Motorhoming v Narrowboating ?

I love walking my local canal tow paths, taking in all the different boat styles and sizes. I particularly love walking along side them in winter time, thick frost on the floor, and log burners puffing like a good’n.:giggle: The best name I ever did see on a narrow boat was one Called...‘Pub Crawler’ I just loved that name.:cool:

Enjoy your boat Andrew and your new hobby..I’m sure you’ll have a blast.
 
Blue Knight said:
Funsters, I'll soon be able to offer up a review of the two as we've just bought our first narrowboat.

We had originally settled for a 63-footer but the owner of said boat happened to mess us about quite significantly so in the end we opted for a 57ft NB instead. TBH I think we dodged a bullet with the longer one as it would have been harder to park it outside a beer garden or one of the canal-based pubs ::bigsmile:

It'll do around 13mpg @ 3mph, locks dependent, so we won't be rushing anywhere - and the red diesel cost is only 69.9p/liter for now until the new white diesel rule kicks-in sometime next year.

Just be sure to keep an eye out for the local newspaper reports in 4-6 weeks from now for an article similiar to the following

"Newbie Narrowboaters Sink Boat on Maiden Voyage".

Can't wait. :clap:
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Good luck, enjoy but don't get rid of motorhome just yet, https://www.somersetlive.co.uk/news/somerset-news/river-avon-rescue-underway-firefighters-4519305. Sluice Gate failed. Smudger55
 
Smudger55 said:
Good luck, enjoy but don't get rid of motorhome just yet, https://www.somersetlive.co.uk/news/somerset-news/river-avon-rescue-underway-firefighters-4519305. Sluice Gate failed. Smudger55
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That reminds me of the first lock on our Channel-Med trip. We had just turned off the Seine, and approaching the first lock we found a queue moored up. A Dutch barge had shed its rudder, which had jammed the lock gates. Les Pompiers in attendance. Two hour delay, but everybody was relaxed and good-hearted, bers/wine on the go. At least we were afloat, unlike that incident which would have been a nightmare in my 5' 6" draught keel boat.

Geoff

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Wonderful! I had a live-in one (Mon-Fri) for a couple of years. Lots of mechanical fun and games, gearbox spends half its life in reverse. Engine failures and getting towed. Boat MoT issues to solve. Environmental stuff - weeds clogging the prop in Birmingham. Security stuff - yobs throwing bricks at us from bridges - Birmingham again.

...and pubs where you can have a bellyful and fall asleep on the boat outside. Enjoy!
 
Enjoy, at least you won’t find chairs and bikes reserving a place on some aires.
 
nicholsong said:
Bow thruster! Bow thruster!

You cheat you.

Nothing the crew with a stout pole cannot do.
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LOL. Had to laugh at this. When we had our narrowboat built in 2007, our boat builder called the Bow Thruster control the “girlie button”. Can’t tell you how many times it got us out of trouble. Never regretted giving in to the boss when she insisted on having one.
 
TizzyOnTour said:
LOL. Had to laugh at this. When we had our narrowboat built in 2007, our boat builder called the Bow Thruster control the “girlie button”. Can’t tell you how many times it got us out of trouble. Never regretted giving in to the boss when she insisted on having one.
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Can one 'spring' a narrow boat out of a tight berth?
 
Definitely. I was taught how to do this using just ropes and the engine. Even though we had the Bow Thruster installed (glad we did), I always try to manoeuvre the boat without using it, whenever possible. Probably because for the previous 20 years or so we didn’t have the Bow Thruster, so you tend to stick with what you know works.

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nicholsong said:
Do canal boats have echo sounders? if so how many and where?

Geoff
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I don't think I have ever come across across that. Most canals are so shallow you could walk out if you fell in. Might be a bit smelly though :cautious:. The only time we have been on deeper water tends to be rivers or estuaries.
 
TizzyOnTour said:
I don't think I have ever come across across that. Most canals are so shallow you could walk out if you fell in. Might be a bit smelly though :cautious:. The only time we have been on deeper water tends to be rivers or estuaries.
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But don't some silt up at the edges if not used much? They do in France. The peniches keep the middle of the channel clear but that sediment has to settle somewhere.

Geoff
 
nicholsong said:
But don't some silt up at the edges if not used much? They do in France. The peniches keep the middle of the channel clear but that sediment has to settle somewhere.

Geoff
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That's correct and it is becoming ever more of a problem.

The Canal & River Trust (C&RT) run the 2000+ miles of the main canals and they currently don't have enough resources to keep on top it.

In theory they should charge a much larger annual license fee but they don't and therefore something has to give.

Yes, there is constant maintenance and dredging programme going on but I reckon it needs to be several times the current tempo just to keep on top of the routine canal maintenance.

There are already cases of canals being closed due to the water levels being too shallow and this will only get worse. Some of the locks are also in bad order and this takes money - a set of large seasoned lock gates cost c£100,000 to replace (lots of work involved though).

To cap it all off there are some long term boaters out there that are predicting a 10-year future for the canals before the good times are gone. This is very sad as it's yet another part of our great history which will disappear.

My annual C&RT licence for a 57ft boat like mine will cost less than £1,000 which is far too cheap if they are wanting the money to keep the canals in good order.

Interesting times ahead for sure Geoff.
 
nicholsong said:
Do canal boats have echo sounders? if so how many and where?

