March of the Widebeams

[MtB]

5 hours ago, Trevor Lyons said:

It seems the tribalism continues!  I've decided that after all, when my boat (a rather fine-looking wide-beam river launch with a steeply raked seaworthy bow and a counter stern) is ready to go onto navigable waters, I'll take her to Reading, and go downstream to the Thames and to France. I've joined the DBA Barge Association and I look forward to navigating the wide horizons of Europe. I'll leave cruising the K&A until I return to narrowboating in my dotage, perhaps less than a decade away ...

 

 

 

 

 

Did East Europe Lady build it for you?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[matty40s]

19 minutes ago, Mike the Boilerman said:

 

 

 

Did East Europe Lady build it for you?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I did think this earlier but didnt want to offend our new member.?

[MtB]

Just now, matty40s said:

I did think this earlier but didnt want to offend our new member.?

 

 

I thought about it earlier but didn't want to offend East Europe Lady....

 

 

 

?

 

[frangar]

4 minutes ago, Mike the Boilerman said:

 

 

I thought about it earlier but didn't want to offend East Europe Lady....

 

 

 

?

 

You’ve changed.......???

[MtB]

1 minute ago, frangar said:

You’ve changed.......???

 

It was only a fleeting thought!

 

 

[blackrose]

On 21/09/2019 at 16:19, Alan de Enfield said:

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

 

Yeah, wideasses rule!

 

[Guest]

2 hours ago, blackrose said:

 

Yeah, wideasses rule!

 

Just so comfy and so much room you can extend your arms without touching the sides ? and thats because its a proper size boat

[pete23]

I do apologise in advance...I don’t post much on here, but that in my opinion isn’t nice! 

Looks like something has pushed out a soft sh.t that has gone all flat. 

Edited October 11, 2019 by pete23

[blackrose]

53 minutes ago, peterboat said:

Just so comfy and so much room you can extend your arms without touching the sides ? and thats because its a proper size boat

 

Proper boats for proper people! ?

 

3 minutes ago, pete23 said:

I do apologise in advance...I don’t post much on here, but that in my opinion isn’t nice! 

 

Well let's have a look at yours then.

Edited October 11, 2019 by blackrose

[pete23]

I don’t have one thankfully.

 

[blackrose]

8 minutes ago, pete23 said:

I don’t have one thankfully.

 

I see. So I do apologise in advance but in that case your opinion on my boat (or any boat) is irrelevant and of no consequence.

Edited October 11, 2019 by blackrose

[GUMPY]

How many years ago was it that Blackrose (the boat) did a journey on a canal? More of a river boat I believe

 

[BruceinSanity]

10 hours ago, blackrose said:

 

Yeah, wideasses rule!

 

In our family, we call that a CON, Clinically Obese Narrowboat. 

[alan_fincher]

1 hour ago, Loddon said:

How many years ago was it that Blackrose (the boat) did a journey on a canal? More of a river boat I believe

 

Mike will no doubt tell you that it went a largish way up the GU, at least once.

 

What that doesn't recognise though is that when it did wide beams of this type of dimension were pretty unusual on the GU, so he wouldn't have been passing one moored one after  another, or trying to pass ones coming the other way.

 

Back then the presence of a few didn't cause any real problems.  Now with virtually every new boat being craned in on the GU being wide, it has really spoilt that waterway for many users.

 

Also the 12 foot plus ones seem to be where much of the growth is.  Those of 10 foot or 10 foot 6 inches were marginally less of a problem, but the vast majority going in now seem to be the real monsters. worse again is the move to wheel steering, which few owners seem able to hack.

 

Wide beams are fine in their place, but the vast numbers on the GU is not the right place for them to be.

[MtB]

1 hour ago, alan_fincher said:

Wide beams are fine in their place, but the vast numbers on the GU is not the right place for them to be.

 

At least you don't have to slow down when passing a line of moored widebeams though....

