Motorhoming v Narrowboating ?

[MaidinDevon]

Escape the Rat Race.

 

[Peppadog]

Enjoy your new boat. My son bought a 60’ wide beam (10’) to live on after a relationship breakdown. He loves it. The buggers wont steer going astern (backwards) but not bad once on the move. Its near us, in a marina on the river Avon, near Bath.
His last red diesel was .57p per litre! Red is only normal diesel with dye in it, and, I think, less bio as well. Government can choose to force boaters to pay the road duties or not. Lets hope not. I’ll still be sailing my 32’ sailboat whatever. Currently in the Scillies. And its raining today

 

[Eggs]

Escape the Rat Race.

Badly worded by me, where are you picking the boat up from, where are you planing to cruise?

 

[MaidinDevon]

Hi Eggs, I did take it very literally!! Picking up around Braunton or Rugby I think, but is out cruising at the moment.
No firm plans. I zm aware of the stoppage programme which will affect planning.
I have heard great things about the Peak Forest canal. I would love to go under Tower Bridge and through central London.
Prefer country to city, mostly.
I enjoy lots of the vloggers YouTube diaries.

 

[Eggs]

Hi Eggs, I did take it very literally!! Picking up around Braunton or Rugby I think, but is out cruising at the moment.
No firm plans. I zm aware of the stoppage programme which will affect planning.
I have heard great things about the Peak Forest canal. I would love to go under Tower Bridge and through central London.
Prefer country to city, mostly.
I enjoy lots of the vloggers YouTube diaries.

The Peak Forest is lovely, depending on stoppages a short run down the Trent and Mersey and onto the Cauldon is a must imo. The first section of the Cauldon is rough, (I'm allowed to say that I originate in Stoke), once you are through that bit the Cauldon is extremely wonderful.

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[Coastal Cruiser.]

Joy's of watching the antics
Port Solent portsmouth has a very large lock.
It's hilarious watching MARINA MAN and wife attempting to enter the lock tie up and depart.
All the gear and no idea.
Worked there 20 yrs so amusing.
The sheer panic in faces.

Me and my Dad spent over a year building lots of Port Solent.
I did the piling that you see as you come into the locks then dug that out.
Did the boat hoist roads and drainage was a good job.
We were there around 1987.

 

[Conal]

In my option you have dodged a bullet not buying the 63 footer. I have watched just about every vlog on Amazon and You Tube and, although posters are correct that such a long narrow boat can access most canals and waterways, the dreaded sometimes underwater cill in each lock would give me nightmares where there was very little space left.
Many say that you would have struggled between Wigan and Leeds whilst s say that Tinsley Flight to Sheffield, Calder and Hebble, and Huddersfield Broad. I know others don’t agree but, like in the world of motorhomes, less stress is better.

 

[Conal]

Not to hijack the thread but.... why are narrowboat owners happy to travel without wearing a life jacket? On the vlogs they all demonstrate in great detail the rules for river travel which include wearing a life jacket. Many of them also have an episode where that fall in a canal. Don’t they realise that, if they bang their head they can drown in the relatively shallow canals?

 

[Eggs]

Not to hijack the thread but.... why are narrowboat owners happy to travel without wearing a life jacket? On the vlogs they all demonstrate in great detail the rules for river travel which include wearing a life jacket. Many of them also have an episode where that fall in a canal. Don’t they realise that, if they bang their head they can drown in the relatively shallow canals?

Dunno, because we was daft? I never wore one on the canals, or did tidal rivers. Buster used to wear one though, not because he couldn't swim, but because I could grab him out easily after he'd swam alongside the boat.

 

[pelican]

Me and my Dad spent over a year building lots of Port Solent.
I did the piling that you see as you come into the locks then dug that out.
Did the boat hoist roads and drainage was a good job.
We were there around 1987.

Loads of money!

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[MaidinDevon]

Maybe I need some boat shoes? Or walking boots perhaps. I don't want to slide into the canal.
And I shall no doubt be sliding around in the mud on the towpath.

Suggestions please....
In the motorhome I use Crocs or trainers.

 

[uzsnowdrop]

Whatever you get , make sure the soles are grippy, the canals can be treacherous and falling in is not the biggest worry at all. The most common and dangerous thing is slipping on the boat, or between boat and path ( this is nasty) , or just on the paths.think ankles and hips….. Dealing with locks is not to be taken lightly either, they are slippy places and should be treated as danger zones, especially around the winding gear.
Welly boots are easy to use but the soles can slide on the metal surfaces, as for crocs…..
Stay safe but enjoy it!!

 

[Eggs]

Maybe I need some boat shoes? Or walking boots perhaps. I don't want to slide into the canal.
And I shall no doubt be sliding around in the mud on the towpath.

Suggestions please....
In the motorhome I use Crocs or trainers.

It's a bit like working, you need a good pair of boots, and a good bed, when you aren't in one you'll be in the other. My advice is, where you can step off the boat do, towpaths are rough so easy to twist an ankle. This isn't meant as a downer, just remember you will be alone in the middle of nowhere at times. Remember each bridge and every bridge number you pass under just in case you need help.

 

[Eggs]

Whatever you get , make sure the soles are grippy, the canals can be treacherous and falling in is not the biggest worry at all. The most common and dangerous thing is slipping on the boat, or between boat and path ( this is nasty) , or just on the paths.think ankles and hips….. Dealing with locks is not to be taken lightly either, they are slippy places and should be treated as danger zones, especially around the winding gear.
Welly boots are easy to use but the soles can slide on the metal surfaces, as for crocs…..
Stay safe but enjoy it!!

Beat me to it.

 

[uzsnowdrop]

Beat me to it.

To be fair , you know more about it than I do, but I’ve seen a couple of incidents that were nasty on our short trips.

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[Eggs]

To be fair , you know more about it than I do, but I’ve seen a couple of incidents that were nasty on our short trips.

Possibly, but reading back it does sound like I'm making it out worse than it really is. Yes, 'you' might get frozen in over winter, but CaRT accept that, the stoppages will stop you getting where you want to go, the fuel boats might/probably won't be able to get through, but if you can over winter on a narrowboat you'll love the Spring, Summer and Autumn. My advice is, MaidinDevon should crack on with it.

 

[Minxy]

Not to hijack the thread but.... why are narrowboat owners happy to travel without wearing a life jacket? On the vlogs they all demonstrate in great detail the rules for river travel which include wearing a life jacket. Many of them also have an episode where that fall in a canal. Don’t they realise that, if they bang their head they can drown in the relatively shallow canals?

Easily done, I always wear a buoyancy aid when kayaking, even in calm weather, the only exception being if I am within 20ft of shore (in a shallow area) when I sometimes take the dog out for a quick ride as one loves to jump back in the water and swim to shore. I slipped on some steps once when getting back in on a canal and bashed my coccyx which hurt like hell, whilst I was shocked with the pain at least I didn't have to worry about keeping afloat.

On my first narrowboat holiday my future MIL's dog Bindy decided to try to jump to the bank from the boat but unfortunately didn't make it - she was a heavy lump but thought she was svelt-like - the boat was drawing into the edge and there was a scream that she was going to get squashed so I quickly went down the bank into the 4ft high nettles and managed to grab her out of the water ... dog just shook herself and wandered off as if nothing had happened ... I suffered for days with flaming stinging nettle rash!