Do Narrowboats have difficult?
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Sultans_Kapitein
RIP
Erm . . . yes it is utter nonsense to describe a steel 'bath tub' as beautiful or romatic!
I don't personally like plastic canal cruisers, but some do have a little merit, were as the only difference in a narrow boat is choice of paint (apart from size, that is)
Mal
Outinthedinghy
Well-Known Member
Its a term used to describe a GRP vessel.
I heard it from a Thames Lock keeper. Apparently it is descriptive of what happens to one when you whack it hard with a canal boat. I got the impression he had experience of this happening.
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No Regrets
Well-Known Member
Outinthedinghy
Well-Known Member
: )
I've passed through Thames locks hundreds of times and in general I find the splitters, particularly the 'Reebok' type are the worst offenders when it comes to maneouverability (sp?).
Narrow boats just slide into the lock they don't blow around like the flybridge cruisers do. And I think if you were to investigate you would probably find that collision between the two is very rare and when it does occur it is more ofen due to unnecessary movement of the cruiser. The number of times I've seen them swing out at the last minute when someone fixes the front rope too tightly is unbelievable.
I've passed through Thames locks hundreds of times and in general I find the splitters, particularly the 'Reebok' type are the worst offenders when it comes to maneouverability (sp?).
Narrow boats just slide into the lock they don't blow around like the flybridge cruisers do. And I think if you were to investigate you would probably find that collision between the two is very rare and when it does occur it is more ofen due to unnecessary movement of the cruiser. The number of times I've seen them swing out at the last minute when someone fixes the front rope too tightly is unbelievable.
ianc1200
Well-Known Member
Andy
Have to say the standards of some narrowboats owners boat handling is appalling, and in my experience much worse - because they can do far more damage - than GRP boats.
Just a small example, coming back from the Essex rivers almost got rammed by a nb which had been waiting below Richmond Lock. The nb was coming backwards, at speed, and it's rudder was going to split my (wooden boat). Did the usual thing of shouting, telling them they weren't wanted on the river, get back to the canal etc, which was great fun as I had an IWA Council member on board (he hid).
A lot of them also have no idea about which side of the river to be on, and in some cases the bends are so tight (above Shifford etc) full length nb's can't be on the correct side, in my book this makes them unsuitable for the river.
IanC
Have to say the standards of some narrowboats owners boat handling is appalling, and in my experience much worse - because they can do far more damage - than GRP boats.
Just a small example, coming back from the Essex rivers almost got rammed by a nb which had been waiting below Richmond Lock. The nb was coming backwards, at speed, and it's rudder was going to split my (wooden boat). Did the usual thing of shouting, telling them they weren't wanted on the river, get back to the canal etc, which was great fun as I had an IWA Council member on board (he hid).
A lot of them also have no idea about which side of the river to be on, and in some cases the bends are so tight (above Shifford etc) full length nb's can't be on the correct side, in my book this makes them unsuitable for the river.
IanC
Outinthedinghy
Well-Known Member
Hello Ian,
A boat does need to be able to handle a certain amount of banging around if it is used on an inland waterway. I know a lot of people probably don't think of the River as an inland waterway but it is one and in terms of operation and infrastructure its really not very different to a canal. The ridiculous number of fenders used on wood and grp vessels clearly indicates their unsuitability for the river because they are too easy to damage! They are clearly designed for open water where the potential for contact with solid objects is minimised.
Without a mix of boats the river would be terribly boring.
A boat does need to be able to handle a certain amount of banging around if it is used on an inland waterway. I know a lot of people probably don't think of the River as an inland waterway but it is one and in terms of operation and infrastructure its really not very different to a canal. The ridiculous number of fenders used on wood and grp vessels clearly indicates their unsuitability for the river because they are too easy to damage! They are clearly designed for open water where the potential for contact with solid objects is minimised.
Without a mix of boats the river would be terribly boring.
TrueBlue
Well-Known Member
The Thames locks were built for commercial barges and the infrastructure - bollards, pilings, freeboard and so on reflect that.
