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Why a Narrow Boat or GRP


Calranthe

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10 minutes ago, Naughty Cal said:

Nice looking boat that Alan. 

Now some pictures of the Cat please as well :)

Just because you asked so nicely.

38 foot length x 23 foot beam.

3x double cabins (one of which takes up one whole 'hull', comprising of bedroom, dressing area, office, bathroom and shower, the other two cabins and a bathroom / shower room take up the other hull).

Saloon, dining and kitchen are all in the centre 'bridge' area, with the helm and instruments outside, auto-pilot and repeat instruments inside above chart table.

Twin Volvo 2030 (28hp) engines - one at the stern of each hull gives zero-turning capability.

 

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Edited by Alan de Enfield
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1 hour ago, Naughty Cal said:

But who has mentioned narrow beam boats?

You did in effect by stating that a shorter yoghurt pot has more space than a longer sewer tube. If you're talking wider beam as well as shorter length then how can you compare? (Rhetorical question). 

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51 minutes ago, Naughty Cal said:

But who has mentioned narrow beam boats?

The OP certainly didn't. In fact quite the opposite. The only people mentioning narrow beam are those confined to their tin tubes.

 

The OP did in fact mention narrow beam boats when they asked about narrowboats.  It's pretty obvious that comparing interior space between a narrowboat and a grp with a larger beam and air draft will be a pointless and reductive thing to do.  I may as well point to steel hulled cruise liners, since they have difficulty going down narrow canals too.  

It's implicit in the original post that the debate was intended to compare steel with grp boats of similar sizes.  Otherwise the debate could be summed up as "bigger boats provide more interior space than smaller boats, because they are bigger".

 

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2 minutes ago, Dave_P said:

The OP did in fact mention narrow beam boats when they asked about narrowboats

But the OP also made mention that he was looking for something that, in the future, he could take 'offshore' - a NB is the most unlikely boat to take (safely) offshore - a bathtub would be more seaworthy - at least you could pull out the plug to let the water out.

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4 minutes ago, Dave_P said:

the debate could be summed up as "bigger boats provide more interior space than smaller boats, because they are bigger".

Yup, I'd go along with that ;)

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With my little £3,300 boat once the fuel pump is fixed from my short experience and for me personally the following points

It is more maneuverable than any NB, it can turn in its own space can go anywhere within reason.

It is very economical on fuel,

When I get up in the morning on the trip within reason I do not have to worry about getting wet, I can sit under my cozy canopy on my pilot chair and go.

For me at this point those points matter and the only issue beyond a cursed fuel pump could be storage space in the future.

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Just now, Calranthe said:

With my little £3,300 boat once the fuel pump is fixed from my short experience and for me personally the following points

It is more maneuverable than any NB, it can turn in its own space can go anywhere within reason.

It is very economical on fuel,

When I get up in the morning on the trip within reason I do not have to worry about getting wet, I can sit under my cozy canopy on my pilot chair and go.

For me at this point those points matter and the only issue beyond a cursed fuel pump could be storage space in the future.

You find ways to work with the storage that you have. Little tricks to wedge items into the smallest of spaces.

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3 minutes ago, Dave Payne said:

I like space, open big space, my boat is all open plan apart from the fire and kitchen units, everything else can be moved, swapped, added to when ever i like.

I just dont think you can do this in a grp.

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What. Being able to touch both walls at the same time? You can keep that.

I thought you had been on grp cruisers?

Most of the river cruisers are a similar open plan layout with the saloon, dining area and galley in one space.

4 minutes ago, Calranthe said:

Some of those little spaces seem to go on for ever, I've been putting spare windlass, rope, hand horn and extras into a little tiny opening.

We have had to strip everything off NC to get up here. We were bringing car loads home.

The water line came up a long way!

 

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10 minutes ago, Naughty Cal said:

What. Being able to touch both walls at the same time? You can keep that.

I thought you had been on grp cruisers?

