March of the Widebeams

[zenataomm]

2 hours ago, Steilsteven said:

1 to 6 apply equally to narrow boats on narrow canals.

As for tunnels, one way traffic applies to many of them in this country because two narrow boats can't pass.

 

I have to laugh each time I see such ill thought through comments as yours.

 

Keith

It's good to know you've brightened up somebody's day for them.

 

[Dr Bob]

4 hours ago, Steilsteven said:

1 to 6 apply equally to narrow boats on narrow canals.

As for tunnels, one way traffic applies to many of them in this country because two narrow boats can't pass.

 

I have to laugh each time I see such ill thought through comments as yours.

 

Keith

I'm glad you can laugh.

Have you ever tried the Napton to Braunston stretch on a sunny weekend following a fat bote?

When you're  20th in the queue behind it, it is not funny. A one hour trip can take three hours.

Zenataoman is quite right. If he isn't why has this thread gone on so long? Many peeps see this as a serious problem. You laugh it off. We can't.

[roland elsdon]

I wonder at what point ventnor calcutt and  wigrams turn marina will loose moorers like yourself who heavily use their boats to go boating, because of the issue on that stretch.

Used to be nice mooring and living in this part of the world, starting to regret coming back here, when the world was our lobster on retirement.

[Victor Vectis]

5 hours ago, Steilsteven said:

I have to laugh each time I see such ill thought through comments as yours.

I laugh each time I see a fatarse pretending to be a narrowboat.

[frangar]

The sooner CRT start putting some width restrictions in the better....and im

not joking about this. This fat boat thing is getting out of hand rapidly. 

[b0atman]

13 hours ago, frangar said:

The sooner CRT start putting some width restrictions in the better....and im

not joking about this. This fat boat thing is getting out of hand rapidly. 

I also think that London mooring where  one fat boat or two wide beams breasted up is a problem in the offing.  84% increase in last 6 years according to CRT this will be increasing with a lot more wide beams being the preferred accommodation & doing very little moving.

[Rickent]

Some widebeams have escaped from Pillings Lock Marina and moored just outside the entrance, how exciting it must be to move your boat 200 yards for the weekend and move 200 yards back.

[frangar]

20 minutes ago, b0atman said:

I also think that London mooring where  one fat boat or two wide beams breasted up is a problem in the offing.  84% increase in last 6 years according to CRT this will be increasing with a lot more wide beams being the preferred accommodation & doing very little moving.

I think CRT should charge for towpath moorings in london....more of course for fatboats. Say £2k. Would help fund the maintenance budget nicely. 

[alan_fincher]

18 hours ago, Graham Davis said:

And which locks would those be? Name them please?
The only one I can think of is Hurlestone Bottom and I'm not sure how wide it was when I went through it the first time in the mid 70's.

You are somewhat out of touch.

 

Until very recently Lock 8 at Napton was becoming increasingly unpassable by craft built to original working boat dimensions - we certainly couldn't get through it - not even close.

Although it was recently rebuilt at that end, some boats are still having problems elsewhere in that flight.

Recently boats have becomde jammed in locks at Red Bull on the T&M and at Chelmondosten on the Middlewich Branch, where problems have only recently startd to appear.

You must surely be aware of the problems at Marple on the Peak Forrest, that resulted in the canal being closed fo well over a year. There is normally at least 8 inches of spare width in these locks, but stones had moved so far that all that margin was gone - that is one hell of a movement, and an unforgivable lack of maintenance.

 

And from our own experience recently, Lock 8 at Bosley on thde Macclesfield is now seriously narrow, and we only got through it by breaking just about every rule in the book, (and a few more besides!).

 

It is a very real problem for those with narow boats with an original design width of slightly over 7 feet, and in my view definitely an increasing one.

[hughc]

On 20/08/2019 at 09:06, Leo No2 said:

Tranquil Rose, probably the most athletically pleasing wide boat around, in my humble opinion, and with plenty of tumblehome; it does look like a wide narrowboat.  It is 12' 6" wide, it looks good and, if my memory serves me well, was built in 1973 on the T&M in the Burton-on-Trent area, when I think 'they' made things better. In the image it's just waiting for a southbound passage at Blisworth

Was it not built by the Flixborough Shipping Company alongside Horninglow Basin? IIRC the stem post is slightly offset. I do remember helping to try and get her through the bridge below Stanton Lock on the Erewash during a rally in the mid-seventies. She is a beautiful boat and an object lesson that the builders of modern wide beam boats should take on board. Regards, HughC

[cuthound]

8 hours ago, Rickent said:

Some widebeams have escaped from Pillings Lock Marina and moored just outside the entrance, how exciting it must be to move your boat 200 yards for the weekend and move 200 yards back.

 

That's quite an odessey compared to the boat I took a photo of to start this thread. It moved the width of the canal, perhaps 30 feet, before returning to the safety of Alvecote Marina.

[cuthound]

8 hours ago, frangar said:

I think CRT should charge for towpath moorings in london....more of course for fatboats. Say £2k. Would help fund the maintenance budget nicely. 

 

They probably will soon. Afterall they set the precedent at Llangollen years ago when they started charging for overnight moorings when towpath space got tight (currently £6 per night). They used some of ths money to build the offline marina there.

