Practical Boat Owner – May 2018

a practical person there is one that stands

out above all: if you are having your boat

bespoke built – a rather more common

option on narrowboats than for a GRP

sailing hull – you will have plenty of

opportunities to include your own ideas,

some of them perhaps gleaned from your

previous sailing experience.

On my new narrowboat I asked for

fiddles on most shelves and flat surfaces.

These have proved ideal, not for holding

stuff in place in waves but to keep things

in place when bumping into locks with a

clearance of a few inches – a common

occurrence with a rudder only about a foot

square. The effects of vibration need to be

considered too.

Another small mod I asked for was to the

handrail – an essential fitting along the

edge of the cabin top. Commonly this is

constructed by welding a pipe to the top

of a series of vertical metal plates – to give

a ‘lollipop’ section. But this means your

hand is forced to open as you shuffle

along the shoe-width side deck. I asked

that the pipe be welded to the side of the

plate, giving a P-section. This means you

can keep your fingers hooked around the

rail the whole length of the boat, a small

change but one which I feel is safer and

which has drawn approving comments.

For mooring, many traditionally-built

boats have a mini bollard or samson post

on the bow and stern decks called a dolly.

This seems to me to be designed to shed

the rope if pulled upwards in, say, a lock.

I asked for big strong ‘double T’ cleats

welded from half-inch steel tube.

A larger modification which I asked the

builder for was a 1m long ‘airlock’ cabin

between the main hatch doorway and the

door into the galley and saloon. Not only

does this keep the interior warmer and

drier but it acts as a small workshop,

mudroom, extension to the galley

worktop, tool-store, and a place for deep,

dry open-top box shelves easily

accessible for the helmsman to reach

sunglasses, torch, whistle, maps or

ADVANTAGES

Q Safe, outdoor holidays for all

generations

Q Easy to learn steering and locking

Q No seasickness, waves, tides

Q Dry land only 6ft away

Q Mobile phone and TV reception

nearly everywhere

Q Fascinating Victorian engineering

and traditions

Q Plant spotting and bird watching

Q Lots of living and locker space

Q A longer boating season

Q A weed hatch to clear the prop

without getting more than your

arm wet

DISADVANTAGES

Q Need to concentrate on steering

Q No autopilot

Q Much slower steering responses and

lots of inertia

Q Much heavier for a given length – a

48ft steel narrowboat weighs about

12 tonnes

Q Be ready to bounce off other boats,

locks and tunnel walls

Q A few new rope knots and traditions

to learn

Q Side decks are invariably very narrow

Q Toilet arrangements

Q Running aground and getting weed

round your prop is not uncommon

SELLING POINTS

Here are a few considerations for boat

owners who like working with their

hands:

Q Lots of opportunities to add shelves,

cupboards and other fittings

Q Bare hulls are readily available if you

want to complete one from scratch

Q A narrowboat has a lot more space

than a sail-boat of similar length

Q Adding extra weight is rarely a

serious consideration

Why choose a canal boat over a yacht?

RIGHT Canal boat

ground anchor

coupled to a sailing

yacht mooring

snubber

BELOW Small cabin

between cockpit and

saloon acts as an ‘air

lock’ to keep warmth

in – and is a useful

storage area

A bridge, still waters and a bank to

moor up to – an idyllic canal setting

Practical Boat Owner • http://www.pbo.co.uk 29

CANAL BOAT CONVERT



David can use his laptop at this foldaway
desk workstation aboard Whio