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March of the Widebeams


cuthound

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41 minutes ago, Lily Rose said:

 

Progress update for the one at Bridge 104 and pointing towards Braunston 10 days ago.

 

At 12.45 pm today, 21/9/19, we came around the bend just before bridge 102 heading from Braunston to Napton.

 

The boat we were following had just pulled over to the side, which I then also did, as did the two boats behind me (it's been busy here this morning!). The reason was a widebeam was just about to come through the bridge going in the Braunston direction. My first thought was concern that it might get stuck as,  from a distance, it looked tight. I then thought I'm going to be waiting a while for it, and the boats queuing behind it, to come through and past the narrow boat moored about, I guess, 100 foot from the bridge, Braunston side.

 

But no!

 

Immediately after getting through the bridge, bow-hauled, it then pulled over and moored at the very start of the Armco despite the fact that there was probably another 50 to 60 foot of Armco to the moored narrow boat. 

 

I heard, 2nd hand, that it has "lost its rudder". Even if that is true (I have no reason to doubt it) it doesn't excuse mooring it up immediately after the bridge and not another 50 or 60 foot along. 

 

It's very busy along here today, being a warm sunny Saturday, and there will no doubt be quite a few hire boats (Napton, Black Prince, Calcutt, Union Canal Carriers) going through that bridge this afternoon. Narrow stretch of canal either side of the bridge for some distance plus quite a breeze (making hovering a challenge) plus said widebeam right by the bridge should make for some fun there this afternoon, assuming it wasn't just a very brief stop. 

 

Here's a photo, although it probably doesn't really do it justice. My excuse is that I was a bit busy steering at the time!

 

Oh yes, there were another 3 boats approaching the bridge from the Napton direction when I came through plus numerous others heading that way during our next half mile or so.

 

 

 

IMG_20190921_124542613.jpg

It's not great there when a narrowboat moors close to that bridge.  Of course people moor near there as it one of the few places with road access in the area.  No doubt we will be moored there the week after next, so I expect it will still be there then.

 

Good to see that it has moved a full half mile though from bridge 104, but then it's been between Braunston and Napton for over a year I think, so no idea why CRT have not taken action given it is a well patrolled stretch.

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12 minutes ago, alan_fincher said:

 

 


You are not even in the right ball park Mike (Boilerman Mike, not the othr one!)

 

From an answer to an FOI request.....

 

 


I don't know why the total of all those numbers are so low, but whatever the anomalies, it is obvious that probably at least 10% of boats on CRT waters class as wide beams, and probably a lot more than that.

 

As that information is now almost 2 years old there is quite possibly another 1000 Fat-Boats on the waterways (just a speculative figure you understand)

 

IF those boats declaring 'equal to or greater than' 2.1m are 'fatties' that would suggest that there are about 10,000 fatties out of 30,000 registered boats (on C&RT waters)

 

Watch out "the fatties are coming …………………….."

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17 minutes ago, Lysander said:

Uh-oh - family heading that way today on Lysander. Have passed on the warning.

Just walked back there after our lunch stop, still there at 4pm in the same place with a large Armco gap to the next boat. Still someone onboard, going by the door being ajar, but whether it will move again anytime soon remains to be seen. Probably not if it has no working rudder. I can confirm it is wheel steering, not tiller.

 

It's no problem gettingat past it as long as there's no-one coming the other way. But there often is.

 

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18 minutes ago, alan_fincher said:

You are not even in the right ball park Mike (Boilerman Mike, not the othr one!)

 

From an answer to an FOI request.....

 

But, but, your stats show I am in EXACTLY the right ball park.

 

As a 'finger in the air' guess I said 1%, the true proportion according to your stats is 6.9%. I reckon that is the same 'ball park'. 

 

(All the other 'non-widebeam' but over 7ft are probably the plastic cruisers.)

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And if we lump in the plastic cruisers with the narrow boats, the proportion falls to 4.9% 

 

 

 

Just now, Alan de Enfield said:

Do Plastic Cruiser over 7 foot take up less room that steel boats over 7 foot ?

 

You've forgotten the point I was making with my estimated statistics, haven't you?

 

 

 

 

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29 minutes ago, alan_fincher said:


I don't know why the total of all those numbers are so low, but whatever the anomalies, it is obvious that probably at least 10% of boats on CRT waters class as wide beams, and probably a lot more than that.

That totals over 28,000 boats, but excludes all the narrow beam craft ( i.e. beam less than 2.1m) not described as "narrowboats" e.g. cruisers, dinghies, canoes and the like as well as narrowboat type craft not actually described as such. Doesn't sound unreasonable to me.

Edited by David Mack
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2 minutes ago, Mike the Boilerman said:

And if we lump in the plastic cruisers with the narrow boats, the proportion falls to 4.9% 

 

 

 

 

You've forgotten the point I was making with my estimated statistics, haven't you?