Observe an EA tug and dumb barge(s) in operation; apart from the tug driver's obvious skill, note how easy they slip in and out. Indeed the train will sit comfortably in the lock going up or down without any major restraint of lines.
Similarly narrowboats work best on narrow canals - the two just fit together without any additional aids. NBs are ugly as they are an adaptation of a bulk freight barge. The bridges are low so there's not a lot that designers can do to improve the look. People spend large amounts on a paint job to give the boat some style. However, if the boat is used seriously the paint gets scratched and chipped in the hurly burly.
Coming back to the river, observe any pleasure craft and you note how laybyes are not at the right height for pleasure craft, working the locks is a real challenge in terms of placing the boat and getting lines ashore.
As long as one realises the limitations of whatever boat you have - and an appreciation of what others have with their's, then it works remarkably well.
I've seen so many folks plonking their boat in the middle of the layby or lock chamber and being very grumpy if they should be asked to move up. It's a reflection of the selfish way we behave on the roads.
There's no excuse for the attitude of "I'm here and I'll do what I like, the rest can bog off". ON a road you can get away from that sort of person. On the river you may be stuck with him for most of the day....
ianc1200
Well-Known Member
"There's no excuse for the attitude of "I'm here and I'll do what I like, the rest can bog off". ON a road you can get away from that sort of person. On the river you may be stuck with him for most of the day...."
So true, & always worth remembering. Often it's two weeks, as somehow you often see the boat which caused you some grief several times on a holiday, so I think always best not to become involved unless there are serious issues.
Andy, the point about fenders, & nb's again is the damage they can do. If the nb owner wants to pay for Peter Freebody to put right the damage, I suppose that's a good reason for not bothering about fenders.
Anyway, how's my favourite river dog getting on with her new owners? Fawley Meadows is not the same without her!
IanC
So true, & always worth remembering. Often it's two weeks, as somehow you often see the boat which caused you some grief several times on a holiday, so I think always best not to become involved unless there are serious issues.
Andy, the point about fenders, & nb's again is the damage they can do. If the nb owner wants to pay for Peter Freebody to put right the damage, I suppose that's a good reason for not bothering about fenders.
Anyway, how's my favourite river dog getting on with her new owners? Fawley Meadows is not the same without her!
IanC
Gumpy
Well-Known Member
Reading this thread make me worry if its safe to bring my boat onto the Thames, or will I get rammed by hoards of narrow boats?
ianc1200
Well-Known Member
Julian
Just imagine having Cervinia bashed by a nb.....
On the other hand, nb's ought to be similarly worried about Parglena (sp?)
BTW, I'm on pontoon berth E9 at Bradwell Marina now.
See you soon
IanC
Just imagine having Cervinia bashed by a nb.....
On the other hand, nb's ought to be similarly worried about Parglena (sp?)
BTW, I'm on pontoon berth E9 at Bradwell Marina now.
See you soon
IanC
boatone
Well-Known Member
Fret ye not - it is most unlikely that you will get rammed by a narrow boat. Odds are that you are more likely to get attacked by a holiday hire cruiser but even that is pretty rare.
However, IMHO the sooner the EA insist on 3rd Party Liability Insurance as a prerequisite for a licence - be it Annual or Visitors, the better.
The most hazardous location is the locks and lock cuts themselves where largeish numbers of boats come together, particularly in high season and good weather weekends.
Gumpy
Well-Known Member
Having just had to drill a hole in the Hull of Cervinia and found out just how thick they made fibreglass in those days, I think that she would survive more than most.
Sometimes I wish there was a tongue in cheek smiley!
tinkicker0
Well-Known Member
Any NB or cruiser displaying current BW licence discs will have third party insurance up to (IIRC) 3 million quid. No insurance, no tax disc.
Having said that, I too find NBs downright ugly and more than a bit twee.
We get some on the Yorkshire Ouse coming through the Selby Canal and going upriver to York.