[roland elsdon]

2000 sounds way off the mark. Thats a months rent. Try 10000

[Leo No2]

7 hours ago, hughc said:

Was it not built by the Flixborough Shipping Company alongside Horninglow Basin? IIRC the stem post is slightly offset. I do remember helping to try and get her through the bridge below Stanton Lock on the Erewash during a rally in the mid-seventies. She is a beautiful boat and an object lesson that the builders of modern wide beam boats should take on board. Regards, HughC

Yes I am pretty sure you are right - there were some B&W images on the internet within the last 12 months or so that showed Tranquil Rose just after her fit out I think and in Horninglow Basin.

[matty40s]

Latest new sailaway Collingwood to hit the GU, decided to moor opposite me on a blind bend this morning after hitting two boats when he was stopping for diesel. There were already numerous scratches and bashes visible, must have been a heck of a journey from launch at Whilton.

There was about 10 feet left for boats to get past between the behemoth and OF......luckily, he was only going to the pub for breakfast so moved on after 2 hours....very swiftly.

 

The new owner knows everything, although didnt know he had to book for the tunnels.....but this doesn't matter as hes spoken to CRT and only has to move a mile and then moor for 14 days if he wants to so will be staying on this pound whilst fitting the boat out and doesn't need to go through the tunnel or do any locks..

His conversation with CRT didn't stretch to licencing though , as he didnt know what a boat registration number was and didnt realise he needed a licence!!

Somethings going badly wrong with CRT communications through to boat builders and their customers,  although the sweet bibendum drone builders are doing OK out of them.

[frangar]

6 minutes ago, matty40s said:

Latest new sailaway Collingwood to hit the GU, decided to moor opposite me on a blind bend this morning after hitting two boats when he was stopping for diesel. There were already numerous scratches and bashes visible, must have been a heck of a journey from launch at Whilton.

There was about 10 feet left for boats to get past between the behemoth and OF......luckily, he was only going to the pub for breakfast so moved on after 2 hours....very swiftly.

 

The new owner knows everything, although didnt know he had to book for the tunnels.....but this doesn't matter as hes spoken to CRT and only has to move a mile and then moor for 14 days if he wants to so will be staying on this pound whilst fitting the boat out and doesn't need to go through the tunnel or do any locks..

His conversation with CRT didn't stretch to licencing though , as he didnt know what a boat registration number was and didnt realise he needed a licence!!

Somethings going badly wrong with CRT communications through to boat builders and their customers,  although the sweet bibendum drone builders are doing OK out of them.

I hope the builders know about licensing....but it would shatter the customers dreams (& the builders profits) to pass the information on wouldn't it! 

 

The widebeams seem be breeding in Dunchurch pools too....sure there’s more when we went past today compared to over Easter. 

 

Im thinking we really need to start campaigning for width restrictions! 

[Tuscan]

Probably the same one we met in Bugbrooke narrows, took a while to get past as he had little control but did go into the bushes so I could creep past.. No name or index number, CRT spotter was just arriving.

[matty40s]

1 hour ago, Tuscan said:

Probably the same one we met in Bugbrooke narrows, took a while to get past as he had little control but did go into the bushes so I could creep past.. No name or index number, CRT spotter was just arriving.

Yep, that's the one, the CRT spotter was here at 11.30 ish so that makes sense.

 

He cant have had little control, he knows everything.

 

[Rickent]

2 hours ago, matty40s said:

Yep, that's the one, the CRT spotter was here at 11.30 ish so that makes sense.

 

He cant have had little control, he knows everything.

 

Noddy knowitall but knows nowt.

[Graham Davis]

8 minutes ago, Rickent said:

Noddy knowitall but knows nowt.

All the gear but no idea!

[MtB]

Two points. 

 

1) CRT leave stealth boats well alone. With no name or number, what possible action do you expect them to take?

 

2) Matty's photo in 1240 illustrates my other beef about them, i.e. how much HIGHER they are above the water line when they moor opposite you. A widebeam opposite is SO much more intrusive than a NB. And look at the steerer. How can he POSSIBLY see where he is going?

 

 

 

Edited August 28, 2019 by Mike the Boilerman
Add a bit

[adam1uk]

39 minutes ago, Mike the Boilerman said:

Two points. 

 

1) CRT leave stealth boats well alone. With no name or number, what possible action do you expect them to take?

 

2) Matty's photo in 1240 illustrates my other beef about them, i.e. how much HIGHER they are above the water line when they moor opposite you. A widebeam opposite is SO much more intrusive than a NB. And look at the steerer. How can he POSSIBLY see where he is going?

 

 

 

The steerer in the photo is on a narrowboat passing between Matty’s boat and the widebeam.  I imagine that when he’s not passing a wide boat moored on a bend, he can see perfectly well where he’s going.

[ditchcrawler]

Or moor on the Narrowest bit of the GU

[Tuscan]

I passed this today, we rocked on the bottom passing close to the bank. What was surprising was the upper ‘flying bridge’ structure was steel so could not be taken down.  I imagine it will struggle with some of the bridges as he moves down the Oxford to the GU

[john6767]

23 minutes ago, ditchcrawler said:

Or moor on the Narrowest bit of the GU

Whilst it is improved since the offside vegetation was cut back, personally I would not moor any boat there, can’t see the point.  It is not like it is close to road access or anything.