Want to move my 8 mtr boat with ouboard from Newhaven to join the canal network . Channel - Thames . Any quicker/ safer way . Grateful 1st timer .

[bradleyscott596@yahoo.co.]

Thanks , but i will go with rivers and canals trust data which shows loads of locks being capable of accomodating beams of just over 8 ft . On occasions when fhe locks won,t accomodate will simply coastal hop which advjce tells me my boat is perfectly suitable for . Might even do the Broads !! It will end up in Newcastle anyway - we have the greeatest river in the country lined with nice people - You overstep the mark by telling someone to sell their boat - have you not read the recent dequest on this app to be pleasant to eachother ?? Regards , Brad .

 

[bradleyscott596@yahoo.co.]

Aha ha ha!

You'll be very lucky to find 2 metres of water anywhere on the Southern canals linked to the Thames.

The Grand Junction canal (Brentford to Braunston) was only *designed* with a depth of 5'6", the Oxford even less (variable between 4' and 5')

And those depths were in the middle of the canal. Canals are saucer shaped and significantly shallower at the bank than in the middle

Add to that the dire state of the canals which are suffering from a severe lack of dredging. An old friend of mine has just spent over a week moving a 4'6" draft Bantam tug from London to Milton Keynes and it's been dragging bottom most of the way

A coastal sailing boat is totally and utterly unsuitable for canal cruising.

 

[bradleyscott596@yahoo.co.]

Thanks , but only require 1 meter of depth not 2 metres ( draught is 0.97) so should be ok . Much appreciate reply , sorry to hear about your friend - must be a sickener for him . Regards , Brad .

 

[Minerva]

Thanks , but i will go with rivers and canals trust data which shows loads of locks being capable of accomodating beams of just over 8 ft . On occasions when fhe locks won,t accomodate will simply coastal hop which advjce tells me my boat is perfectly suitable for . Might even do the Broads !! It will end up in Newcastle anyway - we have the greeatest river in the country lined with nice people - You overstep the mark by telling someone to sell their boat - have you not read the recent dequest on this app to be pleasant to eachother ?? Regards , Brad .

London to Newcastle by Canal? Sounds a 'challenge' bearing in mind the two cities are not interlinked by canals See here

Whilst some posters previous have been perhaps quite forthright in stating their opinion on the suitability of your boat for the canal network, they are quite correct.

If you want to use your new boat on the Tyne, then go for it - but you'll either need to make the trip up the North Sea or on the back of a lorry. The North Sea trip using the boat as designed i.e using the sails will be a pleasant trip if you get the correct weather window and take someone along who knows what they are doing. A lorry trip will be far quicker, less risk and easier all round.

The other alternative is to acknowledge you've not bought the correct boat (I guess a wine fuelled, impulse eBay purchase?) either sell it, or if the money hasn't changed hands yet, fold on the sale and buy a more appropriate boat to your needs which is in the location you want to use it.

Please don't mistake people not telling you what you want to hear for being unkind.

 

[syvictoria]

You've probably already seen this, but if not, it may be helpful for your planning:
https://canalrivertrust.org.uk/refresh/media/thumbnail/32433-waterway-dimensions.pdf

The air draft (headroom) on the Kent Class is generally about 6ft (1.83m). You may be able to reduce this if you remove the mast tabernacle, but that will be dependant upon the next highest point (normally the pulpit and/or pushpit rails if fitted).

As an aside, it does seem (to me) to be a pity to convert a sailing boat to a motor boat when there are so many more than adequate motor boats about (but I am perhaps soft in the head when it comes to such things!).

If you do go to sea, please consider carrying a spare outboard motor as a second option for propulsion should the main one fail (and assuming of course that you do remove the rig and/or don't learn to sail).

 

[bedouin]

That is insane. You really have not grasped what you are being advised. The beam on the canals is limited to 7' by the locks. Your boat is far wider than this.

As I said earlier if you want to cruise on the canals buy a canal boat - they are totally different from the boat you have bought. You have a seagoing motor sailer and just removing the rig and adding an outboard - which in itself is totally impractical does not make it a canal boat.

That is not quite correct - roughly half of the canals will take 14' beam - but, and it is a big but, there are some key points that you can't get through - so a boat wider than 7' cannot go through the network from South to North (or vice verse of course) as the key connecting canals are narrow beam.

 

[bradleyscott596@yahoo.co.]