I always seem to get stuck behind one chug chugging against the current, smoke rings springing from the chimney, clouds of smoke billowing from the skipper's pipe bowl and all managing the rare speed of about 3 knots. The skipper hanging grimly on to his tiller and the blacking peeling off his hull under the blistering speed through the water.
Of course, a constant procession of boats are coming the other way, so passing is out of the question unless one either wants to put oneself in a bit of a predicament, or open the throttle and pass quickly.
The Bargee would then scream at you as you fill his open bow with a couple of hundred gallons of wake water.
I find it easier to turn around and go back for awhile, in which case, when I return, the bargee will by then have stopped and moored up outside the "Bide A Wee Teashop and Castle Painting Emporium" for jam scones and a rope fender.
Either that or his cement mixer engine will have overheated with the strain.
Having said that, I have less trouble with NBs than the Red Hire Boats at york where anyone can hire one for the hour.
Imagine hundreds of these damn things congregating near the Lendal bridge Landing, full of pissed up daytrippers without a clue about Colregs or river etiquette.
It can get quite scary and it keeps you on your toes.
Having said that, I too find NBs downright ugly and more than a bit twee.
We get some on the Yorkshire Ouse coming through the Selby Canal and going upriver to York.
I always seem to get stuck behind one chug chugging against the current, smoke rings springing from the chimney, clouds of smoke billowing from the skipper's pipe bowl and all managing the rare speed of about 3 knots. The skipper hanging grimly on to his tiller and the blacking peeling off his hull under the blistering speed through the water.
Of course, a constant procession of boats are coming the other way, so passing is out of the question unless one either wants to put oneself in a bit of a predicament, or open the throttle and pass quickly.
The Bargee would then scream at you as you fill his open bow with a couple of hundred gallons of wake water.
I find it easier to turn around and go back for awhile, in which case, when I return, the bargee will by then have stopped and moored up outside the "Bide A Wee Teashop and Castle Painting Emporium" for jam scones and a rope fender.
Either that or his cement mixer engine will have overheated with the strain.
Having said that, I have less trouble with NBs than the Red Hire Boats at york where anyone can hire one for the hour.
Imagine hundreds of these damn things congregating near the Lendal bridge Landing, full of pissed up daytrippers without a clue about Colregs or river etiquette.
It can get quite scary and it keeps you on your toes.
kesh
Well-Known Member
look closer.
sailboats all look the same to those that don't know sailboats. "oh yeah, pointy end, less pointy end, big stick in the middle pointing skyward"
as for not seeing the romance of pottering gently along some backwater in summer to the quiet put-put-put of an old diesel, well you have no soul.
pheran
Well-Known Member
Ah, soul!
CX54WEK
Well-Known Member
Thanks for reminding me why we are visiting York again this summer!!!
Andrew_Fanner
Well-Known Member
Aesthetics is all personal anyway. I've never (heresy alert) especially liked the "jellymould" look of the earlier small Freemans but they are as much a part of the river (and some canal) environment as water and willow trees. Hire narrowboats tend to have unexciting (cheap to maintain) colour schemes, private ones are usually far more interesting. A good older one with a Bollinder semi chuffling happily and everything that can be polished gleaming in the sun is a joy to behold. Hire craft may have better deck candy though!
Be warned, if ever you saw a narrowboat that looked vaguely reminiscent of a Bulleid Pacific in full Southern Railway malachite, complete with chrome yellow lining and Battle of Britain class style nameplate that would probably be me, if ever I owned a narrowboat.
Be warned, if ever you saw a narrowboat that looked vaguely reminiscent of a Bulleid Pacific in full Southern Railway malachite, complete with chrome yellow lining and Battle of Britain class style nameplate that would probably be me, if ever I owned a narrowboat.
whisper
Well-Known Member
Thanks, brilliant portrayal.
kesh
Well-Known Member
i wish more had the classic industrial diesels: lister, perkins, gardners, russell newbery, etc. there's even a few narrow boats with steam engines around. sadly it's usually beta, yanmar, vetus and the like. slightly different marinisation, but pretty much the same as the seagoing chaps.