within the confines of the hull,so although the boat may scrape the bottom,the prop should be ok,

The biggest factor in deciding between steel and GRP is price. For the price of a fairly rough steel boat you could probably buy two really nice GRP boats.

Although my Norman was cramped,I have a pal who lives aboard a Buckingham 22,and it seems roomier than the Norman.His boat has shore power and electric heating so is quite comfortable. He is quite happy.

[manxmike]

On 22/01/2018 at 10:31, Furness said:

Some of the locks around here only have a 7ft entrance,so it was necessary to lift the fenders when locking,resulting in scratches to the hull.A regular job was filling all the scars and after the first few times I didn't bother sanding them down because it would have to be done again after the next trip.

As a serious question, what speed were you approaching the lock entrance at? If you were hitting the entrance sides hard enough to cause scars and scratches then you might possibly have been travelling a bit too fast.

[JamesFrance]

On 1/22/2018 at 11:31, Furness said:

The biggest factor in deciding between steel and GRP is price. For the price of a fairly rough steel boat you could probably buy two really nice GRP boats.

 

This is reversed if you look at new boats, the grp boat will cost considerably more than a similar size steel narrowboat, so that depreciation is much greater for grp.

[peterboat]

On 1/21/2018 at 08:37, Dr Bob said:

There's GRP and GRP. The mine hunters were laid up using woven rovings rather than chopped strand mat and were thick. 70% glass rather than 35%. Not much different than steel. GRP on rivers is wonderful. Steel on canals is wonderful. You don't get solid fuel stoves or washing machines on yoghurt pots. I'd never live on a boat without a stove again. 

I think you need to look at adverts loads of GRP boats have stoves on them mine included! And guess what washing machines as well! You must have lived a sheltered life not to have seen such wonderous things

[Phil Ambrose]

On 13/07/2017 at 14:23, Dave Payne said:

I like space, open big space, my boat is all open plan apart from the fire and kitchen units, everything else can be moved, swapped, added to when ever i like.

I just dont think you can do this in a grp.

Disagree I'm afraid. When we lived on our broads cruiser we had all free standing furniture Welsh dressers book cases, tall boys, chests of drawers etc etc . Only fixed stuff were the kitchen units.  The boat? 40ft x 12ft, oh and we had a stove too, a very comfy home for 10 years .

Phil 

 

[Naughty Cal]

3 hours ago, JamesFrance said:

This is reversed if you look at new boats, the grp boat will cost considerably more than a similar size steel narrowboat, so that depreciation is much greater for grp.

Would you like to provide a few examples of this?