Wide beam envy?

[blackrose]

2 hours ago, chubby said:

I dont like widebeam narrowboats . I think they are ugly . Proper  dutch barges etc are things of beauty though .

How anyone can look at at a WBNB and think it attractive is beyond me . It may have more space and a poncey bathroom and kitchen but to me , it has no " soul " because its been built as a cottage that floats , rather than a boat thats been fitted out nicely & thoughtfully  . Accomodation  first & boat second .

BUT , though i detest the boat itself i would find it difficult to instantly dislike the owner on that basis . They may well be a tit but theres plenty of those narrowboats too . 

I appreciate they have more space etc , but its only worth having if you " need " lots of stuff . Id rather go without as most of it probably isn t needed . My small and inferior NB requires me to be thoughtful about posessions , about space , about functionality , about power usage , & all this adds to my completely loving living on a boat , as opposed to being an annoyance i must tolerate due to lack of space , and though i could own a small attractive dutch barge - a WBNB i could never own .as theyre (IMO) soulless boxes that float , not a " boat " . 

Just idle thoughts ...

 

Idle thoughts indeed. Lots of people have told me that my boat looks good but of course beauty is in the eye of the beholder.

As far as having no soul, I'm not sure why would a modern narrowboat have any more soul than a modern widebeam?

And I completely love living on my boat too!

Edited July 15, 2017 by blackrose

[haza]

If I could go where I go in my narrowboat I would have a wide beam  tomorrow  then again if I could afford one I would have one today. I still can not get use to being looked at by other narrowboaters as if I should not be there  on the same canal as them  I put them in the idiot bracket they now who they are probably the same people who look down on the widebeams 

[mrsmelly]

15 minutes ago, haza said:

If I could go where I go in my narrowboat I would have a wide beam  tomorrow  then again if I could afford one I would have one today. I still can not get use to being looked at by other narrowboaters as if I should not be there  on the same canal as them  I put them in the idiot bracket they now who they are probably the same people who look down on the widebeams 

Widebeams as I have said before are simply amazing to live on. They have one drawback only and that is they cant use our system so for instance moor on the Thames how do you go for a beer at Fradley junction. I went back to narrow as I move to all parts of the system which simply cannot be done above 7 feet wide.

[frangar]

7 hours ago, Loddon said:

Fat narrowboats are an abomination, Fugly beyond belief. If you want the space, as I once did, get a decent barge rather than some hybrid that does nothing well.

 

Dear God I need a lie down...I'm nodding in agreement.....

[Matt&Jo]

My one gripe about wide beam is mooring costs....aprox double that of a standard narrowbeam i just hope temp moorings for a few days 3/4 are readily available on the GU and K&A and not extorsionate.... 

Edited July 15, 2017 by Matt&Jo

[Peter Reed]

My problem is not wide beam envy,It's canal boat envy.

And for the record I think that Mikes boat, Blackrose is beautiful. (A rock legend in fact)

[Rickent]

Roisin dubh.

[Matt&Jo]

3 hours ago, Peter Reed said:

And for the record I think that Mikes boat, Blackrose is beautiful. (A rock legend in fact)

I also would like to second that sentiment  she looks a beaut and well looked after and cared for. Love the preset anchor on the side.

[Alan de Enfield]

26 minutes ago, Matt&Jo said:

I also would like to second that sentiment  she looks a beaut and well looked after and cared for. Love the preset anchor on the side.

I'm not sure that I would call it 'pre-set'.

For the anchor to 'set' in that position the boat would need to be sat on its side, on the bottom.

It is however a great storage position and ready for instant deployment should the need arise.

[frangar]

9 hours ago, Matt&Jo said:

My one gripe about wide beam is mooring costs....aprox double that of a standard narrowbeam i just hope temp moorings for a few days 3/4 are readily available on the GU and K&A and not extorsionate.... 

Why shouldn't they charge more? You are taking up more water space....same goes for licenses too.....have you tried phoning up for a mythical temporary mooring.....???

[Matt&Jo]

3 minutes ago, Alan de Enfield said:

I'm not sure that I would call it 'pre-set'.

For the anchor to 'set' in that position the boat would need to be sat on its side, on the bottom.

It is however a great storage position and ready for instant deployment should the need arise.

 i call it pre set as it is ready in its position for deployment rather than in some storage locker or a bundle somewhere. Out of interest what is the guidance on rope length for a canal boat.....i know it depends on depth of water moored in but is their a recommended length 30m for example? Also for my sea fairing 540 cuddy i had just short of the boat length in chain......that would be pricy on a canal boat of 60ft 

[Matt&Jo]

Just now, frangar said:

Why shouldn't they charge more? You are taking up more water space....same goes for licenses too.....have you tried phoning up for a mythical temporary mooring.....???

I didnt say my gripe was with the marinas.......just that the mooring costs can be prohibitive especialy if full time moored if your luck enough to ever get 1. Ive called many actualy frangar and always been told it depends how many boats are in at present and some wont take widebeams but its a compromise i must make if we want the living space.

I do however when i first get my widebeam want to spend 3 months in a base location to get to know her and iron out any problems before cc.