London to Newcastle by Canal? Sounds a 'challenge' bearing in mind the two cities are not interlinked by canals See here

Whilst some posters previous have been perhaps quite forthright in stating their opinion on the suitability of your boat for the canal network, they are quite correct.

If you want to use your new boat on the Tyne, then go for it - but you'll either need to make the trip up the North Sea or on the back of a lorry. The North Sea trip using the boat as designed i.e using the sails will be a pleasant trip if you get the correct weather window and take someone along who knows what they are doing. A lorry trip will be far quicker, less risk and easier all round.

The other alternative is to acknowledge you've not bought the correct boat (I guess a wine fuelled, impulse eBay purchase?) either sell it, or if the money hasn't changed hands yet, fold on the sale and buy a more appropriate boat to your needs which is in the location you want to use it.

Please don't mistake people not telling you what you want to hear for being unkind.

 

[bradleyscott596@yahoo.co.]

Thanks , i dont drink alcohol - haven,t for many years .

 

[Black Sheep]

(I guess a wine fuelled, impulse eBay purchase?)

Wow. Less of the personal attacks please!

 

[bradleyscott596@yahoo.co.]

Wow. Less of the personal attacks please!

 

[bradleyscott596@yahoo.co.]

Thanks for your comment . Brad .

 

[Portland Billy]

The Norfolk Knights Kent is an excellent boat for the purpose it was built - touring the Broads and the occasional coastal and hop in reasonable weather.
I would suggest looking for a boat with design and build more suited to your requirements.
There are are plenty around, and could save you some heartache !

 

[bradleyscott596@yahoo.co.]

Thanks for comment . Am getting lots of good responses to help me make my mind up .

 

[bradleyscott596@yahoo.co.]

You've probably already seen this, but if not, it may be helpful for your planning:
https://canalrivertrust.org.uk/refresh/media/thumbnail/32433-waterway-dimensions.pdf

The air draft (headroom) on the Kent Class is generally about 6ft (1.83m). You may be able to reduce this if you remove the mast tabernacle, but that will be dependant upon the next highest point (normally the pulpit and/or pushpit rails if fitted).

As an aside, it does seem (to me) to be a pity to convert a sailing boat to a motor boat when there are so many more than adequate motor boats about (but I am perhaps soft in the head when it comes to such things!).

If you do go to sea, please consider carrying a spare outboard motor as a second option for propulsion should the main one fail (and assuming of course that you do remove the rig and/or don't learn to sail).

 

[bradleyscott596@yahoo.co.]

Thank you for useful comments . I have a spare outboard , link to boat dimensions is very usefull and has answered a lot of questions - many thanks for that

 

[Tranona]

Thanks , but i will go with rivers and canals trust data which shows loads of locks being capable of accomodating beams of just over 8 ft . On occasions when fhe locks won,t accomodate will simply coastal hop which advjce tells me my boat is perfectly suitable for . Might even do the Broads !! It will end up in Newcastle anyway - we have the greeatest river in the country lined with nice people - You overstep the mark by telling someone to sell their boat - have you not read the recent dequest on this app to be pleasant to eachother ?? Regards , Brad .

You do not seem to be listening - nor reading the information on the canals correctly. The vast majority of the navigable canal system is limited to 7' beam by the locks. It is true that there are many canals mostly in the north that are wider, but they are mostly either canalised sections of rivers or originally commercial canals linking industrial areas to the sea. While pleasure boats use them now, they are not connected to eachother in the way that the narrow canals are. Also you originally talked about going to the Thames - none of the wide beam canals except the Kennet and Avon can be accessed from the Thames - and you will find your draft a big constraint on the K&A.

I tried to be polite in offering good advice so that you can avoid making a major mistake - note that every piece of advice says much the same as I am saying. The boat you have is not suitable for canal cruising. It may well be possible to use it on the inland rivers and the Broads that you can access from the sea, but first you have to sail around the coast to gain that access. In reality very few people take seagoing boats inland because the hassle of dropping masts and then carrying them on deck is just not worth it. Forget your plan to power the boat by outboard. This is totally impractical - the boat has an inboard diesel because that is what is needed to propel it under power.

You admit to inexperience, and it shows, so take a step back, listen to the advice being given, and most importantly find out more about different types of boats and how and where you can use them.

 

[Bru]

Thanks , but i will go with rivers and canals trust data which shows loads of locks being capable of accomodating beams of just over 8 ft .

