Can Narrowboats and small cabin cruisers travel across the big seas?

Question

Hello........I'm very interested in boats. I just want to know if narrowboats (canal boats) and small cabin cruisers can travel over the big seas..... I don't know much about boat building and the underneath shape of boats....All I know is that the boats mentioned above are ideal for UK inland waters (canals and rivers). But, can they travel elsewhere, too? Thanks

Answer 1

Not with ME in it!

Answer 2

Narrowboats can travel across seas. There are many that regularly cross English Channel to France etc. Firstly they have to be watertight and I don't just mean the hull. All hatches and windows etc have to be sealed against the elements. Obviously you have to have a strong engine and plan your course to coincide with the tides and currents. Usually the full length, (72ft) boats won't make the crossing as there's a danger that in a high sea the boat can break it's back but the shorter versions don't pose such a risk. Wind is also a factor to be taken into account. The long flank of a narrowboat is easily susceptible to being blown about by even the slightest wind. As for cruisers, they have much the same requirements as a narrowboat. If it's too light though it will really be tossed about by the wind and sea. All crossings should be done with all the  necessary safety equiptment on board. A radio and life raft are the minimum and it's always wise, as before, to plan your journey ahead and let people know about your route and eta  in case you get 'lost'.

Answer 3

Flat bottomed canal boats (unless they are of the cutwater design) are very unstable on open water,they do on occasion travel from Kings Lynn to Boston across the Wash but will always be escorted by a pilot and in convoy,often stopping off at low tide on the sand banks,,crossing the English Channel can be done as long as you make it sea worthy and strapped to another similar vessel,my friends took their boat over to France but on a low loader and on a ferry,they now cruise the 6,000 miles of French waterways (2,000 in the UK),none of these ways are recommended for the feint hearted and insurance costs will rocket

Answer 4

Technically yes, and you have the right to try it.  Reallistically - Are you mad!?!  Horses for courses, these are built deliberately with a shallow draft to travel the canals, when you're on open water a nice deep keel and lots of ballast are the order of the day.  Preparing a canal boat for an open water crossing is a job for the experienced, as the consequences could be catastrophic, and let's be honest, the chances of encountering "issues" on open water in a boat of this type are not exactly slim!

Overland it to France if you want to take it there, it's much safer, if not, there is a real danger that you could become another statistic.

Answer 5

Narrowboats have flat bottoms,Not safe on high seas.

Answer 6

Well, they probably CAN, but the question is should they, or would you want to?  Boats designed for inland waterways are not designed for travel on the ocean. They are not made to cope well with the waves and swells you could get, nor to ride out a storm at sea.  So while you could take one to sea and have no problems if fate and the weather are on your side, it could also be a disaster.

Answer 7

Well, it has been done, but narrowboats most emphatically are not designed for sea-going.  They're usually flat bottomed, have little freeboard and next to no ballast for stability, plus all those big hull openings are very close to the waterline.  

I know narrowboats have crossed the Channel with a lot of preparation, thought and application, together with an escort boat in close attendance, but I'll bet it was nerve-wracking to put it mildly.  Especially dodging 30 knot ferries at about 3 knots.

Answer 8

They are ok if they are loaded onto a cargo ship.