[Alan de Enfield]

2 minutes ago, Matt&Jo said:

 i call it pre set as it is ready in its position for deployment rather than in some storage locker or a bundle somewhere. Out of interest what is the guidance on rope length for a canal boat.....i know it depends on depth of water moored in but is their a recommended length 30m for example? Also for my sea fairing 540 cuddy i had just short of the boat length in chain......that would be pricy on a canal boat of 60ft 

There are a lot of threads on the subject - but - to summarise :

100% chain = a minimum of 3x depth and recommended  5x depth.

50% Chain / 50% rope = a minimum of 7 times depth

100% rope (with say 2 metres of chain initially) = 10 times depth.

 

Just as important is the design of the anchor - most NB boaters choose an anchor for its stowage ability and ease of carrying it (weight) from the shop to the boat, this results in most (that even bother to have an anchor) buying the relatively poor-performance Danforth design.

It is agreed that the carrying of an anchor on the canal is probably 'totally unnecessary' but one should be carried on Rivers (IMO)

[Matt&Jo]

Would agree totaly anchors on rivers should be standard safety kit in my opinion. Canals naaaaaaa its 4ft deep and you can just wade or drift.....

[Matt&Jo]

Sorry alan thankyou for your reply.

[captain flint]

On 7/15/2017 at 10:22, Matt&Jo said:

narrowboats are no lookers IMHO yes historical but not a thing of design beauty.

^^ this!

Widebeam narrowboats are popular because they better fit their owners' current needs, whereas narrowboats are popular becuase they better fit certain waterways, and historical needs. I bet some people thought narrowboats were fugly when they first appeared. Even if, perhaps, they wouldn't have used the word "fugly" XD

To be fair, there are many fugly boats of many shapes and sizes!

[Machpoint005]

If you don't like looking at fat boats you can always stick to narrow canals.

[Captain Pegg]

8 minutes ago, Machpoint005 said:

If you don't like looking at fat boats you can always stick to narrow canals.

Not so. I see them moored on the Worcester and Birmingham at Hanbury Junction.

[blackrose]

On 16/07/2017 at 05:19, Peter Reed said:

My problem is not wide beam envy,It's canal boat envy.

And for the record I think that Mikes boat, Blackrose is beautiful. (A rock legend in fact)

Thanks, I've never claimed my boat is beautiful. It's never going to have the lines of a beautiful Dutch barge, but it's certainly not unattractive and better looking than many narrowboats in my opinion. 

Edited July 17, 2017 by blackrose

[mrsmelly]

1 minute ago, blackrose said:

Thanks, I've never said my boat is beautiful, but it's certainly not unattractive and better looking than many narrowboats in my opinion. 

And its way more stable than a narrowboat and vastly more comfortable to be in. There is one reason only to own a narrowbeam boat and that's is narrow locks. The problem with a wide boat is simple, I can set off from here and moor alongside Mikes wide boat but he cant set off from there and moor alongside my boat, it all depends wether you want to use more or less of our waterways system.

[blackrose]

2 minutes ago, mrsmelly said:

And its way more stable than a narrowboat and vastly more comfortable to be in. There is one reason only to own a narrowbeam boat and that's is narrow locks. The problem with a wide boat is simple, I can set off from here and moor alongside Mikes wide boat but he cant set off from there and moor alongside my boat, it all depends wether you want to use more or less of our waterways system.

All very true, but bear in mind that most people on narrowboats rarely leave the canal they started out on. In fact I've seen more waterways on my boat than probably 90% of the narrowboaters I've ever met.  They look at me wide-eyed while I tell them about the Thames, the G&S, Severn, Warks Avon, various tidal waters...

[mrsmelly]

2 hours ago, blackrose said:

All very true, but bear in mind that most people on narrowboats rarely leave the canal they started out on. In fact I've seen more waterways on my boat than probably 90% of the narrowboaters I've ever met.  They look at me wide-eyed while I tell them about the Thames, the G&S, Severn, Warks Avon, various tidal waters...

Completely agree. The biggest laugh is that over the years I have met umpteen countless owners with 57ft narrowboats that they bought so they could " Do the system " and they havnt ever been anywhere a 70 footer couldn't go

[frangar]

2 hours ago, blackrose said:

All very true, but bear in mind that most people on narrowboats rarely leave the canal they started out on. In fact I've seen more waterways on my boat than probably 90% of the narrowboaters I've ever met.  They look at me wide-eyed while I tell them about the Thames, the G&S, Severn, Warks Avon, various tidal waters...

Whereas most widebeams rarely leave the mooring (thankfully).....

Nearly all the narrowboaters I talk to in my travels have or are in the process of travelling around the system....oh and on this trip I left Debdale....going to sharpness via Burton...Stoke...middlewich...audlem...stourport...sharpness....then back to Debdale via Tewksbury...evesham....Stratford..Braunston. 

 

 

 

[mrsmelly]

3 minutes ago, frangar said:

Whereas most widebeams rarely leave the mooring (thankfully).....

Nearly all the narrowboaters I talk to in my travels have or are in the process of travelling around the system....oh and on this trip I left Debdale....going to sharpness via Burton...Stoke...middlewich...audlem...stourport...sharpness....then back to Debdale via Tewksbury...evesham....Stratford..Braunston. 

 

 

 

How many times have you been to Ripon?

[frangar]

1 minute ago, mrsmelly said:

How many times have you been to Ripon?

Once so far.....when time allows we will be back....sadly work gets in the way....it's a nice town to visit and has one of the best sanitary stations on the waterways anywhere else you want to know about??