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Grand Union canal moorings Birmingham


Nicole

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Grand Union canal moorings Birmingham

Started by Nicole26 minutes ago

 

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Nicole     0

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Hi folks. I am hoping I will be met with a bit more advice and guidance on this forum than I have been in person when making enquiries. A bit about me...I am a single 40 year old South African, working very hard in Birmingham and Solihull...Yes I have two full time jobs and clearly no life. I have a house on the beach in South Africa so no desire to buy an overpriced house in the UK. I also hate shelling out rent on my tiny student room in Edgbaston. So, it has been a long standing dream to live on a boat and I might as well try make the few short hours I spend in my home happy ones. I've saved up a nice lump sum and am looking to buy a boat. However, I don't want a narrowboat as cruising is not high on my priorities and I would like a bit more room...I just need to be moored close to either of my jobs. I have two boats in mind, one a 1930's lifeboat and another an oil rig lifebiat. I am leaning towards the latter due to the lack of maintenance required. Yes I know they are fugly but even fugly ones deserve a second chance! So, BCN is not an option and am looking at Grand Union. From what I can find there is only Copt Heath on the Grand Union. Is that right? I went to check it out and it's idyllic. Would give some spare teeth for a morning there. How do I go about getting a mooring there? Is there another mooring I am missing? Any other nuggets of advice welcomed as this is all very new to me. Cheers 

 

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To contact Copt Heath Wharf, there is their web site http://www.coptheathwharf.co.uk/ and their facebook page https://www.facebook.com/Copt-Heath-Wharf-198787406826077/

You would need to consider how you would get the boat that you have in mind there, just because the GU is a wide canal does not mean the boat would fit through the bridges etc.

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Welcome, yes just to pick up on john6767's point, the grand union into Birmingham was originally a narrow canal but had wide locks retrofitted in the 1930s (I think) so the bridges can't all take 14' wide boats, even before considering any headroom issues. Of course you might be able to have it craned in, but if you can't go anywhere on the boat, what's the point, you might as well get a static caravan?

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having been in several oil rig lifeboats, they are a great space to fill with stuff to live, however, are severely lacking in available internal light and walkspace to the exterior. 

A 1930's lifeboat sounds more suitable (will have windows) and may actually be more sell-able when you decide to move on (to a proper boat or back home to the beach)

 

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18 hours ago, nicknorman said:

Welcome, yes just to pick up on john6767's point, the grand union into Birmingham was originally a narrow canal but had wide locks retrofitted in the 1930s (I think) so the bridges can't all take 14' wide boats, even before considering any headroom issues. Of course you might be able to have it craned in, but if you can't go anywhere on the boat, what's the point, you might as well get a static caravan?

I'm not old enough for a caravan quite yet! 

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12 hours ago, matty40s said:

having been in several oil rig lifeboats, they are a great space to fill with stuff to live, however, are severely lacking in available internal light and walkspace to the exterior. 

A 1930's lifeboat sounds more suitable (will have windows) and may actually be more sell-able when you decide to move on (to a proper boat or back home to the beach)

 

Thanks and you are right. I do like to enjoy every bit of sunlight the UK has to offer. I really like the big orange jelly beans though and realise I may never sell it. I will weigh up both heavily before committing either way. 

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18 hours ago, Nicole said:

Thanks all. Sent a mail to Copt Heath a couple days ago so hopefully they will get back to me soon. Is there a website where you can check bridge heights like you can canal width? 

Here you go https://canalrivertrust.org.uk/refresh/media/thumbnail/31827-waterways-dimensions.pdf

The maximum air draft under bridges depends a lot on te shape of the boat roof. Many bridges on the GU will be arched and willbe a probem for tall wide roofs.

Jenny

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17 minutes ago, Jen-in-Wellies said:

Here you go https://canalrivertrust.org.uk/refresh/media/thumbnail/31827-waterways-dimensions.pdf

The maximum air draft under bridges depends a lot on te shape of the boat roof. Many bridges on the GU will be arched and willbe a probem for tall wide roofs.

Jenny

Brilliant. Thank you so much

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IMO, I wouldn't try to get anything wider than 11' up to Copt Heath, but with a 1930s lifeboat, you are also likely to have issues with draft and air draft.  Max draft would be just over 3' and max air draft maybe less than 7' with an 11' wide boat (think of how the underside of bridges is curved).

I have some friend with historic lifeboats, mostly Watson and Solent class and none of them would dream of trying to get them up canals.  One friend was looking at how near to Birmingham he could reasonably get and concluded that Stourport and Diglis (Worcester) were the only reasonably options.

My advice would be to get something which was built for the inland waterways.

 

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31 minutes ago, Jen-in-Wellies said:

Here you go https://canalrivertrust.org.uk/refresh/media/thumbnail/31827-waterways-dimensions.pdf

The maximum air draft under bridges depends a lot on te shape of the boat roof. Many bridges on the GU will be arched and willbe a probem for tall wide roofs.

Jenny

Not sure I would take much credence by those numbers, for example the section in question is listed as

Napton to Camp Hill
Length            Beam                  Draught              Headroom
21.95m 72ft    3.78m 12ft 5"      1.76m 5ft 9"       1.90m 6ft 3"

A draft of 5ft 9in seems to be rather optimistic, and the headroom of 6ft 3in, is probably true in the centre of bridges, but takes no account of profile, and many of the bridges are very cureved, for example this is the pinch point in terms of beam at Blue Lias

1126977_cd45379b.jpg

So 6ft 3in in the centre quite possibly, but the available height reduces very quickly.

