Not got a boat, yet

[Graham Davis]

1 hour ago, LadyG said:

Bow thrusters would be a good idea, but few boats have them.

Other boats moving about?  they should not be close enough to hit windows, open or closed

Have you ever seen 2 narrow boats passing each other on a narrow canal?
I think that not only should you be going out to see lots of boats, but a week on a hire boat actually cruising might be useful. Boats close together is quite common.

[LadyG]

39 minutes ago, Graham Davis said:

Have you ever seen 2 narrow boats passing each other on a narrow canal?
I think that not only should you be going out to see lots of boats, but a week on a hire boat actually cruising might be useful. Boats close together is quite common.

Yes, I assume most people  open windows when they are moored as a boat will naturally ventilate stern to bow when moving. If the windows open outwards and they are open when cruising, they will soon be windowless.  Anyway, the window does not have to be open wider than the beam, that is just common sense.

Edited May 23, 2017 by LadyG

[LadyG]

1 hour ago, system 4-50 said:

The general principle is that most boats are configured the way they are because that is best for the way most boats operate. Most boats move so most boats would have difficulty with any projections on the sides of the boat, from trees, ropes, other boats, etc. But difficulties can be coped with so some do have projecting windows. However it is still unsurprising that most have inward opening windows. 

An area where this principle operates less well is where new technology appears. It can take a while for the manufacturing side of boat building to adopt new stuff and I hope my  spray foam bilge catches on eventually but it will be years before any advantage is proved for it.

At any moment there are quite a few (my opinion) people experimenting with things on boats because they are not content with just accepting that whatever has gone before is necessarily the best way so the status quo is constantly being tested and retested, but mostly these fail as the perpetrators learn the why of how things are. All of which can be argued over, but the main lesson I suspect is to be on the alert when buying a boat for signs that the previous owner experimented and if so, what was the quality of those works and has heshe left any impending disasters behind?

Agree: I expect my surveyor to discuss things like that before he surveys, and reject any that are obviously not suitable for me.

But you have to appreciate that technology does give opportunities for beneficial upgrades, otherwise we would all have to buy a horse before the cart., sorry  barge, and no one would have Beta engines, smart battery management or LED lighting.

Edited May 23, 2017 by LadyG

[lulu fish]

I'm sure in 10 years we will all have pvc framed house windows in our boats thanks to this pioneer leading the way. 

[LadyG]

53 minutes ago, Graham Davis said:

Have you ever seen 2 narrow boats passing each other on a narrow canal?
I think that not only should you be going out to see lots of boats, but a week on a hire boat actually cruising might be useful. Boats close together is quite common.

I am going to see boats, no worries, but I've done plenty of offshore racing, and criss crossing at ten knots with a few feet to spare is fairly common. but  we tend to close hatches/windows/portholes when setting off.

Edited May 23, 2017 by LadyG

[rusty69]

56 minutes ago, Graham Davis said:

I think that not only should you be going out to see lots of boats, but a week on a hire boat actually cruising might be useful.

Think I suggested this in the very first reply. Boy does that seem a long time ago!

[haggis]

3 minutes ago, LadyG said:

I am going to see boats, no worries, but I've done plenty of offshore racing, and criss crossing at ten knots with a few feet to spare is fairly common. but  we tend to close hatches/windows/portholes when setting off.

Ah, that is one big difference from canal boating. Personally, I don't think we ever have all the windows and portholes on our boat closed, even when we leave the boat. A boat can get quite warm inside if it is sunny especially if the boat has a dark roof and open windows/doors and hatches help to keep things cooler inside.  When moored, if it is windy, we will sometimes close a window or two to cut down the draft. We never have a condensation problem on the boat and I am sure that his is because we let air circulate.

 

haggis

[LadyG]

9 minutes ago, haggis said:

Ah, that is one big difference from canal boating. Personally, I don't think we ever have all the windows and portholes on our boat closed, even when we leave the boat. A boat can get quite warm inside if it is sunny especially if the boat has a dark roof and open windows/doors and hatches help to keep things cooler inside.  When moored, if it is windy, we will sometimes close a window or two to cut down the draft. We never have a condensation problem on the boat and I am sure that his is because we let air circulate.

