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CCing in a widebeam


Bromleyxphil

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Lots of views on here about who likes or loaths the look of a widebeam but how many cc in a widebeam?  If you do cc in a wide boat is it better in the northern or southern half?  Is there a well trodden transit land route between the two halves?

Phil

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2 hours ago, Bromleyxphil said:

Lots of views on here about who likes or loaths the look of a widebeam but how many cc in a widebeam?  If you do cc in a wide boat is it better in the northern or southern half?  Is there a well trodden transit land route between the two halves?

Phil

In a nutshell the north is VASTLY more suited to wider craft, There are several linked rivers and large gauge canals between Nottingham and the north east such as Leeds, Goole. Wakefield, York etc etc.

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2 hours ago, Bromleyxphil said:

Lots of views on here about who likes or loaths the look of a widebeam but how many cc in a widebeam?  If you do cc in a wide boat is it better in the northern or southern half?  Is there a well trodden transit land route between the two halves?

Phil

There is no "well trodden" transit route between the two halves that doesn't involve a sea/tidal passage or a trip on the back of a lorry

Edited by Tim Lewis
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35 minutes ago, Tim Lewis said:

There is no "well trodden" transit route between the two halves that doesn't involve a sea/tidal passage or a trip on the back of a lorry

Tim I was thinking of something like a pair of boatyards, one in each half who had a deal with a haulage company for a fixed fee.

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2 minutes ago, Bromleyxphil said:

Tim I was thinking of something like a pair of boatyards, one in each half who had a deal with a haulage company for a fixed fee.

That is not the norm Usualy a haulage company arranges everything for you. Ray Bowern is the best regards cost and of course there are others such as Tuckeys etc etc

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We cc with our WB, but can't really comment as to wether the North or South is best.  We bought her up north and had her road hauled down to Braunston where she was renamed and launched.

We are just shy of 11ft wide and have had no problems at all on the southern canals (GU/K&A/North Oxford/Paddington/Regents) as well as the Rivers Thames, Lee & Stourt

We've met a fair few other folks with WB's down here who cc; some within a very limited range and others who cruise everything available to them.

Edited by Bettie Boo
missing a couple of letters out of a word ;)
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10 hours ago, Bromleyxphil said:

Not many folk cc ing in a widebeam then?

 

Trouble is, as Betty alludes to, CC has a wide variety of meanings.

When CaRT appear to accept/define a range of circa 20 miles for a year is the minimum for a "CC'er" you can see why there is so much debate.

 

 

 

Edited by mark99
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12 hours ago, Bettie Boo said:

We cc with our WB, but can't really comment as to wether the North or South is best.  We bought her up north and had her road hauled down to Braunston where she was renamed and launched.

We are just shy of 11ft wide and have had no problems at all on the southern canals (GU/K&A/North Oxford/Paddington/Regents) as well as the Rivers Thames, Lee & Stourt

We've met a fair few other folks with WB's down here who cc; some within a very limited range and others who cruise everything available to them.

Thanks that is more like the info I am after.  My wife and I were after a narrowboat but after lots of research and getting on lots of boats hire, shows, invitation she has decided she would find long term in a narrow too much of a challenge.......better before we buy!   When I say cc I mean see as much of the system as we can but at a leisurely pace, then truck to the other half.  I know a wide cuts out the midlands but if she can't live on one that cuts out it all.  I hope to gain from your experience as to how much difference in where we can travel a 12 foot or an 11 or 10 foot would make?  Both accessibility and ease of use.  How long to go, is 57feet still the magic number or would 60feet be better.  I have read the length restrictions on the Calder and Hebble etc but I expect there is a difference between where they say you can go and where you can go.  It's your experience I am after.

cheers

phil

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23 minutes ago, cuthound said:

Thanks, I have seen this map but does "wide" mean 12feet will go everywhere? And is there a similar map for length?

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18 minutes ago, Bromleyxphil said:

Thanks, I have seen this map but does "wide" mean 12feet will go everywhere? And is there a similar map for length?

Its a tough question. I purposely bought a 10ft 6 inch widebeam as it gave me loads of extra space but made such as the Erewash canal doable. I doubt you would find the erewash easy on anything over that width in places. Its not always locks etc its often bridge holes on bends that are a problem. A 10ft widebeam is hugely more comfortable and stable than a narrowbeam so going the max width is not needed unless you realy find anything else too restrictive. Remember as in life many people on this forum will defend the size of whatever they bought even if its not realy ideal just because they bought it, composting bogs being a prime example!!

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Mine is 12 x 57 in Northern waters, which for big boats is far better than down south. if you want to do the Ribble link its 10 foot wide are you cant get through.

57 is the magic figure that you cant go over if you want to cruise all of the Northern waterways, so for comfort its 57 x 12, for practicalities and the Ribble link its 57 x 10, also when you go down South the 10 foot wide will be easier than the 12 foot.

We have just had nearly 3 weeks out and have enjoyed ourselves up here and had no issues with our size causing problems.

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6 minutes ago, peterboat said:

Mine is 12 x 57 in Northern waters, which for big boats is far better than down south. if you want to do the Ribble link its 10 foot wide are you cant get through.

57 is the magic figure that you cant go over if you want to cruise all of the Northern waterways, so for comfort its 57 x 12, for practicalities and the Ribble link its 57 x 10, also when you go down South the 10 foot wide will be easier than the 12 foot.

We have just had nearly 3 weeks out and have enjoyed ourselves up here and had no issues with our size causing problems.