 

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10 minutes ago, john6767 said:

Not sure I would take much credence by those numbers, for example the section in question is listed as

Napton to Camp Hill
Length            Beam                  Draught              Headroom
21.95m 72ft    3.78m 12ft 5"      1.76m 5ft 9"       1.90m 6ft 3"

A draft of 5ft 9in seems to be rather optimistic, and the headroom of 6ft 3in, is probably true in the centre of bridges, but takes no account of profile, and many of the bridges are very cureved, for example this is the pinch point in terms of beam at Blue Lias

1126977_cd45379b.jpg

So 6ft 3in in the centre quite possibly, but the available height reduces very quickly.

 

This reinforces what I was saying.  I've never seen a lifeboat at the Birmingham end of the GU.  I suspect there's a very good reason for that.  There's an active facebook group called Historic Lifeboats, which might provide you with more info on where owners have reached with their boats.  

To the OP:  Have you actually had a look round some narrowboats?  You may be surprised at how spacious some seem.  Certainly far less claustrophobic then an emergency orange jellybean!

 

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This advert by someone dealing in oil rig lifeboats may make useful background reading, if you can get past the rather poorly thought out text in CAPITALS THROUGHOUT:

http://www.apolloduck.co.uk/feature.phtml?id=282352

It makes some effort to point out the snags and the conversion required for liveaboard use, and my personal view would be that I wouldn't like to own such an ugly boat not designed for canals. I can't imagine them being good value for money after all the conversion costs.

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30 minutes ago, Dave_P said:

This reinforces what I was saying.  I've never seen a lifeboat at the Birmingham end of the GU.  I suspect there's a very good reason for that.  There's an active facebook group called Historic Lifeboats, which might provide you with more info on where owners have reached with their boats.  

To the OP:  Have you actually had a look round some narrowboats?  You may be surprised at how spacious some seem.  Certainly far less claustrophobic then an emergency orange jellybean!

 

I actually bought a small narrowboat and then sold it on again a week later. I bought it online and then when I went to view it, I just couldn't imagine turning it into the space I want so sold it at a small loss to the next bidder. I could maybe manage a wide beam but then I have the same issues again and they are out of my budget right now. 

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Thanks all. I really do appreciate the input and maybe I just haven't seen the right narrowboat. Maybe I should do a house swap for a while! Anyone in the Birmingham area who wants to go spend a few weeks in sunny Durban let me know! 

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3 minutes ago, Nicole said:

Thanks all. I really do appreciate the input and maybe I just haven't seen the right narrowboat. Maybe I should do a house swap for a while! Anyone in the Birmingham area who wants to go spend a few weeks in sunny Durban let me know! 

Now that's an offer!  If I were you, I'd put this in a new thread.  You may get quite a few responses.  I'd be very interested (central Birmingham mooring) but don't have much leave left now until next year :-(

 

 

Also:  would you mind indicating what your budget might be?

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Well, I did heed all advice and I bought a small Dawncraft cruiser. I got her cheap and I am going to try living on her for the summer and see how it goes. The boat is currently in Sheffield. I am getting quotes to get it lifted and trucked to Birmingham. I want to paint it before it goes back in the water...where can one do that over a weekend? Would you recommend me transporting it to Alvechurch, painting it and then having it put back in the water? Any other sites where I can do that? Apologies in advance if I am not using boaty technical terms!

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I would budget for at least a week for painting. You'll want to redo the antifouling on the bottom. A Dawncraft is light, so a local boat yard may let you have it out the water on wooden props for the duration, then put it in the water with their own lifting frame. You then only have to get it from Sheffield to the yard by road. Nearest place is Tulley's in Rotherham. Next out is Staniland in Thorne and a choice of two yards in Goole. Several days boating to reach Thorne, or Goole. Not many yards in the area.

Jenny

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21 hours ago, Nicole said:

Well, I did heed all advice and I bought a small Dawncraft cruiser. I got her cheap and I am going to try living on her for the summer and see how it goes. The boat is currently in Sheffield. I am getting quotes to get it lifted and trucked to Birmingham. I want to paint it before it goes back in the water...where can one do that over a weekend? Would you recommend me transporting it to Alvechurch, painting it and then having it put back in the water? Any other sites where I can do that? Apologies in advance if I am not using boaty technical terms!

Have you asked Alvechurch if you can both paint it there AND put it in the water there? They are a (very) commercial enterprise.

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Ordinarily if someone needs to move a boat some distance and it could go by water, I'd advise them to consider taking it by water if they have the time. If you don't have friends and family to crew, there are people like me who will help. But the boat is a Dawncraft so the cost of craning and road haulage should be less than for a longer and heavier narrowboat, and also you want to do some work on the hull. Therefore it makes sense to haul it most of the way by road and do the work either where it comes out of the water or where it goes back in; the latter for you because it's your area. So Graham Davis' suggestion sounds best, unless there's a better place in your target area to do the same thing.

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51 minutes ago, Graham Davis said:

Have you asked Alvechurch if you can both paint it there AND put it in the water there? They are a (very) commercial enterprise.

Yeah I got that impression. I called but unless they are doing the work won't do that

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Well thanks to this forum I have been contacted by someone at the Sheffield Quays who knows the boat. Apparently I will need some work doing on the gearbox. I can't seem to find anyone who does repairs to Dawncrafts in the Birmingham area, only narrowboats 

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Ok so I've arranged transport and the only mooring I could find available and with access to crane the boat in was Alvecote. So that is where I will be starting out. The boat has a BMC diesel 42HP which has proven to be too powerful for such a light craft. I'm going to look into having that removed and just a small outboard motor fitted. Seems much more sensible for the small amount of cruising I will ever do. Hoping this is all manageable work. Thanks everyone for your input here. Alvecote isn't my ideal mooring facility as it's a bit far to travel for work so one I get her cruisable I will be looking closer to Brum or Solihull again. Hope you all have a good weekend and this sun persists! 

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