 

haggis

Yes , but you would not ever cruise with windows which open outwards flying in the wind, it just common  sense.

On a summers day it would be ok to open up all doors , windows and hatches, but in downpour you would not, as the air being 100% saturated is not going to have anything other than a detrimental effect

12 minutes ago, rusty69 said:

Think I suggested this [sic] , [hiring for a week]in the very first reply. Boy does that seem a long time ago!

lol

Edited May 23, 2017 by LadyG

[mross]

Outward opening windows are also a liability when passing overhanging trees etc.  We have the windows open when it's raining as, I'm sure, do the majority.

[WotEver]

1 hour ago, mross said:

We have the windows open when it's raining as, I'm sure, do the majority.

Yup. We do it at home, too. 

1 hour ago, LadyG said:

you would not ever cruise with windows which open outwards flying in the wind

Thereby proving their usuitableness (hey. I made up a word!). 

[rusty69]

1 minute ago, WotEver said:

Yup. We do it at home, too. 

Thereby proving their usuitableness (hey. I made up a word!). 

Yea, but what does it mean

[WotEver]

6 minutes ago, rusty69 said:

Yea, but what does it mean

Oh you don't expect me to know that too, do you?

[AllanC]

8 minutes ago, WotEver said:

Yup. We do it at home, too. 

Thereby proving their usuitableness (hey. I made up a word!). 

And you spelled it rong.

[rusty69]

28 minutes ago, AllanC said:

And you spelled it rong.

How do you know he spelled/spelt it wrong , he just made it up!

Edited May 23, 2017 by rusty69

[WotEver]

38 minutes ago, rusty69 said:

How do you know he spelled/spelt it wrong , he just made it up!

Yeah! Wot Rusty sed. 

Edited May 23, 2017 by WotEver

[Athy]

3 hours ago, lulu fish said:

I'm sure in 10 years we will all have pvc framed house windows in our boats thanks to this pioneer leading the way. 

There is many a true word spoken in jest. 30 years ago, a large proportion of n/b's had louvred windows. In more recent years, hopper windows in which the top 25%(ish) opened inwards have become the industry standard. But more recently still I have noticed more and more n/b's fitted with square blank (i.e. non-opening) windows - for example, modern Black Prince hire boats have them. Why? They tend to look ugly and they don't ventilate the boat. It's possible, I suppose, that some of them hinge partly open from the bottom. but they always appear to be tightly shut. Only 2 weeks ago I was admiring a '70s Malcolm Braine boat and commenting to its owner on its fine and distinctive hull shape - but he had just had the top replaced, and it had those windows, which almost spoiled the appearance of a most handsome boat.

I do not know what the frames are made from, but I wouldn't bet against them being PVC.

[AllanC]

I do beg your pardon. I thought there was only one U in usitableness.

[WotEver]

23 minutes ago, AllanC said:

I do beg your pardon. I thought there was only one U in usitableness.

Yeah, I should have writ notanygoodness. 

[Tony Brooks]

4 hours ago, LadyG said:

I am going to see boats, no worries, but I've done plenty of offshore racing, and criss crossing at ten knots with a few feet to spare is fairly common. but  we tend to close hatches/windows/portholes when setting off.

If you feel this is  an adequate response then you are even more in need of canal boat experience than I thought. Presumably you had sufficient water under the hull to allow the keel to stay off the bottom. I very much doubt your yachts were bluff nosed steel boxes.

Narrowboats that all too often move with their bottoms in muddy slurry or at best with only inches under the baseplate push water up the canal in front of them. The effect of the propeller and the canal bed cause the boat to veer towards one side if you get too close to a bank. When two narrowboats pass going in opposite directions the combination of the water pushed in front, the action of the props and the canal bed often causes them to pull towards each other. The faster you are going the worse this effect will be. Given time YOU will come to master this sort of thing and anticipate it but other boaters will not so it is far from uncommon for boats to bump, sometimes violently. If you cause your stern to swing across the bow of a big Woolwich working boat there is a good chance the bow will meat a stern window.

