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March of the Widebeams


cuthound

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1 hour ago, BruceinSanity said:

I must be a bit dozier than usual today. How would a wide beam get from the GU to the Trent and back without being craned?

Why would CRT spend 2 weeks widening a bridge if the boat can fly over Watford and Foxton.....

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On 20/07/2019 at 23:04, Mike the Boilerman said:

 

Has anybody observed it passing through a lock yet?

 

This would help resolve the debate about its beam...

 

It certainly doesnt look wider above the waterline than below in this photo, as asserted earlier in the thread. 

It came past me again just north of Fenny Stratford and I managed an in focus image! There is very little gap either sides (which are pretty much vertial).  The hull almost seals the bridge hole, so it takes a bit of grunt to get it through.

absumus.jpg

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6 minutes ago, Capt Ahab said:

It came past me again just north of Fenny Stratford and I managed an in focus image! There is very little gap either sides (which are pretty much vertial).  The hull almost seals the bridge hole, so it takes a bit of grunt to get it through.

absumus.jpg

That’s going to be hilarious on the tring summit....or have CRT got Land & Water on standby to make it wider?? 

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46 minutes ago, Capt Ahab said:

It came past me again just north of Fenny Stratford and I managed an in focus image! There is very little gap either sides (which are pretty much vertial).  The hull almost seals the bridge hole, so it takes a bit of grunt to get it through.

absumus.jpg

They do look awfully like yachties .......... who have lost their way!

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2 hours ago, Capt Ahab said:

The hull almost seals the bridge hole, so it takes a bit of grunt to get it through.

I think I'd be tempted to try that with a lot more neutral and a little bit of tickover ...

 

... but on the plus side they will have spot dredged every bridge'ole on their run!

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43 minutes ago, TheBiscuits said:

I think I'd be tempted to try that with a lot more neutral and a little bit of tickover ...

 

... but on the plus side they will have spot dredged every bridge'ole on their run!

I though that at first but as they passed through the seal was so tight they were basically stopped in their tracks. As you say - a useful bit of spot dredging.

 

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50 minutes ago, matty40s said:

Theres another black 12 plus footer wide gone past tonight heading the same way....wheel steering at speed....probably trying to get through Blisworth without having to book.

 

Blackrose's boat is 12ft wide and he says it's a breeze to steer and navigate solo.

 

Why the big difference?

 

 

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8 hours ago, Mike the Boilerman said:

 

Blackrose's boat is 12ft wide and he says it's a breeze to steer and navigate solo.

 

Why the big difference?

 

 

Blacrose's boat is tiller steered for a start,

 

Very big wide-beams on the GU generally seem to be in very much worse control if they are wheel steered.

 

The boat pictured has to be moe than 12 foot beam.  I suspect it ia also deeper in the water than Blackrose, which, from memory, isn't particularly deep draughted.

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10 hours ago, matty40s said:

Theres another black 12 plus footer wide gone past tonight heading the same way....wheel steering at speed....probably trying to get through Blisworth without having to book.

That is probably the boat that was lifted out at Whilton last week for repair of the bow thruster tube.

The owner told me that the damage was caused when an RYA instructor put it flat chat into a wall whilst 'teaching' the owner how to handle it!

At least, as a new owner, he had tried to get advice on it's use.

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10 hours ago, Captain Fizz said:

That is probably the boat that was lifted out at Whilton last week for repair of the bow thruster tube.

The owner told me that the damage was caused when an RYA instructor put it flat chat into a wall whilst 'teaching' the owner how to handle it!

At least, as a new owner, he had tried to get advice on it's use.

In all seriousness, it's interesting to see how the current GU copes with a craft built to the absolute maximum dimensions. I get the the impression that it is still possible to make a passage, but only just.

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2 minutes ago, Capt Ahab said:

In all seriousness, it's interesting to see how the current GU copes with a craft built to the absolute maximum dimensions. I get the the impression that it is still possible to make a passage, but only just.

Let’s hope someone else coming the other way has the same idea....

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3 more wideys heading South today, one a vertical fronted kind of Dutch barge pastiche monstrosity with its wooden wheelhouse still up. 

Someone said that Campbell Park marina berths are now fully open and they are headed there?

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10 hours ago, Captain Fizz said:

That is probably the boat that was lifted out at Whilton last week for repair of the bow thruster tube.

The owner told me that the damage was caused when an RYA instructor put it flat chat into a wall whilst 'teaching' the owner how to handle it!

At least, as a new owner, he had tried to get advice on it's use.

How would hitting a wall damage the bow thruster tube?  Even on these floating skips surely they are recessed?

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1 hour ago, Capt Ahab said:

In all seriousness, it's interesting to see how the current GU copes with a craft built to the absolute maximum dimensions. I get the the impression that it is still possible to make a passage, but only just.

Its getting absolutely terrible on the GU South , in fact after 40 years I find the present situation hard going . I got back to the Boat yesterday and I was met by a Widebeam literally nose to nose totally blocking out my daylight ( I have a Tug with a Front Door ) and a Bird Table drove into the Towpath for Good Measure . Another Wide Beam Owner has an Allotment at Peartree Bridge , why are these Wide Beam Owners being allowed to be non compliant with their Cruising Patterns ? Is it because they are middle class and typical of the sort of People CRT want to attract to the Canals ? I well remember People like Tadworth being lambasted by People on this Forum for being continuously moored , well it seems to me he has been replaced by Julian and Jemima on a shiny Widebeamwith a Bichon Frise

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I see that Narrowboats Ltd at Wincham are craning in things that aint narrow.

20190724_170024.jpg.5c178e7a8e1212a1b0b6a67c2637e588.jpg

 

There were a couple in the water and several more on the bank. These will only be able to navigate the T&M between Dutton and Croxton Aqueduct - and significant lengths of that, although built nominally wide, are only just wide enough for two narrow boats to pass. They can also go down Anderton Lift to the Weaver, but then where? Do they just disappear into marinas, or do they get craned out again and sent to the lower GU?

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48 minutes ago, Parahandy said:

Its getting absolutely terrible on the GU South , in fact after 40 years I find the present situation hard going . I got back to the Boat yesterday and I was met by a Widebeam literally nose to nose totally blocking out my daylight ( I have a Tug with a Front Door )

 

Its an interesting point I've been meaning to raise a while now. Widebeams block out the light when moored nearby. Not only are they fat but they are TALL too. There is a widebeam that moors bang opposite me once in a while. No problems with them as they are fiercely compliant and perfectly nice people but their boat is at least 18" and possibly 2ft taller than my deep drafted NB and they donnarf block out the sky. When a NB moors opposite I can still see the field and hill opposite, but not when this widebeam moors opposite. It is just so fekkn BIG!

 

 

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Just now, Mike the Boilerman said:

 

Its an interesting point I've been meaning to raise a while now. Widebeams block out the light when moored nearby. Not only are they fat but they are TALL too. There is a widebeam that moors bang opposite me once in a while. No problems with them as they are fiercely compliant and perfectly nice people but their boat is at least 18" and possibly 2ft taller than my deep drafted NB and they donnarf block out the sky. When a NB moors opposite I can still see the field and hill opposite, but not when this widebeam moors opposite. It is just so fekkn BIG!

 

 

That's the advantage of a 'big boat' ( they are 3-dimensional)

 

I tend to put NB's into the shade - this is a 32 foot GRP NB moored next to us.

 

 

 

 

CAM00021.jpg

CAM00020.jpg

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