Extremly non-tradational (in the USA) water camper

[Dewi]

They are what we call barges... my wife and me paint and letter those quite often... they really a thing of beauty. They really are well made and some of the decoration used on them is just stunning... not to everyones taste, but there is nothing better than riding on the canals over here on a sunny day, chugging along and enjoying a slower pace of life for a day.

They are very difficult to turn round though. Especially on our canal system.

Cheers, Dewi

[Steve_Cox]

Thanks for the info Dewi, as for turning around, I see some of the narrow boats are 60 feet long and only 10 feet wide

[Dewi]

Yep... imagine trying to turn one of those on a 20ft wide canal!

We have a great canal network up here in the North... we live probably about 3 or 4 miles away from the Leeds to Liverpool canal on one side and the Manchester Ship canal on the other... although the Manchester ship canal is considerably wider.

The barges we've worked on are mainly old coal barges that have been converted into essentially caravans on water... nice bathrooms, clever seating/sleeping arrangements and the galleys on some of them... you'd think you were in someones flat rather than on a boat.

The difference between the long boats and the short boats is enormous though.... on a 30ft to 40ft barge, approximately 9ft wide, you can step on and off with very little movement.... anything below 20ft of the same width and its like getting aboard a bouncy castle... the solution I'm told is to pour concrete into the bilge area to act as ballast, but can you imagine dragging that thing in and out of the water? I always wondered why they didn't use water barrels for ballast... at least then you could empty the barrels to transport the boat.

Sorry, I'm babbling again

Cheers, Dewi

[Steve_Cox]

Dewi,

Not babbling at all, very useful information. Thanks! I've been on boats with all sorts of ballast, and one with a water tank you could fill after the boat was taken off the trailer and put into the water. Concrete is a good choice as it is about 2.4 times the weight of water and it will stay where you put it. I seen gravel used to make a boat sit level on its lines, but it was a sailboat and when it healed way over the gravel shifted a little, that was exciting.

I hope to see some interesting boats next summer when we are in the UK. The wife, Kim, is presenting a research paper at a conference up in the Lake District,

[Dewi]

I love the Lake District... spent many a day there during my teenage years. I take my wife and kids there when I can, and my eldest is about to go camping with me up there... he doesn't know it yet, but we're going with a couple of tarpalins, some rope and a rucksack of cheapy foody bits... should be a fun couple of days!

What month are you coming over to the UK then Steve?

Cheers, Dewi

[caseydog]

I love the Lake District... spent many a day there during my teenage years. I take my wife and kids there when I can, and my eldest is about to go camping with me up there... he doesn't know it yet, but we're going with a couple of tarpalins, some rope and a rucksack of cheapy foody bits... should be a fun couple of days!

What month are you coming over to the UK then Steve?

Cheers, Dewi

I also love the Lake District. I stayed at The Old England Hotel on Lake Windermere on my first trip there, and took my wife back there on our honeymoon. They gave us a fantastic room overlooking the lake -- my travel agent told them it was our honeymoon. I have tried to explain to people how big the swans are there, but you just have to see it to believe it.

Then we passed through your area on our way from Windermere to the Billesley Manor in Shakespeare country -- an incredible place.

If -- no, when -- I return, we'll have to meet up for a pint.

CD

[Dewi]

Thats round the corner from where I stay... the Windermere Marina Village ( http://www.wmv.co.uk/ ) You get a 2 bed house with views over the lake... and there is a bistro type place called The Spinnaker... some really good grub in there. Another nice hotel is the The Lakeside ( http://www.lakesidehotel.co.uk/ ) Its a bit expensive compared to the others, but with the right room, you get a good view of the lake and right outside is the steamboat that will take you up the lake to Ambleside or Bowness. I prefer to hire my own boat for the day... its cheap as chips, and providing you get the petrol engine version, you can enjoy some of the more peaceful spots of the lake.

Got an electric boat once... spent an hour or so adrift and in the path of the ferry... they're not what you'd call reliable

Might be a bit of a long way to bring a camper, but there is an excellent lake side camp at Fallbarrow... no tents allowed unfortunately, but I reckon they'll let me on there with the TD when its complete.

If you're in Bowness in the future CD, if you wander across from the centre and walk down Rayrigg Road for about a mile, there is a place called Millerground on the left hand side... small dirt path that leads to a really quiet spot next to the Lake. I used to sit there for hours... its one of my favourite places on earth.

Bizarrely Billesley Manor is a few miles away from a great campsite just outside of Kennilworth... I have a friend down there who I used to work with... lovely part of the country also.

And pint wise Northern pubs aren't quite the same as in other parts of the country... but there's some nice ones round this way. Mind you, I'll hopefully have our garden sorted with a little barby area over the next month or so, and I'm working on installing a beer fridge out in my shed.

Cheers, Dewi

[Mini Renegade]

A couple of years ago My wife and I set the wheels in motion to buy 8 acres of land not far from the bottom of Windermere. It was going to be the Gateway to the lakes campsite. The Planning department said no because it was at the wrong side of the road. ( the road being the national park boundary and the site would be in the park) GITS

[Steve_Cox]

meanwhile.....back on the subject of "water camping"

[Dewi]

Sorry My fault... got carried away with the Lakes.

What size of barge are you thinking of Steve?

Cheers, Dewi

[Mini Renegade]

we spent a few hours on a narrow boat last year, loved it with that dug dug dug engine note and the 4mph top speed, live should be that speed all the time

[Dewi]

We used to live in a flat alongside the canal and because I knew the blokes in the local marina, they would come along side my flat and beep the horn if they were off on their travels for the day... was pretty cool. You could just sit on the steps outside my back door and watch boat after boat go by on the sunny days.

How big was the boat you went out on MR?

Cheers, Dewi

[angib]

I see some of the narrow boats are 60 feet long and only 10 feet wide

Nope. All 'narrow boats' are 6 feet 10 inches wide, because back in the 18th century when people started building canals here, they used a standard lock width of 7 feet. As the boats were pulled by a single horse (one horse to one boat was a 'fly boat' for express cargo, while one horse to two boats in line was usual), it was actually a perfectly reasonable choice - bear in mind that back then a steam engine that wasn't part of a building was still some time in the future....

Andrew

[Dewi]

I think its the Dutch variety that have the 10ft width Andrew... was looking at some piccies earlier on of some of the 'cruisers' they have... makes our canal boats look like Tonka toys. Some of them have mini swimming pools and hot tubs!!

Cheers, Dewi

[Steve_Cox]

All very interesting gentlemen. It was the Dutch barges that started the 10' width thoughts. But it is also nice to know the history of the horse drawn barges and locks.

I'm thinking right now of a welded aluminum flat bottom "jon" boat 20 feet in length with a beam of 8 feet as a platform to build on.

Thanks for your explanations and clarifications