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March of the Widebeams

cuthound

By cuthound
in General Boating

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Posted
Posted (edited)
7 minutes ago, Lady C said:

I think it would be too big (over width) and therefore unsuitable for cruising on English inland waterways.  CRT should therefore not issue a licence.

 

Problem with that is that there are CRT waterways where even huge widebeams can cruise and moor with no problems what so ever.

 

 

New junction.JPG

Edited by M_JG
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IanD Veteran II

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Posted
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Just now, M_JG said:

 

Problem with that is that there are CRT waterways where even huge widebeams can cruise and moor with no problems what so ever.

 

Not many can cope with a 70' wide boat, though... 😉

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3 minutes ago, IanD said:

 

Not many can cope with a 70' wide boat, though... 😉

 

See above....New Junction could. 😎 possibly..

 

(That said - you wouldn't get through the aqueducts or the lift bridge pinch points).

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IanD Veteran II

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28 minutes ago, M_JG said:

 

See above....New Junction could. 😎 possibly..

 

(That said - you wouldn't get through the aqueducts or the lift bridge pinch points).

 

Also a 14' long by 70' wide boat might be a tad difficult to steer, and will need a *really* big engine to push all that water out of the way -- it'll make a Tom Pudding look like a rowing eight... 🙂

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7 minutes ago, magnetman said:

Is there a law saying you are not allowed to navigate a boat sideways?

and moor it end on to the towpath. 

 

Not a law -- but I suspect if you did that it would be decreed to be 70' long and 14' wide, given the direction of travel and mooring... 😉

 

It's why using W*L works, it's pretty much impervious to rule fiddling like this. You could say it will lead to more boats shaped like ugly rectangular boxes, but that seems to be the modern trend anyway -- especially with widebeams -- to maximise interior space in a given length... 😞

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magnetman Veteran II

magnetman

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There was a bloke a number of yars ago who had two matching narrow boats and welded them together with link bars. He registered it by length as a single craft but was able to separate them by cutting the welds off with an angel grinder. Each hull of the catamaran was in effect a powered narrow boat. 

 

Don't know if he ever got found out but it was quite amusing. 

 

 

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28 minutes ago, Alan de Enfield said:

 

 

Plenty of wide enough areas on the River Trent.

 

Its well over 100 yards wide here (our 14 foot beam cruiser behind an anorexic boat)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edit - Ignore me I'm wrong.

 

Edited by M_JG
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cuthound Veteran II

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27 minutes ago, Athy said:

I think CanalTime used to recommend itto their hirers.

 

26 minutes ago, magnetman said:

Quite possibly. I remember them with the boats with tiny foredecks and curious names.

 

I rammed one in Husbands Bosworth Tunnel. He was approaching me from the other end, with his bows almost level with mine when he suddenly panicked and slammed his boat into reverse, sending the bows right across the tunnel. Not being able to stop in time I had no option but to ram him!

 

He did apologise though.

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Posted
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Tried sideways boating once at Braunston. It doesn't work, got complete wedged across canal at the junction.

 

Fortunately it was November and very quiet and managed to free the boat before anyone came down from one of the three directions.

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IanD Veteran II

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39 minutes ago, magnetman said:

There was a bloke a number of yars ago who had two matching narrow boats and welded them together with link bars. He registered it by length as a single craft but was able to separate them by cutting the welds off with an angel grinder. Each hull of the catamaran was in effect a powered narrow boat. 

 

Don't know if he ever got found out but it was quite amusing.

 

 

An angel grinder sounds like it might be rather rude... 😉

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Ray T Veteran II

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Posted
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1 hour ago, magnetman said:

There was a bloke a number of yars ago who had two matching narrow boats and welded them together with link bars. He registered it by length as a single craft but was able to separate them by cutting the welds off with an angel grinder. Each hull of the catamaran was in effect a powered narrow boat. 

 

Don't know if he ever got found out but it was quite amusing. 

 

 

 

This one?

BoatAndrina1.jpg

BoatAndrina2.jpg

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monkeyhanger Rising Star

monkeyhanger

Posted
Posted
2 hours ago, magnetman said:

There was a bloke a number of yars ago who had two matching narrow boats and welded them together with link bars. He registered it by length as a single craft but was able to separate them by cutting the welds off with an angel grinder. Each hull of the catamaran was in effect a powered narrow boat. 

 

Don't know if he ever got found out but it was quite amusing. 

 

That boat is for sale on the Duck at the moment. FYI, they are not welded together, but fastened using stout wooden beams. And he wasn't "Found out" as you put it. It was totally legal and BW were happy to licence it.

 

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Tacet Rising Star

Tacet

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7 hours ago, Alan de Enfield said:

 

Nope - there is a legal definition of a narrowboat, and hence a widebeam is anything that a NB isn't.

I can think of lots of things that are not within the definition of a narrow boat but are certainly not widebeams either.

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magnetman Veteran II

magnetman

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The term "widebeam" is a little bit like the term "continuous cruiser". It doesn't exist but most people know what it means.

 

Logically a "widebeam" boat when talking about canals would be one which is too wide to go through a narrow lock but at the end of the day the term is usually applied to a boat which looks like a generic narrow boat from the side and you can't tell how wide it is.

 

A 9ft wide gentleman's launch would not be a widebeam even though it is wider than a narrow boat. 

 

It isn't a narrow boat either. 

 

 

 

 

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