Hows the composting bog Peter? :lol:

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While renting a mooring at Gargrave BWB sent the licence renewal form for £700 but invited us to go CCing. With a 62ft by 13ft 6 inch we set off stopped by being too long to get through Linton lock on the Ouse which was a shame as we loved the run to Rippon. went as far south as Foxton visiting Sheffield and the river Anchome off the Humber. L&L to Liverpool calling in at the Grand National, The Bridgewater into Manchester We spent 7 years in the North, then got craned out at Liverpool Marina and dropped in at Worcester. up to Stratford on Avon and down to Bristol 2 years on the K&A then up to Stortford and a year on the Thames then up the Grand Union. 

Never pass a pub without calling in never pass a village without a wander. 

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2 hours ago, peterboat said:

Mine is 12 x 57 in Northern waters, which for big boats is far better than down south. if you want to do the Ribble link its 10 foot wide are you cant get through.

57 is the magic figure that you cant go over if you want to cruise all of the Northern waterways, so for comfort its 57 x 12, for practicalities and the Ribble link its 57 x 10, also when you go down South the 10 foot wide will be easier than the 12 foot.

We have just had nearly 3 weeks out and have enjoyed ourselves up here and had no issues with our size causing problems.

Thanks for this 2'x57' is a lot of room so needs a lot of thinking about.

47 minutes ago, The Bagdad Boatman (waits) said:

While renting a mooring at Gargrave BWB sent the licence renewal form for £700 but invited us to go CCing. With a 62ft by 13ft 6 inch we set off stopped by being too long to get through Linton lock on the Ouse which was a shame as we loved the run to Rippon. went as far south as Foxton visiting Sheffield and the river Anchome off the Humber. L&L to Liverpool calling in at the Grand National, The Bridgewater into Manchester We spent 7 years in the North, then got craned out at Liverpool Marina and dropped in at Worcester. up to Stratford on Avon and down to Bristol 2 years on the K&A then up to Stortford and a year on the Thames then up the Grand Union. 

Never pass a pub without calling in never pass a village without a wander. 

That sounds like my kind of trip, in a wide boat.  Would it still be achievable in a standard 12' or was your boat more capable?

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2 hours ago, Bromleyxphil said:

Thanks that is more like the info I am after.  My wife and I were after a narrowboat but after lots of research and getting on lots of boats hire, shows, invitation she has decided she would find long term in a narrow too much of a challenge.......better before we buy!   When I say cc I mean see as much of the system as we can but at a leisurely pace, then truck to the other half.  I know a wide cuts out the midlands but if she can't live on one that cuts out it all.  I hope to gain from your experience as to how much difference in where we can travel a 12 foot or an 11 or 10 foot would make?  Both accessibility and ease of use.  How long to go, is 57feet still the magic number or would 60feet be better.  I have read the length restrictions on the Calder and Hebble etc but I expect there is a difference between where they say you can go and where you can go.  It's your experience I am after.

cheers

phil

Hi Phil,

First and foremost let me clarify something, although we have lived and cruised on our boat for 4 years now, we do not consider ourselves to be experts, and in actuality we are still considered by a fair few on this forum to be complete novices.

With that said I'd be happy to share with you "our experiences" in cruising a widebeam on the Southern section of the Network...

As perviously stated we are just shy of 11ft, we are 10.10 (a strange width, and I have yet to come across another WB of the same width).

  There are at least 2 WB Hotel boats that cruise the GU, both are 12 ft and I know they go up as far as Warwick at least if not onto Soulihull.  How they do it, I'm not really sure as I know between Brentford & Braunston there are a few pinch points, most of which are deconstructed old bridges but with the foundations still in place.  You will, as others have said, need to take care at some the the bridge holes which are on blind bends and have a decent sounding (as in loudness) horn, and not be afraid to use it.

As we tend to travel slower than most narrow boats (due to us causing to much of a bow wave if we travel over 3mph), we keep a look out for any narrow boats behind us and offer to pull over and let them pass at the next safe spot to do so.  I'm not really sure if the bow wave is due to the design of our boat or if all WB's have this effect.  But since we are never in any rush it is not something that concerns us.

As far a length we are 57ft. and with a Trad stern, we have loads of interior space.  2 bedrooms, bathroom, large galley & salon, the design of the back affords us to have a laundry facility on one side and a larger than average tool/spare parts storage area on the other side of the interior of the hatch before entering the main bedroom. 

This is our first boat and although we love her dearly, are there things we would change if we were to buy another?  Sure there are, things like having a proper broom closet to store mop, broom, dust pan & brush and hoover, having the multi fuel stove on the port side instead of starboard, as a widebeam we need to give up the centre of the cut when meeting other boats oncoming and quite often end up going under low hanging branches, we are on our 3rd chimmeny now :)

More to follow....

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26 minutes ago, ditchcrawler said:

There is also the Bridgwater Preston Brook tunnel, if you get through that you can also go down the Anderton lift to the Weaver

Pedant mode on - Preston Brook Tunnel is on the Trent & Mersey Canal.

https://canalplan.eu/feature/38

 

Edited by cuthound
To add a missing space
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1 hour ago, Bettie Boo said:

 

First and foremost let me clarify something, although we have lived and cruised on our boat for 4 years now, we do not consider ourselves to be experts, and in actuality we are still considered by a fair few on this forum to be complete novices.

Never mind expert, that experience constitutes a guru to me.

Thanks

Phil

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18 hours ago, peterboat said:

Perfik I dont know how you lot cope with those old fashioned bogs that you lot rave about :giggles:

They obviously enjoy breathing in the stench from their toilets when they're relaxing inside of an evening. 

Keith

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