 

 

 

 

 

Your point being "Yes but widebeams only comprise 1% of the boating population yet manage to cause 50% of the obstructions".

 

Do 10 foot, 12 foot (or even 14 foot) GRP not count as widebeams ?

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Just now, Alan de Enfield said:

 

Your point being "Yes but widebeams only comprise 1% of the boating population yet manage to cause 50% of the obstructions".

 

 

 

 

Well done!!

 

 

So they actually comprise 5% of the boating population and cause 50% of the obstructions.

 

Not far out was I?!

 

:icecream:

 

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Just now, Alan de Enfield said:

There are well over 100 (could be as many as 150 CBA to count them) 'widebeam boats' in 'our' marina - all on C&RT waters all with CRT licences.

 

I cruised the Oxford and the Coventry recently and only saw about five.

 

\

 

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28 minutes ago, Lily Rose said:

Just walked back there after our lunch stop, still there at 4pm in the same place with a large Armco gap to the next boat. Still someone onboard, going by the door being ajar, but whether it will move again anytime soon remains to be seen. Probably not if it has no working rudder. I can confirm it is wheel steering, not tiller.

 

It's no problem gettingat past it as long as there's no-one coming the other way. But there often is.

 

The family are heading the other way down the South Oxford instead!

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24 minutes ago, Alan de Enfield said:

Do Plastic Cruiser over 7 foot take up less room that steel boats over 7 foot ?

Yes, far less - because the great majority of them (at least those found on canals) are much shorter than the steel ones.

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11 minutes ago, Athy said:

Yes, far less - because the great majority of them (at least those found on canals) are much shorter than the steel ones.

 

 

The length would be irrelevant, but as it happens you are (in my case) incorrect.

At 36ft x 14ft I take up 504 square feet of space.

A NB at (say) 60ft x 7ft takes up 420 square feet of space

 

I take up 20% more space that a 60foot NB.

 

 

 

 

Maybe I didn't phrase the question correctly.

 

If a 12 foot beam GRP cruiser is moored up, does it restrict the available width of the canal more, less or the same as a 12 foot wide steel boat ?

 

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2 hours ago, Alan de Enfield said:

 

 

Maybe I didn't phrase the question correctly.

 

If a 12 foot beam GRP cruiser is moored up, does it restrict the available width of the canal more, less or the same as a 12 foot wide steel boat ?

 

 

 

You're still missing the point. 

 

The point is, steel widebeams seem to be moored inconsiderately at least as often as narrow boats, yet there are far fewer of them out on the cut than steel NBs. Therefore it appears that steel widebeam owners are more prone to inconsiderate mooring than NB owners, generally speaking. 

 

Plastic boats of whatever beam are a different matter and oddly, I rarely see one moored in a selfish and awkward place, despite how many of them there are.

 

 

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2 hours ago, Alan de Enfield said:

 

 

The length would be irrelevant, but as it happens you are (in my case) incorrect.

At 36ft x 14ft I take up 504 square feet of space.

A NB at (say) 60ft x 7ft takes up 420 square feet of space

 

I take up 20% more space that a 60foot NB.

 

 

 

 

Maybe I didn't phrase the question correctly.

 

If a 12 foot beam GRP cruiser is moored up, does it restrict the available width of the canal more, less or the same as a 12 foot wide steel boat ?

 

Obviously it would, but you see virtually no cruisers on the waterways in question. Remember the concern is not about widebeam boats, of any particular format, but the widebeam boats that are being seen on unsuitable waterways.  There are almost always, so far in my experience, steel widebeams.  Also a large proportion of these  tend to be sailaway shells, not finished boats that people are using for living on or leisure.

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38 minutes ago, Mike the Boilerman said:

 

 

You're still missing the point. 

 

The point is, steel widebeams seem to be moored inconsiderately at least as often as narrow boats, yet there are far fewer of them out on the cut than steel NBs. Therefore it appears that steel widebeam owners are more prone to inconsiderate mooring than NB owners, generally speaking. 

 

Plastic boats of whatever beam are a different matter and oddly, I rarely see one moored in a selfish and awkward place, despite how many of them there are.

 

 

 

Now I understand - the addition of that little word 'steel' makes all the difference.

 

If I understand what you are (now) saying is that many steel boat owners moor inconsiderately, but the impact on navigation is more pronounced when a widebeam does it.

 

I also agree that I seldom see a 'tupperware' moored in an awkward or selfish manner - maybe they feel more vulnerable, so moor up with the avoidance of impact in their minds.

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3 hours ago, Lysander said:

The family are heading the other way down the South Oxford instead!

Indeed, I chatted with your daughter and son-in-law at Calcutt top lock as we were waiting to enter and go down and they told me they were heading towards The Folly.

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