What is this "narrow boat" I keep reading about?

Question

Where can an American who's never heard the term before, go to see what it is you guys keep talkin bout?

Long explanations welcomed but not necessary -- sure I could google it myself but a couple links from some actual longboaters (is that a word?) would mean so much more.

Thanks!

Answer 1

Narrow boats are long (40 foot plus), narrow(usually less than 7 foot across) boats used in the canal system in the UK and Europe.

Answer 2

It is a narrow boat built to fit into the

locks on the canals of the British

Waterways.

Answer 3

The shortest narrow boat I know is called "Marionette" - she's either 18' or 23' (memory failing) and they are a maximum of 6'10" wide, going up to around 70' long.  The longer ones can't be used on all the canals in England where there are shorter locks, so 55' approx is a good "maximum" length.

They are variously known as "long boats" among the general public, and occasionally are called "barges" - a misnomer since barges are wider vessels to be used on rivers, docks and the few canals in this Country with big locks.

I think there are some piccies of Sea Otter narrow boats on their web site if you want to have a look.

My boat is 6' 10" wide, and just 30' long.  This gives me a cabin of approx 19'.  She's purely a recreational craft but is fully equipped with a wash room with cassette loo, sep. shower, two wardrobes, a galley with fridge, cooker, Welsh Dresser and cupboards for kitchen equipment and tinned foods, etc.

She has an L-shaped seating area which converts very quickly into a double bed (bedding stored under), TV, stereo system, shore power, solar panel and central heating.

Being made of aluminium she is trailable behind a sturdy 4 x 4 which means that a 3 day journey by boat can be undertaken in a couple of hours by road if we want to cruise distant waterways but don't have the time to get there and back in our allotted holiday period.