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March of the Widebeams


cuthound

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Whilst walking the dog, I came across this widebeam moored at Alvecote on the Coventry Canal.

 

Hopefully it is an escapee from the adjacent marina, waiting for a pumpout or diesel.

 

If not he has a very limited cruising range and a few low bridges to contend with. ?

20180501_103503.jpg

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28 minutes ago, cuthound said:

Whilst walking the dog, I came across this widebeam moored at Alvecote on the Coventry Canal.

 

Hopefully it is an escapee from the adjacent marina, waiting for a pumpout or diesel.

 

If not he has a very limited cruising range and a few low bridges to contend with. ?

20180501_103503.jpg

 

And definitely should qualify for a cheaper licence as he cannot access 99.9% of the system.

 

:giggles:

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1 hour ago, Stilllearning said:

And is, IMHO, from what I can see,  plug ugly?

Boats aren't for looking nice externally  - they're for living / being 'in'.....

Actually the one in question  has a nice feature of an upsweep over the front door so that you don't bang your head.

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6 minutes ago, OldGoat said:

Boats aren't for looking nice externally  - they're for living / being 'in'.....

Actually the one in question  has a nice feature of an upsweep over the front door so that you don't bang your head.

And will be humungously more stable and humungously more comfortable than any sewer tube!!

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8 minutes ago, OldGoat said:

Boats aren't for looking nice externally  - they're for living / being 'in'.....

Actually the one in question  has a nice feature of an upsweep over the front door so that you don't bang your head.

It does help if you are not embarrassed by it's looks every time you step on it though :rolleyes:

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4 minutes ago, mrsmelly said:

And will be humungously more stable and humungously more comfortable than any sewer tube!!

I agree I went on a sewer tube the other day thought it was going to roll over!! not for me anynore

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2 minutes ago, 70liveaboard said:

We've never really been interested in widebeam, mainly because of the restricted travel. But we can see if you want to live on one and are not too concerned, travel wise, then its a very good option. Floating bungalow.

When we decided to live for three years on proper sized waterways we simply easily sold our Udson narrowboat and bought a widebeam and lived on it in sublime comfort for three years. We then wanted to do more cruising again so sold it more or less instantly and moved onto this narrowbeam. Its horses for courses innitt. Boats both comfy and skinny sell very easily and quickly so just buy what suits at the time and change when/if neccesary. If I was setting up a building company I would buy a transit van if I was going to be a hairdresser  I would buy an Audi TT its the same innitt.

2 minutes ago, carlt said:

 

Blimey I couldn't disagree more.

 

I guess I am in the minority though...Hence the Clonecraft generic narrowboat.

 

Personally I would much rather compromise on living space and practicality than live in a floating box.

 

Sloping walls, high maintenance, smaller cabins but give me this over any ugly fat narrowboat ...

 

1442519618_WoodenClassic46GentlemansMotorYacht.jpg.d55d58e70e097a06c6ab1e9ca765707b.jpg

 

 

That is fabulous and as you know I nearly bought another fab wooden boat BUT common sense ( ok Im a boring fart ) took over and I bought modern steel again ?

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I’ve never got the ugly boat thing either. It’s possible to make a good looking narrowboat, but not many people seem to bother. It’s all about curves isn’t it? Any good looking boat has curves, grp, wood or steel. There’s too many etch a sketch builders around using pre-cut and bent plate, cheap but ugly. 

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Is it not a matter of price, in the same way that the lumpy shape of a Kia is no match for the flowing lines of a Jaguar? Not everyone can afford the Jag option, and I suspect that it's similar with boats.

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1 hour ago, mrsmelly said:

If I was setting up a building company I would buy a transit van if I was going to be a hairdresser  I would buy an Audi TT its the same innitt.

 

Funny you should say that. For moat of my life I've promised myself that next year when I'm a millionaire, I'll buy myself an Aston Martin and have it custom converted into a panel van. :)

Or maybe a pick-up truck.

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I'm with Carlt on this one, everything in this world should be a thing of beauty, but boats especially. I suspect it doesn't actually cost much more to make a narrowboat attractive, but does need skill and inspiration from the builder. I think trouble is so many boats are now built to absolutely maximise the internal space and this usually does conflict with beauty. Those cabins that go all the way to the front and even curve in over the bow are a good example of ugliness, and the tug deck an extreme example of beauty over space. I reckon a gentle upsweep here and there don't cost that much once you know how to it.

 

...............Dave

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5 minutes ago, Mike the Boilerman said:

 

Funny you should say that. For moat of my life I've promised myself that next year when I'm a millionaire, I'll buy myself an Aston Martin and have it custom converted into a panel van. :)

Or maybe a pick-up truck.

 

10649972_661997293907894_2026084497984772885_n.jpg

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5 minutes ago, Mike the Boilerman said:

 

Funny you should say that. For moat of my life I've promised myself that next year when I'm a millionaire, I'll buy myself an Aston Martin and have it custom converted into a panel van. :)

Or maybe a pick-up truck.

Many years ago Jaguar told me they would Never built an estate and Never fit a diesel engine. I told then that when I was rich I was going to get a Jaguar and have it converted into a camper van. The've done the estate and diesel but I'm still waiting for the camper (and to be rich).

 

.........Dave

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4 hours ago, cuthound said:

Whilst walking the dog, I came across this widebeam moored at Alvecote on the Coventry Canal.

 

Hopefully it is an escapee from the adjacent marina, waiting for a pumpout or diesel.

 

If not he has a very limited cruising range and a few low bridges to contend with. ?

20180501_103503.jpg

I was surprised at how much damage is happening to the arch of many bridges north of Braunston, which has been caused by over square cabins. Whilst I appreciate this has also been caused by narrow boats, the amount and scale of damage seems to have increased with the number of widebeams. I was surprised to see one heading south through Lapworth last week, and noticed that had removed a third of a brick from two local bridges.

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48 minutes ago, dmr said:

I'm with Carlt on this one, everything in this world should be a thing of beauty, but boats especially. I suspect it doesn't actually cost much more to make a narrowboat attractive, but does need skill and inspiration from the builder. I think trouble is so many boats are now built to absolutely maximise the internal space and this usually does conflict with beauty. Those cabins that go all the way to the front and even curve in over the bow are a good example of ugliness, and the tug deck an extreme example of beauty over space. I reckon a gentle upsweep here and there don't cost that much once you know how to it.

 

...............Dave

Well said. I lived quite happily on my boat with it’s 16’ deck and 9’ central engine room, yes I could have acres more space in a 60’ boat but at least when I stand back and look at it I don’t feel the urge to throw up. 

I’m lucky enough to live in a canalside cottage now, it’s tiny but looks great!

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One thing about sailing boats, it is quite difficult to make an ugly one. 

 

Narrowboats though, some (most?) builders seem to have thrown away any aesthetic considerations in favour of function. 

 

But when I look at the built environment and modern consumer durables I see this is a growing (and worrying) trend.  

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I remember speaking to a well known shell builder in the north  a few years ago who confirmed that “I can build anything, but there’s no money in that”

Luckily customers who do have an eye for what a boat should look like usually find the real boatbuilders that are still out there, rather than a fabrication company. I’m sure Mr Kemp, the Wains, etc aren’t exactly rolling in money but at least they can be proud of what they produce.

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