Most of the river cruisers are a similar open plan layout with the saloon, dining area and galley in one space.

We have had to strip everything off NC to get up here. We were bringing car loads home.

The water line came up a long way!

 

I have, narrow ones, coz thats what i would need, living on a narrow canal and all that.

Not sure a fat plastic tub would get through the atherstone flight!

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51 minutes ago, Naughty Cal said:

You find ways to work with the storage that you have. Little tricks to wedge items into the smallest of spaces.

I don't really see the problem with storage .... just have less stuff and you need less storage - simples

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I liveaboard a narrowboat and I like the fact it's pretty solid and if anyone were to crash into her, I probably won't need to worry about much other than damage to paintwork. Correct me if I am wrong but I doubt the same can be said for a GRP cruiser. I think I would be paranoid especially on a ship canal! 

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8 hours ago, WotEver said:

If you wish to travel the canals of central England you don't have a lot of choice. 

I'm sure I've seen plenty of narrow GRP cruisers on the canals in Central England.

In fact didn't one take part in the BCN Challenge?

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It is interesting to see so many different opinions, I think we can state with some degree of certainty that both NB and GRP are great for canals. each will have there fans when you go outside the confines of the canals and that is one of the reasons we prefer a GRP a lot of options open up to you, now yes we have all seen the video's of narrow boats going onto tidal rivers and estuaries we probably have members here who do that but it is not what a NB was built for at least from my minor understanding. I am not against steel and as some one pointed out Dutch Steel boats are kick ass, converted Trawlers, GRP all of them give the option to explore further than canals.

Honestly if money was not an option and space available I would probably go for a NB GRP for the canal's and a shaft driven diesel either trawler/grp/steel about 23-30 ft for the rest of wherever we wished to travel, I just can not see myself in a NB, I understand the appeal and the benefits but it just is not for me or Paola. 

Even before we even considered buying one ourselves as we travelled the canal tow paths seeing a NB was like seeing a beautiful old building a piece of architecture a cottage but seeing a GRP was more like something we could both envision ourselves piloting.

 

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9 hours ago, Calranthe said:

what drives people to live on a narrow boat instead of a GRP ?

Two major reasons why I'll be looking only at narrow boats when I start shopping around for a liveaboard:

1 - Living space. I wouldn't want a boat with more than a 6'10" beam because that would leave too much of the system inaccessible. Nor would I want to live in a narrow beam boat with less than, say, 40ft of cabin space. So a narrow boat is the only option.

2 - Perceived toughness. I've only ever cruised past one or two sunken narrowboats on my travels, but on some days sunken GRP boats have seemed to be about as common a sight as herons, which rightly or wrongly has left me with the impression that they're very fragile.

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1 hour ago, RichM said:

I liveaboard a narrowboat and I like the fact it's pretty solid and if anyone were to crash into her, I probably won't need to worry about much other than damage to paintwork. Correct me if I am wrong but I doubt the same can be said for a GRP cruiser. I think I would be paranoid especially on a ship canal! 

Not Had an issue in 9 years and we have used her in some very different waterways to the muddy ditches of the Midlands. 

16 minutes ago, magictime said:

Two major reasons why I'll be looking only at narrow boats when I start shopping around for a liveaboard:

1 - Living space. I wouldn't want a boat with more than a 6'10" beam because that would leave too much of the system inaccessible. Nor would I want to live in a narrow beam boat with less than, say, 40ft of cabin space. So a narrow boat is the only option.

2 - Perceived toughness. I've only ever cruised past one or two sunken narrowboats on my travels, but on some days sunken GRP boats have seemed to be about as common a sight as herons, which rightly or wrongly has left me with the impression that they're very fragile.

So you limit your living space by a few muddy Midland ditches?

We look the other way.

We can go most places we wish. If we decide, no idea we would, to explore the muddy ditches of the Midlands, we would hire.

This leaving us the vast majority of the time with a far more suitable boat and far more living accommodation. 

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