Narrowboats at sea

Tom Price said:
James Griffin, skipper and MD of Wyvern Shipping, gave his slide show at my local club; we staggered out exclaming "What a bloody fool!"

Ocean Princess was NOT designed and built for seagoing voyages at all. Stormbound in Dover the authorities impounded the vessel until improvements were made - new foredeck, sealed doors, window covers etcet - and a whole stack of safety equipment, added. Even then his 'adventures' showed that he was no mariner, making Tim Spall look like a Yachtmaster.

But if you want a good larf, book him now!
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They certainly intended to make it a sea going vessel, but didn't read the rule book very closely first.

It was only impounded, because it was over 70 feet long, so fell into a category that had to meet certain requirements for sea. Some of the items it fell short of were the number and type of flares, and the number of fire extinguishers.

I am guessing they designed the boat at 72 feet long, the maximum for the canals. Had they chosen 69 feet, they would not have been impounded and would not have been forced to make the changes, thought no doubt they would have been advised to. If I were designing a narroboat, I would make it no longer than 55 feet, then it would be able to navigate all of the canals. At 72 feet, it has some limitations on the inland waterways.

It may not be sea worthy by the definition most on this forum use, but it has made some long passages and it didn't sink, so I think it met it's design criteria.
 
jhr said:
Brilliant book. He then followed it up with "Narrow Dog to Indian River", about taking his NB down the Intracoastal Waterway in the States. If that sounds like a doddle, some of the sounds they crossed were thirty miles wide and exposed to the Atlantic. He and his wife are both in their seventies, I think, and I salute them.

Website is here; apparently we'll get "Narrow Dog to Wigan Pier" next year - I can't wait. :cool:
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Maybe we read a different book! All I remember was an angry old bloke, in the wrong type of boat, whingeing about everything and everyone. His choice to be in the deep south in the summer in a hot, metal tube, so why bore us with his complaints about being too hot and the expense of having aircon fitted?
 
bumpy_the_dog said:
Maybe we read a different book! All I remember was an angry old bloke, in the wrong type of boat, whingeing about everything and everyone. His choice to be in the deep south in the summer in a hot, metal tube, so why bore us with his complaints about being too hot and the expense of having aircon fitted?
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Well, it wouldn't have made much of a story if everything had run on rails, would it? :D

For me, part of the pleasure of the two books has been the grumpiness of the narrator and the intransigence of his dog. I'd seriously recommend the Indian River book to anyone contemplating a similar trip, even if they're doing it in a more conventional, seaworthy craft.

Storytelling at its best - even if he is Welsh :D
 
Narrowboat design for sea

There's more people going to sea in NB's than I realised.

Assume you've covered the cratch area, protected the windows, fitted washboards or whatever, to stop the thing filling up, then how stable would a flat bottomed 7' wide well ballasted boat be?? Also assume ballast well fixed, and as low as possible (and 10mm bottom panel). Flat bottom gives max form stability, but lots of heavy steel topsides would mean what sea-state before rolling?

Assume 50 to 55 feet long, then how important would longtitudinal flexing / metal fatigue be - here steel topsides must help.
 
That's why Telford decided Tubular bridges were a good idea & motorways are built using box girders. Terry Darlington did not detect any flexing or twisting. I'm sure he would have had a suitable humorous comment if he had.

Sailing barges are flat bottomed & carry a large spread of sail. Most waves would be longer than high, so probably unlikely to roll a boat over or create enough synchronous positive feedback to capsize a narrowboat. The bigger issue is probably breaking waves knocking her over, or punching windows or door in & flooding her.

Not looking for a fight, but would be interested in other opinions.
 
I recall reading when Ocean Princess got to the end of the Calley canal, and went out into the Moray Firth under the Kessock Bridge. They described the about turn to come back as "interesting" or something to that effect.

Getting to know the Firth quite well now, and with the wind from the SW, it can produce quite a chop, and usually a short chop, so turning the boat under those conditions and it could get somewhat rocky.

But it's been quite windy today, so today would not be the sort of day you would go to sea in a narrowboat.
 
One sunk on the Ribble Link, just a few months ago. Many have difficulties just going to Preston, mainly I think because they just do not understand the sea and navigation.

A few have got lost and found around Blackpool.

In another life, we are members of the Lancaster cannal boat club. You should hear the "interesting" tales.
 
I have seen a narrow boat capsized on flat water (a very slow moving river in calm conditions), simply by a few drunken blokes sitting on the roof deliberately swaying to make it roll from side to side. Once it capsized, it stayed upside down (with a woman trapped inside). There is no way I would take one to sea (and I'm quite used to long sea crossings in small boats and kayaks).

I think the stability issue is much more critical than covering the windows, etc. If the conditions are such that the doors need sealing, the conditions are not at all suitable for a narrow boat to be at sea, IMHO.

I know it can be done, but to do it I think you need to be (a) someone who really understands all the risks and how to minimize them, (b) someone who doesn't know that there are such risks, or (c) a complete idiot.
 
ProDave said:
They certainly intended to make it a sea going vessel, but didn't read the rule book very closely first.

It may not be sea worthy by the definition most on this forum use, but it has made some long passages and it didn't sink, so I think it met it's design criteria . . .

AFTER sensible improvements!
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Google "Tuesday nightclub"
or go to http://www.tuesdaynightclub.co.uk/ and see what they got up to...............

Med297.jpg


Often pass the odd one or two in Sea Reach in transit from Thames to Medway.
 
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As others have indicated, Timothy Spall has taken his Dutch barge around the UK coast. While not perfect for the job, the Dutch barge style is slightly more suitable than a narrow boat, but he got weather bound in Cornwall for several months before rounding The Lizard. I understand that narrow boats have crossed the Dover Straits to France, then pottered up the coast to Holland, but you have to be very sure of the weather!! Not something that I would fancy I'm afraid.
 
ProDave said:
Many narroboaters do "go to sea"

As above they have crossed the channel etc.

Also they have travelled up the Bristol channel to get from the Avon to the Severn, crossed the Wash to get to various eastern rivers, and part way up the Humber.

There's even a narrowboat about that was designed specifically to be seaworthy that has been round a lot of the coast and through the Calley Canal out into the Moray Firth.

Most that make these passages do so with the cover of a seaworthy safety boat, and one of the biggest precautions is boarding up the windows and sealing the doors.

There are also a few recognised passages that take in tidal river estuaries, like the Ribble Link to the Lancaster canal.
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I know of one n/b called I-Frances that travelled over from Newfoundland to Ireland and came up the Estuary at Limerick to Lough Derg.I think it was last heard of in transit to the European waterways via the English canal/river system some years ago.
 
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Narrowboats across the Channel

I have a definate memory of a picture in a newspaper showing a narrowboat lashed to the side of a cross channel ferry in order to get it across the channel. I have in mind an orange ferry which was, I think, the corporate colour of Townsend Thoresen.

Does anyone else recall such a picture? Does anyone have such a picture, or know where I might get a copy of one - it is the subject of a wager, with a good lunch at stake!
 
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