sailor mcgee Posted December 7, 2018 Report Share Posted December 7, 2018 so, whats the max capacity in metric tonnes of cargo a widbeam cargo boat can carry? asking for a friend.... or something like that Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mrsmelly Posted December 7, 2018 Report Share Posted December 7, 2018 17 minutes ago, sailor mcgee said: so, whats the max capacity in metric tonnes of cargo a widbeam cargo boat can carry? asking for a friend.... or something like that It depends how long and how wide it is etc etc somewhere between 20 and several thousand tons. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sailor mcgee Posted December 7, 2018 Author Report Share Posted December 7, 2018 lets take the max for grand union 70ft long,14ft wide. Narrow canals 70ft long, 7ft wide, don't know the air draft Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
furnessvale Posted December 7, 2018 Report Share Posted December 7, 2018 29 minutes ago, sailor mcgee said: lets take the max for grand union 70ft long,14ft wide. Narrow canals 70ft long, 7ft wide, don't know the air draft Water draught is more important but to get the ball rolling, the record for a pair of narrow boats (boat and butty) using the broad beam Grand Union locks is approx 62 and a quarter tons, George Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alan de Enfield Posted December 7, 2018 Report Share Posted December 7, 2018 1 minute ago, furnessvale said: Water draught is more important but to get the ball rolling, the record for a pair of narrow boats (boat and butty) using the broad beam Grand Union locks is approx 62 and a quarter tons, George Tons or Tonnes ? (or as the Yanks call them - Long tons or Short tons) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dmr Posted December 7, 2018 Report Share Posted December 7, 2018 I know about narrowboats because I live on one, but you can do the conversion arithmetic. A 70 foot narrowboat (7 foot wide) will displace about an extra inch of water for each extra ton of load. (Proper English tons and metric tonnes are much the same give or take a % or so) Our English canals are just about 3 feet deep and that's a bit optimistic. If you don't understand feet then you need to learn quickly before moving onto our canals ? ...............Dave Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sailor mcgee Posted December 7, 2018 Author Report Share Posted December 7, 2018 1 minute ago, dmr said: I know about narrowboats because I live on one, but you can do the conversion arithmetic. A 70 foot narrowboat (7 foot wide) will displace about an extra inch of water for each extra ton of load. (Proper English tons and metric tonnes are much the same give or take a % or so) Our English canals are just about 3 feet deep and that's a bit optimistic. If you don't understand feet then you need to learn quickly before moving onto our canals ? ...............Dave yeah.... something about that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dmr Posted December 7, 2018 Report Share Posted December 7, 2018 21 minutes ago, sailor mcgee said: yeah.... something about that. Yup, thats exactly it. Our tape measures and rules have cm on one edge and inches on the other and we decide which one to use depending upon the phase of the moon. Sometimes we work in tenths of inch but normally we prefer 1/2 1/4 1/8 1/16 and also 1/32 see! we invented binary even before computers. For engineering we like the "thou" which is 1/000 of an inch. A thou of wear in a cylinder bore is significant, and a skilled engine builder can just detect a step of 1/10 thou with his fingernail. and then there's 6 inches but we don't want to get another thread closed!!!!! (and that's not your thing anyway) .............Dave 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Captain Pegg Posted December 7, 2018 Report Share Posted December 7, 2018 42 minutes ago, furnessvale said: Water draught is more important but to get the ball rolling, the record for a pair of narrow boats (boat and butty) using the broad beam Grand Union locks is approx 62 and a quarter tons, George I do like the way you say "approx" and then give an answer with 0.2% tolerance. But hardly anyone will notice because 58% of the population don't understand statistics anyway. Wasn't the norm somewhere in the order of 50 tons for a pair; weighted in favour of the butty? Maybe by as much as 52% to 48% i.e. a huge imbalance. Assuming your measure is in imperial tons (which is the same as a US long ton) the metric equivalent would be 63.25 tonnes or 69.75 US (short) tons. All quoted to the nearest quarter ton(ne). I suspect someone on the forum knows what present day coal boats can carry on their particular routes and it's presumably somewhat less than in the days of regular carrying. JP Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sailor mcgee Posted December 7, 2018 Author Report Share Posted December 7, 2018 9 minutes ago, dmr said: Yup, thats exactly it. Our tape measures and rules have cm on one edge and inches on the other and we decide which one to use depending upon the phase of the moon. Sometimes we work in tenths of inch but normally we prefer 1/2 1/4 1/8 1/16 and also 1/32 see! we invented binary even before computers. For engineering we like the "thou" which is 1/000 of an inch. A thou of wear in a cylinder bore is significant, and a skilled engine builder can just detect a step of 1/10 thou with his fingernail. and then there's 6 inches but we don't want to get another thread closed!!!!! (and that's not your thing anyway) .............Dave how long is any tunnel? 