 

 

 

Edited October 11, 2019 by Mike the Boilerman

[GRLMK38]

48 minutes ago, alan_fincher said:

Mike will no doubt tell you that it went a largish way up the GU, at least once.

 

What that doesn't recognise though is that when it did wide beams of this type of dimension were pretty unusual on the GU, so he wouldn't have been passing one moored one after  another, or trying to pass ones coming the other way.

 

Back then the presence of a few didn't cause any real problems.  Now with virtually every new boat being craned in on the GU being wide, it has really spoilt that waterway for many users.

 

Also the 12 foot plus ones seem to be where much of the growth is.  Those of 10 foot or 10 foot 6 inches were marginally less of a problem, but the vast majority going in now seem to be the real monsters. worse again is the move to wheel steering, which few owners seem able to hack.

 

Wide beams are fine in their place, but the vast numbers on the GU is not the right place for them to be.

I think "expert" salespeople and naive buyers have a lot to do with it.  Wow...it's got a "dream kitchen" and "dream wardrobes" let's not worry about the fact it has a 4mm baseplate.

 

[Trevor Lyons]

I've only recently discovered this forum. David John, who produces the excellent "CruisingTheCut" Vlogs alerted me to it:

 

What’s the narrowboat forum you mention sometimes in your videos?
The forum I gained most of my info from is canalworld.net. It’s got loads of very expert people who chip in but the only thing you have to watch is that sometimes the discussions veer (quickly) wildly off on a tangent, which is unhelpful, or occasionally descend into vitriolic arguments. If you can wade your way through that occasional treacle, it’s good stuff.

 

However, it seems that forum members just can't prevent themselves from calling other peoples boats "pug ugly" or worse, or saying "I don't want to offend" when in reality that's precisely what they want. So, while I'll visit this forum  and "wade through the treacle" and "vitriol" to get news and information, in future I'll keep my contributions to a minimum. It's not a question of being thin-skinned (I've a hide like a rhino); I just think that grown-up canal boaters should behave more maturely and treat each other with more respect.

Edited October 11, 2019 by Trevor Lyons

[Athy]

8 minutes ago, Trevor Lyons said:

 

 

However, it seems that forum members just can't prevent themselves from calling other peoples boats "pug ugly" or worse, or saying "I don't want to offend" when in reality that's precisely what they want. So, while I'll visit this forum  and "wade through the treacle" and "vitriol" to get news and information, in future I'll keep my contributions to a minimum. It's not a question of being thin-skinned (I've a hide like a rhino); I just think that grown-up canal boaters should behave more maturely and treat each other with more respect.

Some also have a sense of humour.

[rusty69]

1 minute ago, Athy said:

Some also have a sense of humour.

....and some don't.

[billS]

My eyes are hurting after looking at the last couple of pages.

[rusty69]

Beauty is in the eye of the beerholder.

[Tuscan]

2 hours ago, alan_fincher said:

 

Also the 12 foot plus ones seem to be where much of the growth is.  Those of 10 foot or 10 foot 6 inches were marginally less of a problem, but the vast majority going in now seem to be the real monsters. worse again is the move to wheel steering, which few owners seem able to hack.

 

Wide beams are fine in their place, but the vast numbers on the GU is not the right place for them to be.

this is definitely the case in my recent experience 

[cuthound]

1 hour ago, Mike the Boilerman said:

 

At least you don't have to slow down when passing a line of moored widebeams though....

 

 

 

 

Depends on how good you are at judging narrow gaps! ?

[Victor Vectis]

On 10/10/2019 at 10:40, noddyboater said:

Imagine if you’re that person and still around, you’d stand back proudly and think “Look what I’ve done!”  

Better still stand against a wall and proudly be shot!

[blackrose]

12 hours ago, Loddon said:

How many years ago was it that Blackrose (the boat) did a journey on a canal? More of a river boat I believe

 

 

7 years ago, full length of the K&A from Reading to Bristol and then Sharpness to Gloucester on the G&S.