I had prommmised myself that I would not reply to any more of your posts because of your apparent attitude, but now  have done it. Please take heed of all the good advice given and once and for all get the idea that your sailing experience is all you need for narrowboating.

 

 

[LadyG]

34 minutes ago, Tony Brooks said:

If you feel this is  an adequate response then you are even more in need of canal boat experience than I thought. Presumably you had sufficient water under the hull to allow the keel to stay off the bottom. I very much doubt your yachts were bluff nosed steel boxes.

Narrowboats that all too often move with their bottoms in muddy slurry or at best with only inches under the baseplate push water up the canal in front of them. The effect of the propeller and the canal bed cause the boat to veer towards one side if you get too close to a bank. When two narrowboats pass going in opposite directions the combination of the water pushed in front, the action of the props and the canal bed often causes them to pull towards each other. The faster you are going the worse this effect will be. Given time YOU will come to master this sort of thing and anticipate it but other boaters will not so it is far from uncommon for boats to bump, sometimes violently. If you cause your stern to swing across the bow of a big Woolwich working boat there is a good chance the bow will meat a stern window.

I had prommmised myself that I would not reply to any more of your posts because of your apparent attitude, but now  have done it. Please take heed of all the good advice given and once and for all get the idea that your sailing experience is all you need for narrowboating. 

 

I think you are over reacting, I won't be charging up the waterways at full tilt, I will probably get some training, but really will be taking things easy. I will use common sense. 

Hunderds of folks hire boats every year with absolutely no background, its not rocket science.

I've done lots of boathandling, small and large, canoeing, surfboards, coracle, RIBs , speedboats, dingies, rowing, sculling, sea, ocean, inshore, offshore, lakes and rivers, really can't imagine this is going to be too difficult. 

and the Crinain canal, numerous times

Edited May 23, 2017 by LadyG

[Alan de Enfield]

47 minutes ago, LadyG said:

and the Crinain canal, numerous times

Well then, that's all you need - obviously an experienced canal user.

Did you get the T-shirt or just the key-ring ?

You don't need any further assistance, just find boat and get the owner to give you a full legally binding written specification, then go and mither a surveyor, pay over your cash and you are on your way.

Edited May 23, 2017 by Alan de Enfield

[The Grumpy Triker]

On ‎22‎/‎05‎/‎2017 at 12:20, rusty69 said:

Let me be the first to congratulate you, and award you in honour of a witty reply  your first "greenie". May you get many more.

 

(sorry it wasn't awarded by the pope)

Sorry Rusty - Thanks for that......just realised what you meant and realised what that 'Up Arrow' was for  - Sorry I haven't given any to date

[WotEver]

53 minutes ago, LadyG said:

I won't be charging up the waterways at full tilt, I will probably get some training, but really will be taking things easy. I will use common sense. 

So what on earth was the relevance of:

5 hours ago, LadyG said:

I've done plenty of offshore racing, and criss crossing at ten knots with a few feet to spare is fairly common.

 

[haggis]

1 hour ago, LadyG said:

 

and the Crinain canal, numerous times

Having done the Crinan twice I must say that it bears little resemblance to a canal down south. OK it has locks (much bigger than about 98% of those down south) but it is much wider (although you do get bits of canal which are wider than the norm down there) , it is MUCH deeper (depth is important as it governs your speed to a great extent) , it has no stone bridges on bends where you can't see what if anything is coming towards you, it has a very high air draft, it has mostly pontoons for mooring (instead of the banking)  and it has (or had) the availability of hired lock labourers. 

While the Crinan does give you a boating experience I don't think it is really much like canal boating south of the border. 

Haggis

[The Grumpy Triker]

7 hours ago, system 4-50 said:

An area where this principle operates less well is where new technology appears. It can take a while for the manufacturing side of boat building to adopt new stuff and I hope my  spray foam bilge catches on eventually but it will be years before any advantage is proved for it.

Am I opening myself up to ridicule here as a newbie or can I, dare I ask

- Spray Foam Bilge?....what is that?