Firstly you need to look more closely at that data. Yes, there are wide canals you could theoretically take this boat on as far as beam is concerned. Yes, there are canals that are theoretically deep enough (but see below). But they are not necessarily the same canal

And please don't ignore advice based on several decades experience of working deep draughted *canal* boats around the UK waterways

I've worked loaded narrowboats, steam narrowboats and other craft over much of the UK inland waterway system in my former life as a narrowboat Captain (the traditional term btw!) and believe me when I say that the published draught figures are utter tosh

I reiterate ... the draught stated by CART is the design draft in the middle of the canal in question. You will rarely find that much water even in the middle and it WILL be much shallower near the bank

Ask me how I know this and I'll regale you with numerous accounts of getting boats thoroughly stuck in places where the stated draught should have been more than ample. Such accounts will include much use of a Tirfor winch, rather a lot of swearing and on two notable occasions damage to a historic narrowboat which nearly resulted in a sinking.

Oh and lock walls bulge in reducing their actual width by several inches from that stated. Bridges get rebuilt lower and narrower without the published information being updated.

And we haven't even begun to consider the advisability of playing dodgems with 30 ton steel boats in a little GRP boat that was not designed for that sort of abuse

I am often heard to say that boating on the canals is a contact sport and whilst the remark is intended to be humorous, I'm really not kidding.

You WILL get hit by steel narrowboats potentially with considerable force. That is a stone cold certainty. Inland waterways GRP boats were designed to take the knocks - the GRP layup on our old Dawncraft was ridiculously thick by yacht standards and backed by substantial timber framing. Your Kent was not designed to get crushed against a concrete wall by a 30 ton narrowboat doing 4 mph. Not gonna happen? Wanna bet? Been there, done that, got the T-shirt.

(I'm forced to admit that I've been both the victim and the culprit!)

Wanna know what roughty toughty working narrowboat skippers call little plastic boats?

Fenders

Seriously, the boat in question is TOTALLY unsuitable for use on inland canals.

It is entirely suitable (now that the target has moved up into my original homeland) for pottering about on the Tyne with occasional trips to such fleshpots as Sunderland, Seaham, Blyth and Amble or even the greater delights of Lindisfarne and West Hartlepool!

That is, in fact, very much what she was designed for.

However, removing the rig is another bad idea but I suspect I'll be wasting my breath pointing out all the reasons why.

 

[Portland Billy]

It seems strange asking for advice from experienced boaters and then refuting what they say.
Is someone perhaps just taking the p*SS?

 

[billskip]

..

 

[Black Sheep]

It seems strange asking for advice from experienced boaters and then refuting what they say.
Is someone perhaps just taking the p*SS?

No. Why does everybody always want to think ill of others?
The OP isn't questioning the advice he's asked for, but the unsolicited advice that he didn't ask for, and which appears to him to be at odds with published information.


The way I read it...

OP has bought a boat that he hopes will be good for rivers and some canals. He has done some research into this, and from what he can understand from CART, the boat should be suitable.

He posts a question on the best way to get it from Newhaven round to the Thames.

He then gets a load of responses that don't answer his question, but tell him that he shouldn't be trying to do that.

So far, so typical for the forum - probably any forum. You ask "how do I do X?" and the answer is always "You shouldn't be trying to do X".

The OP is patient with these people. From his perspective, he's done his research, the CART tells him that his boat fits the draught and beam requirements. But he's got a load of people telling him that he's got the wrong boat (he must have bought it while drunk!) and that the published data from an authoritative source (CART) is wrong. These are just strangers on the Internet. Of course he's not going to say "Oh, you're all correct even though you don't cite references, and the CART who should know what they're talking about are wrong. I'll sell my boat and never try again. I am not worthy to sail in your hallowed waters".

The OP's comments are quite reasonably sceptical of some of the responses on here.

There's a lot of noise on the thread. But there's some valuable stuff as well. Bru is definitely worth listening to about inland waterways stuff. (the OP hasn't yet responded to Bru's post). I don't know the boat in question, but a triple keeler sounds like it could be a good river boat, but if Bru reckons it won't be good in most canals, I'd tend to listen.

Me? I'm a sailor so I'd always recommend keeping the stick up! But if you're going to use it as a motor boat, then ideally an inboard engine. You'll be doing some sea work (probably more than you were hoping) and an outboard tends to stop working effectively in waves as it spends some of its time out of the water.

But you could take it round to the Medway for some sheltered tidal boating; up the Thames; into some of the East Coast rivers and estuaries; Norfolk Broads. But get on a course or two, and/or take a competent sailor with you. By the time you're ready to take the boat north, you'll be in a better position to decide how to get there.