1000m how long is a boat 70ft.... logic Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dmr Posted December 7, 2018 Report Share Posted December 7, 2018 5 minutes ago, sailor mcgee said: how long is any tunnel? 1000m how long is a boat 70ft.... logic Our "navigation authority", Canal and River Trust, works totally in Metric units, but many of us would prefer to see distances in yards and miles. Its difficult, our canal system is a wonderful ancient monument so the historic "mileposts" obviously work in miles, whilst some modern signs work in km (or minutes of cycling time which is daft). I licence my boat in metric units but the locks were mostly built to take either a 57 foot or a 72 foot boat. The narrow locks were built to take a 7 foot wide boat but due to ground movement 6'10" is seen as sensible maximum. The metric units look a bit clumsy when quantifying a system that has evolved in imperial units. ............Dave Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Captain Pegg Posted December 7, 2018 Report Share Posted December 7, 2018 3 minutes ago, sailor mcgee said: how long is any tunnel? 1000m how long is a boat 70ft.... logic Why does there need to be logic? Different unit systems are just different ways of using numbers and symbols to describe the very same thing. In language there is almost never an instance where two people would use the exact same words to describe the same thing so why should there be so in Mathematics? It's just the language of numbers and equations rather than letters and words. That 1,000 metre long tunnel is 1,094 yards and the 70ft boat is 21.34 metres. You will find both systems used on the canal and in pretty much every walk of life. It isn't a fundamental issue. I will though concede that consistency is useful for the hard of thinking. JP Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dmr Posted December 8, 2018 Report Share Posted December 8, 2018 I buy my diesel in litres, and only know my water tank capacity in litres, I measure my speed in miles per hour but my fuel consumption in litres/hour. Beer, of course, comes in pints. I don't see any problems! ...............Dave Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sailor mcgee Posted December 8, 2018 Author Report Share Posted December 8, 2018 i never got taught your ways. i got taught metric. only metric Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peter X Posted December 8, 2018 Report Share Posted December 8, 2018 1 hour ago, sailor mcgee said: lets take the max for grand union 70ft long,14ft wide. Narrow canals 70ft long, 7ft wide, don't know the air draft The locks on the GU main line will all take two narrow boats side by side, but some of the bridges won't. In general, the further you go from the Brentford end up the GU in a widebeam, the less popular you will be with anyone navigating in the opposite direction. I'm not sure where the limit of navigation would be for a boat a full 14' wide, but it'll be well before the end (Sampson Road, top of Camp Hill locks, a few miles short of Birmingham city centre). If you took the biggest widebeam that could go all the way to Sampson Road, about 70' x 12', and loaded it as much as possible while still being able to get over the shallowest bits (I nominate the cutting just west of Catherine de Barnes), I estimate you could carry about 40 tonnes. But it would be easier to take the same cargo there in a pair of narrow boats. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sailor mcgee Posted December 8, 2018 Author Report Share Posted December 8, 2018 10 minutes ago, Peter X said: The locks on the GU main line will all take two narrow boats side by side, but some of the bridges won't. In general, the further you go from the Brentford end up the GU in a widebeam, the less popular you will be with anyone navigating in the opposite direction. I'm not sure where the limit of navigation would be for a boat a full 14' wide, but it'll be well before the end (Sampson Road, top of Camp Hill locks, a few miles short of Birmingham city centre). If you took the biggest widebeam that could go all the way to Sampson Road, about 70' x 12', and loaded it as much as possible while