Narrowboatworld. Travel: Cruising along England's canals on a houseboat is the perfect break for the whole family... It's rush hour and my 10-year-old son Luca is steering a 69ft vehicle at maximum speed. Another is coming towards us at full pelt and I close my eyes and cringe, waiting for the inevitable crunch. But after a few seconds there is just a gentle swishing as we glide past each other without even touching. Granted, we are on a canal boat and full speed is 4mph and rush hour just means there is another boat on the canal... but it is still quite an achievement to a novice boatman, especially one so young. Luca grins at me and settles back to the serious business of aiming us towards the next lock. And this is the moment I realise that canal boating is the perfect holiday for children of this age. I'd been thinking of how to get a holiday that combined the needs of relaxation for parents while amusing a hyperactive Luca and his seven-year-old sister Mimi, whose hobbies include pouting and making unreasonable demands very loudly.
A friend suggested a canal boat so I thought "Why not? " Harecastle Tunnel. First a little bit of history, then on to the rest of the story of our journey. Harecastle Tunnel is on the Trent & Mersey canal between Kidsgrove and Stoke-on-Trent and is the fourth longest tunnel (2676 meters, that’s 2926 yards or 1 and 3/4 mile long!) On the UK canal system. It’s actually two separate parallel tunnels; one built by James Brindley between 1770 and 1779 and is no longer navigable. It had no towpath for horses so boaters were forced to leg their boats through. Legging it refers to one or more people laying on their sides or back on top of the narrow boat, planting their feet firmly against the wall of the tunnel and literally walking along the sides or top of the tunnel to propel the boat forward and thru to the exit.
After a partial collapse due to subsidence Brindley's tunnel was closed in 1914. This is how two men legging a narrow boat through a tunnel would’ve looked. If you’d like to see how going through a legging tunnel was back then, here is a modern day video. Narrowboat. Narrowboat, auch narrow boat, bezeichnet einen Bootstyp, der seit etwa 1750 auf den Binnenwasserstraßen, den sogenannten Inland Waterways, in England und Wales genutzt wird. Das namensgebende besondere Kennzeichen beruht darauf, dass ein Narrowboat zwar bis zu 22 m lang, aber nur bis 2,20 m breit ist,[1] also sehr schmal (englisch: narrow). Es ist wegen seines flachen Rumpfes, den die geringe Tiefe der Kanäle erfordert, in die Bootskategorie Leichter einzuordnen. Die Ursache für diese besonderen Maße war einerseits die Größe der Schleusen, die mit den um 1750 vorhandenen und beherrschbaren technischen und ökonomischen Mitteln herstellbar waren. Andererseits sollten die Boote eine Last bis zu 25 metrischen Tonnen tragen können, die ein Pferd auf einem Treidelpfad ziehen konnte.
Modernes Narrowboat auf dem Kennet-und-Avon-Kanal Aufstieg[Bearbeiten] Mitte des 18. Die Kanalbautechnik war seit dem Bau von Kanälen in Norditalien, Frankreich (Canal du Midi) und Irland (Newry Canal) bekannt. Narrowboat.de - Home. Www.drifters.co.uk/graphics/narrowboat_boat_layout.gif. Narrowboat. A narrowboat or narrow boat is a boat of a distinctive design, made to fit the narrow canals of the United Kingdom. Terminology[edit] Purists tend to write the term with a space (narrow boat) when referring to an original (working) boat or a replica, omitting the space when referring to modern canal boats of around 7' beam and used for leisure including residence. The single word 'narrowboat' has been adopted by authorities such as the Canal and River Trust and the magazine Waterways World to refer to all boats built in the style and tradition of the narrow canal locks.
Although some narrow boats were built to a design based on river barges and many conform to the strict definition of the term, it is incorrect to refer to a narrowboat (or narrow boat) as a barge. In the context of the British inland waterways, a barge is usually a much wider, cargo-carrying boat or a modern boat modelled on one, certainly more than 7 feet (2.1 m) wide. Size[edit] Boat drawn by horses on a towpath. Houseboat. Floating house on the Amazon, Iquitos, Peru A houseboat is a boat that has been designed or modified to be used primarily as a home. Some houseboats are not motorized, because they are usually moored, kept stationary at a fixed point and often tethered to land to provide utilities. However, many are capable of operation under their own power.
Float house is a Canadian and U.S. term for a house on a float (raft), a rough house may be called a shanty boat.[1] Australia[edit] Canada[edit] In Canada, houseboats are gaining major popularity in British Columbia, Ontario, and Quebec as there is an abundance of perfectly suited rivers and lakes for houseboaters to enjoy. Germany[edit] The Port of Hamburg has a sizable water borne community that includes a Flussschifferkirche or Boatman's Church. Hong Kong/China[edit] There is a houseboat and fishing community in Hong Kong known as Aberdeen floating village. Houseboat in Humble Administrator's Garden India[edit] Kerala houseboats[edit] Laos[edit]
Continuous cruiser. Continuous Cruiser (CCer) is a class of licence fees on the inland waterways of the United Kingdom. It also refers to the boats and owners who have such a licence, but some people restrict this usage to boaters who "genuinely" cruise continuously (see below). Definition of Continuous Cruising[edit] "Real" and other Continuous Cruisers[edit] The Canal and River Trust (CRT) defines a continuous cruiser as a boat which is always on the move (subject to a maximum stay of 14 days in any one location) and making "reasonable progress" (limited backtracking and reasonable journey lengths) between successive moorings.
However, there are people who do not wish to move their boat far (either to avoid the cost of fuel, or to keep their boat within an area from which they can travel to work) - and yet cannot get (or do not wish to pay for) an official mooring in their area. History[edit] Current position[edit] The licence fee paid depends only on boat size. Judicial Review[edit] See also[edit] Narrow Boat - Narrowboat - Narrow Boat Design. All narrow boats (narrowboat) normally have decks fore and aft. The after deck can be large enough to allow a passenger to sit with the helmsman when the boat is said to have a ‘cruiser’ stern. Some boats have a much smaller after deck and the helmsman can get some protection from the weather from the back of the cabin. It is this variation in deck area forward and aft that defines the various styles of narrow boat design. So called cruiser style boats have a large after deck combined with a small fore deck or cockpit and are fitted with a long central cabin This type has a large flat rear deck which gives no protection but is large enough for several people to sit together on the after deck – a useful feature for young families and older folk.
A seat for the helmsman or steerer is often provided. Traditional style boats on the other hand have a reasonable fore deck but only a small counter deck at the stern for the helmsman.