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10:44 am
Sunday,3 June, 2012
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Hi there…we are jonny and lee if the name wasnt a giveaway. Been on here a bit now but with moving house at the minute dont get much time to get on here. Anyway, we havnt got a boat yet but are very much looking towards getting one…innitially given the size of our family(2kids on one side and 2 on the other) we were thinking about a 70footer. However after learning that navigating with this length is somewhat hampered in some parts we decided to revise our ideas and think of something smaller, a classic case of running before learning to walk now under control 
. After much to'ing and fro'ing weve decided to opt for a small boat at first, maybe a 17/18ft cabin cruiser, that way we can get used to navigating our way round, using locks and during our time spent doing so, allow the kids to get a feel for it and meet other more seasoned boaters and hopefully gain some valuable info on the ups and downs as well as the practicalities and logistics which comes with it. Start small and work our way up, that way were not throwing all our eggs into one basket and instead, actually learning and developing a degree of boat know how(crosses fingers). Once the house move is over the search for something suitable will be underway, both of us of which, are looking very much forward to….still got lots to learn but cant wait to get started…ta ta for now and speak soon…Jonny and Lee.
1:33 pm
Friday,19 February, 2010
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Hi Jenny & Lee. Welcome to the forum. I'm just on a short break for lunch at the moment so I don't have time to answer you properly. I will do so when I finish work this evening, so watch this space….
6:57 pm
Friday,19 February, 2010
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OK. Back from a hectic day on the wharf and, with a few minutues to spare, time to respond to your post.
Are you intending to live on your boat with your kids, live on your boat without your kids, or just use the boat for ocassional trips with the family? This is important because the length of time that you will be cruising in any single period will determine how far from your base you can cruise. if you are only going to use the boat now and then, you may find that some of the canal systems that require a shorter boat are too far for you to cruise to in the time that you have available.
I wonder how much of a feel for narrowboating you would get on a 17/18' cruiser. You would experience GRP (Glass Reinforced Plastic) instead of steel, 17' rather than 50', 60' or 70', a boat with a responsive keel rather than the hopeless flat bottom of a narrowboat and you would have very little space to enjoy your time out.
James (my boat) is about average for a liveaboard narrowboat at 62'. Of that, 48' is internal cabin space. Within that space I can fit all that I need to make life on board a pleasure. With a small cruiser your living space would be extremely cramped, especially if you had the kids with you.
Before you seriously consider buying a cruiser, have a look at the space inside one. Once you've done that, have a look inside a reasonable length narrowboat. There really is no comparison. You would certainly be able to see the canals and ex,perience the locks in a cruiser (although in a cruiser you would be very nervous if you shared it with a fifteen tonne plus narrowboat), but you won't experience the pleasure of travelling the waterways complete with all of your home comforts.
11:13 am
Sunday,3 June, 2012
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Well the reason for going for a smaller cruiser is pretty much to get used to navigating our way around, and of course funds arent the best yet so rather than waiting a longer period to buy something of considerable length, we thought, by getting a small boat we can start cutting our teeth so to speak, and starting walking the walk. This approach will only be catering for days out with possible night stops should we feel the need. Also with a smaller boat we can store in the drive and take it out as and when. Ideally, sometime in the future, when we have more experience then we will certainly be looking to upsize, eventually dwelling full time on the water, but with the current constraints of our personal circumstances its not something we can go head first into. We have the idea maybe to upsize to maybe 25/30ft with mooring before eventually going for the ideal which(so far) would be a 57/58 x 10 widebeam but were still learning about the restrictions in relation to lock sizes, tight bends etc and getting a smaller boat and doing the rounds so to speak will hopefully give us some first hand experience to make an informed choice. Would ideally like to be able to travel just about anywhere without size being an issue so research is the way to go for now.
1:06 pm
Friday,19 February, 2010
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Ah! I understand now. Here's a handy resource to find out lock boat length and width restrictions.
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