Which is best for long term canal cruising in England, a narrow boat or a cabin cruiser?

Question

Which is more comfortable?

Which is easier to manoeuvre (and does it take long to get used to a long narrow boat)?

Which uses less fuel?

Answer 1

Should you want the freedom to use the whole of the presently available canal system, make sure you opt for a narrow (6' 10") beam boat, not a wide beam.

Obviously more room in a wide beam, but you are limited to just a handful of canals (because locks are 7' wide, hopefully), and stick with around a max of 50' in length since some locks are short.  It's also easier to turn a shorter boat in a winding hole.

If you are really interested in seeing what's out there, why not come to Crick (Northamptonshire) this Bank Holiday weekend where there will be hundreds of boaters who will probably be happy to while away some time talking boats.

Lots of entertainment, food stalls, chandlery, new boats and used for sale.  

My narrow boat is only 30' long (I did my Helmsman's Certificate on a 65'), and I could live on that quite happily (without husband!!); I usually take her to the Crick Boat Show, but don't have time this year to get there and back to the Marina so will be going by road with sleeping bag, to beg an overnight berth from another boat - boaters are such friendly people as a rule.

There isn't much to get used to - push the tiller to the right and she goes left; push it to the left and she goes right!

No brakes, just reverse!  And as already mentioned narrow boats were built as work horses and well able to take a deal of abusive handling.

Just remember that everything is paid for by the foot - so the shorter a boat you can manage on, the less will be your annual outgoings.

Answer 2

Cabin is more comfortable and manuverable if you have experience. Fuel consumption can and will vary from boat to boat. It will depend on H.P rating,gear ratio, transom depth etc. Try a few out and see what you are comfortable with. Do your research and it will help. In the end the more you investigate the better.

Answer 3

Annabel...

     Think about girl... If you listed everything you wanted... to live comfortably and cruise on a boat... and then took maps of the canals to the worlds best custom boat builders... told them "money was no object".  And that you wanted them to design you the most perfect boat from scratch, with the very best fuel economy... easy to manoeuvre, smooth ride and quite engine, for boating on the canals... what you would get back... would be a narrow boat.

     They are perfect for the canal...  Not only built for that exact purpose... they are very fuel efficient (much-much-much more than a cabin cruiser... and they are built like tanks... the bumps and bruises you take in a narrow boat will hardly even show - if they show at all... whereby those bumps and bruises on a Cabin Cruiser will show like ping-pong size pimple on the end of the Prince Charles' nose.

     I don't know if you are boating now... if you are, I don't know what kind of boat... however, unless you are used to a boat with twin screws (two engines) you will not know any difference between the way a narrow boat handles vs a single engine Cabin Cruiser...

Happy & Safe Boating!

Answer 4

Narrow boat. Slow speeds 4mph max on canals. Easy mooring. Accomodation aplenty. Check-Canal living- on Yahoo or Google for tips and advice. Ebay for an idea of prices.

Answer 5

Narrow Boat.

Answer 6

Long term a wider boat is more comfortable and more maneuverable, but in narrow areas of the canals, a narrow boat is going to be preferred for passing and getting though "Tight" spots.

Since the speed is "Slow" one with a small engine will be all that you would need.  Five to ten horse power will push you along at four to eight miles an hour, which is more than likely faster than most of the speed limits.  And a four stoke engine gets a lot better "Mileage" than the older two stroke versions.

The narrow vessel is going to use less fuel because the hull doesn't push aside as much water as a wider boat.

Good luck and have fun.