Geoff
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No, but I'll chuck Nicky in from time to time as a 'dip test' should the canal depths get a bit awkward to navigate :)

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TizzyOnTour said:
LOL. Had to laugh at this. When we had our narrowboat built in 2007, our boat builder called the Bow Thruster control the “girlie button”. Can’t tell you how many times it got us out of trouble. Never regretted giving in to the boss when she insisted on having one.
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Speaking with all of the brokers recently it seems a bow thruster is one of the big wants on the shopping list.
 
TizzyOnTour said:
LOL. Had to laugh at this. When we had our narrowboat built in 2007, our boat builder called the Bow Thruster control the “girlie button”. Can’t tell you how many times it got us out of trouble. Never regretted giving in to the boss when she insisted on having one.
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Would that be as many times as you got yourself into trouble?:rolleyes::LOL:
 
The only big downside regarding our boat purchase is that if this CV19 situation spirals any further out of control then we won't be picking it up until..........??? TBC
 
TheAleMan said:
I love walking my local canal tow paths, taking in all the different boat styles and sizes. I particularly love walking along side them in winter time, thick frost on the floor, and log burners puffing like a good’n.:giggle: The best name I ever did see on a narrow boat was one Called...‘Pub Crawler’ I just loved that name.:cool:

Enjoy your boat Andrew and your new hobby..I’m sure you’ll have a blast.
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You're always welcome at the Marina - just be sure to bring your newly ordered Morelo Palace with you.

I need to be seen with the right people you know :cool:

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Smudger55 said:
Good luck, enjoy but don't get rid of motorhome just yet, https://www.somersetlive.co.uk/news/somerset-news/river-avon-rescue-underway-firefighters-4519305. Sluice Gate failed. Smudger55
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Got to feel for those canal boaters affected by this. They are a similar community to ours and seem to be pulling together. At first I could not understand how a boat could sink if there was no water, seems likely most were moored to the bank on short ropes, boats then rolled to one side as the water disappeared, only took half an hour so any empty boats suffered. One guy in a newspaper report says he could not undo the ropes as already too tight, just grabbed his two dogs and laptop and now homeless. Happily a friend is lending him a motorhome.
 
I've been canal boating on and off so 50 years, and have just bought a motorhome, so the Yin and Yang remain in balance ...

There are two main UK based forums: https://www.canalworld.net/forums/ and https://thunderboat.boards.net/

Thunderboat isn't moderated so can get a but rude, but both have members who can help with all sorts of stuff. (Just use the search function first if you want to avoid a mauling!)
 
Nicky said she'll be pleased to have more kitchen space in the boat but TBH guys I can't see any difference in size between the PVC and the boat:

Screenshot_20200918-135515_Gallery.jpg


Screenshot_20200918-134451_Gallery.jpg
 
TheAleMan said:
I love walking my local canal tow paths, taking in all the different boat styles and sizes. I particularly love walking along side them in winter time, thick frost on the floor, and log burners puffing like a good’n.:giggle: The best name I ever did see on a narrow boat was one Called...‘Pub Crawler’ I just loved that name.:cool:

Enjoy your boat Andrew and your new hobby..I’m sure you’ll have a blast.
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My favourite so far is called 'Tacit'. A musical term for a pause between bars ...

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twbm said:
I've been canal boating on and off so 50 years, and have just bought a motorhome, so the Yin and Yang remain in balance ...
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Welcome to the Fun Forum BTW (y)
 
Foxton top lock on a hire boat.

IMG_0865.JPG

nicholsong said:
Bow thruster! Bow thruster!

You cheat you.

Nothing the crew with a stout pole cannot do.
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Known as the 'girly button'
twbm said:
I've been canal boating on and off so 50 years, and have just bought a motorhome, so the Yin and Yang remain in balance ...

There are two main UK based forums: https://www.canalworld.net/forums/ and https://thunderboat.boards.net/

Thunderboat isn't moderated so can get a but rude, but both have members who can help with all sorts of stuff. (Just use the search function first if you want to avoid a mauling!)
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I was a member of both until Denial had a wholesale cull of people that disagreed with him over the 'B' word. Thunderboat is good if you aren't easily offended.
 
68c said:
Got to feel for those canal boaters affected by this. They are a similar community to ours and seem to be pulling together. At first I could not understand how a boat could sink if there was no water, seems likely most were moored to the bank on short ropes, boats then rolled to one side as the water disappeared, only took half an hour so any empty boats suffered. One guy in a newspaper report says he could not undo the ropes as already too tight, just grabbed his two dogs and laptop and now homeless. Happily a friend is lending him a motorhome.
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This is the reason anyone on a boat should carry a knive, you never know when you might have to cut your ropes.
 
nicholsong said:
Can one 'spring' a narrow boat out of a tight berth?
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Why Not?. Works with (older) 200.000tonne Bulk carriers?.
nicholsong said:
Do canal boats have echo sounders? if so how many and where?

Geoff
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What Happened to the the lead and line?. "By the mark, 4 Fathoms, Sir".

twbm said:
My favourite so far is called 'Tacit'. A musical term for a pause between bars ...
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My son, lives on the Avon and Kennet, Currently somewhere near Newbury. On a "Broad Beam". Called "We Are Free". Works from the boat most days as an IT consultant. We can get a better Face-time connection to them than we do with the grandkids on the landline!. I think it`s piggy backed off his Satellite dish somehow?.

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