Canal Boat — January 2018

32 January 2018 Canal Boat canalboat.co.uk

LENGTH: 44ft

BEAM: 9ft

SHELL: Cauldon Boats

http://www.cauldonboats.co.uk

STYLE: Cruiser

LAYOUT: Reverse

BERTHS: 2

FIT-OUT: Oak and painted panels

ENGINE: Beta 38 Tel: 01452 723492

http://www.betamarine.co.uk

INVERTER: Victron 1.6kw

http://www.victronenergy.com

BOW THRUSTER: Vetus 55kgf

http://www.vetus.com

TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS Jescka Price £95,000

BRAYZEL NARROWBOATS

Bridge House Marina,Nateby Crossing Lane

Nateby, Preston, Lancashire, PR3 0JJ

01995 601515

07889 299731

http://www.brayzelnarrowboats.com

Cabin 8ft 6in Shower 4ft 9in Saloon 10ft Galley 6ft 9in

Want to see more? Go to canal boat.co.uk for a fabulous 360^0 tour through the boat

THE BOAT TESTTHE BOAT TEST

DESIGN AND DECOR

 CENTRAL HEATING BOILER: Kabola Compact 7 with Calorifier Contol

http://www.kabola.co.uk From £3,120

 TOILET: Thetford C260 - Special order through Midland Chandlers

http://www.midlandchandlers.co.uk £589

 SHOWER ROOM LAMINATE: Respatex Sugar Sparkle http://www.respatex.co.uk

From £100 per panel

 STOVE: Hamlet Hardy 4kW http://www.aradastoves.co.uk £349

TOTAL PRICE: £95,000

This is a very neat little boat, in several senses

of the word. It packs a lot into a small space,

and it does it in a very stylish way. There’s not

an inch of wasted space, yet it feels very

spacious.

One of the advantages that big widebeams

have is that they can be VAT-free for liveaboards

• which can clearly make a significant difference
  to the price. This boat is too small to qualify for
  zero VAT status, just like narrowboats are (and
  this boat isn’t a liveaboard boat anyway). Even
  so, the price of £95,000 is good value - and it

certainly compares favourably to the caravans

and cabins Carole and Kevin were considering.

Going wider than a narrowboat is clearly a big

decision, because it means there are parts of

the network you won’t be able to access. But if

you’re in the right location, it’s a decision which

makes perfect sense. And Carole and Kevin say

they’ve made exactly the right decisions on

dimensions and fitout. They’ve got a small boat

which feels spacious, is easy to handle, and

suits the waterway it’s based on. That’s a

winning combination.

VERDICT

Partly, I suspect, that’s because this is
also a pretty short boat, so you don’t have
a massive expanse of roof in front of you.
This is not a difficult boat to steer. For
one thing, it’s narrow enough that you can
easily have a quick look down the side, to
check how much room you’ve got. And
you get used to the additional width quite
quickly. While the first few bridges you
approach look a bit small, once you’re
going through them you find there’s plenty
of room.
Handling is also very good, again
probably assisted by the short length. We
winded easily - in fact had the canal been
just a little wider we’d have probably got
round in one movement. Pushing the tiller
and applying some power sent the bow
round very smartly. The boat has a bow
thruster, which we found useful when
returning to the on-line mooring and
getting into a space between two other
boats. We also found the boat reverses
pretty well.
In general, the boat goes exactly where
it’s pointed, and responds nice and
quickly. It really doesn’t feel any different
from steering a narrowboat - perhaps
because it has a tiller and not a steering
wheel, like some widebeams. CB