still being able to get over the shallowest bits (I nominate the cutting just west of Catherine de Barnes), I estimate you could carry about 40 tonnes. But it would be easier to take the same cargo there in a pair of narrow boats. on a widebeam id maybe opt to go from london to the north via the river lea and then up towards humberside along the humber and towards liverpool leeds (when thats open) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rusty69 Posted December 8, 2018 Report Share Posted December 8, 2018 6 hours ago, sailor mcgee said: on a widebeam id maybe opt to go from london to the north via the river lea and then up towards humberside along the humber and towards liverpool leeds (when thats open) Good luck Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alan de Enfield Posted December 8, 2018 Report Share Posted December 8, 2018 6 hours ago, sailor mcgee said: on a widebeam id maybe opt to go from london to the north via the river lea and then up towards humberside along the humber and towards liverpool leeds (when thats open) UK Canal boats (fat or thin) are not really 'sea-worthy'. They have been known to have problems with waves breaking over the bows on the River Thames. I would no more take one up the East Coast than I would 'fly to the moon'. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rusty69 Posted December 8, 2018 Report Share Posted December 8, 2018 (edited) 1 hour ago, Alan de Enfield said: UK Canal boats (fat or thin) are not really 'sea-worthy'. They have been known to have problems with waves breaking over the bows on the River Thames. I would no more take one up the East Coast than I would 'fly to the moon'. There is still time (no, too late, you missed the boat) https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/china-launches-first-ever-mission-to-the-moons-farside/ Edited December 8, 2018 by rusty69 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Athy Posted December 8, 2018 Report Share Posted December 8, 2018 9 hours ago, sailor mcgee said: yeah.... something about that. Yes, we still have a way to go before the rest of the world understands British measurements. Now, about those pounds, shillings and pence.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LadyG Posted December 8, 2018 Report Share Posted December 8, 2018 (edited) Not convinced by this map, US gallons for example. they're not Imperial. No one has mentioned the Roman Mile. A yard of ale. A rule of thumb. A Welsh Cob 14.3 hands high. Enough rope to hang yourself. How long is that piece of string? 50p = £ [L] .s d. = £ shillings/pence = ten bob = 10/- 13= a baker's dozen A pair of coconut's 77p = a greengrocers' apostrophe Edited December 8, 2018 by LadyG Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike on the Wey Posted December 8, 2018 Report Share Posted December 8, 2018 8 hours ago, sailor mcgee said: on a widebeam id maybe opt to go from london to the north via the river lea and then up towards humberside along the humber and towards liverpool leeds (when thats open) You will have capacity on your wide boat for a JCB and a rather large bucket of water. You will need both when you reach Hertford on the Lee. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alan de Enfield Posted December 8, 2018 Report Share Posted December 8, 2018 14 minutes ago, Athy said: Yes, we still have a way to go before the rest of the world understands British measurements. Now, about those pounds, shillings and pence.... The start of the decline - 15th Feb 1971. Never been the same since. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Athy Posted December 8, 2018 Report Share Posted December 8, 2018 9 minutes ago, Alan de Enfield said: The start of the decline - 15th Feb 1971. Never been the same since. That was just the money. There had been creeping infiltration by the metric system since about the mid-1960s. It's taken quite a long time, though: I can ask for a quarter of ham inte deli, and an assistant who certainly wasn't born when the metric system was introduced seems to know what I mean. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alan de Enfield Posted December 8, 2018 Report Share Posted December 8, 2018 2 minutes ago, Athy said: That was just the money. There had been creeping infiltration by the metric system since about the mid-1960s. It's taken quite a long time, though: I can ask for a quarter of ham inte deli, and an assistant who certainly wasn't born when the metric system was introduced seems to know what I mean. I went into out local village Butcher the other day and asked for a 'pound of sausages' it was supplied with narry an eyebrow raised. As an aside - I also asked for a couple of Pork chops and requested "make them lean", to which he replied "certainly, which way ?" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Featured Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now