Narrowboats, Houseboats and Cruises.....

[Shyheels]

Indeed. I don't do the ponies. It seems the horses I follow like to follow other horses. 

[FastFreddy2]

Looks like a submarine, floating on the surface ...

 

 

 

Yours, for around £225.000 with no mooring. 

 

Nice interior ....

 

 

 

Full article >> here <<

[Shyheels]

Lovely boat - a shame they never got to realise their dream of touring Europe in it.

[Puffer]

You posted a picture, Freddy - are you still out of the clutches of the Internet Gestapo?

A peculiar boat outside.   A steering wheel (rather than a tiller) is unconventional on a 'narrow boat' and that enclosed foredeck makes viewing the surroundings difficult, to say the least, and I fail to see its purpose.   I have seen narrowboats with a removable (sometimes transparent) 'windbreak' in that position but this one has solid and apparently permanent 'battlements'.   Maybe, despite the claims in the article, it is indeed a sub - and nuclear-powered at that.

More pertinently, whilst doubtless a solid and stable vessel for crossing the channel and touring on the wider canals and rivers common on the continent, its size is a big handicap in the UK.   The maximum beam (width) of a vessel that can navigate UK canals freely (many of which are 'narrow') is a nominal 7'.   This is 11' so will be significantly restricted and the suggestion that 'the new buyer can find their own mooring anywhere in the country' is something of a joke.

All that said, the asking-price is about the same as the value of my two-bed seaside flat.   A swap sounds tempting ...

Edited September 2, 2017 by Puffer
clarification

[FastFreddy2]

4 hours ago, Puffer said:

You posted a picture, Freddy - are you still out of the clutches of the Internet Gestapo?

I am trying a compromise. So far, so good. 

[Puffer]

For the avoidance of doubt (and possible disappointment to would-be canal cruisers), I should clarify my comments above by pointing out that the 11' beam of the 'submarine' boat is not its only handicap in the UK.   Although the nominal dimensions of most 'narrow' locks are such to admit a boat of up to 70' x 7', there are some that are shorter - e.g. on the Leeds and Liverpool canal (62').   In my opinion, a narrowboat of 58-60' in length and 6'10" beam is preferable; not only will it go almost anywhere (in theory, at least) but it's more manoeuvrable generally and easier to moor in tight spots.

But, if you think that these problems are overcome by using a kayak (which saves on fuel too!), remember that it will be perishing cold in the winter months ... and you can't have your kayak and heat it (as the proverb reminds us).  

[FastFreddy2]

It looks like the boat was not going to be used much in the UK, save for journeys up estuaries or rivers. It would be an ideal home if moored somewhere on the Thames around London. Or somewhere like the Norfolk Broads? (Scottish Lochs?)

Are European canals wider? If not, it might even have been sited somewhere pleasant like the South of France at a permanent mooring.

As grand as the sub-boat is, I would have preferred something of that size (or larger still - like a Dutch Barge) to have been made around the Art Deco style of the previous boat with larger (picture) windows. The sub-boat looks more like something the SAS might have commissioned.  

 

[Shyheels]

A boat a Bond villain might have commissioned for their retirement. 

[Puffer]

8 hours ago, FastFreddy2 said:

It looks like the boat was not going to be used much in the UK, save for journeys up estuaries or rivers. It would be an ideal home if moored somewhere on the Thames around London. Or somewhere like the Norfolk Broads? (Scottish Lochs?)

Are European canals wider? If not, it might even have been sited somewhere pleasant like the South of France at a permanent mooring.

As grand as the sub-boat is, I would have preferred something of that size (or larger still - like a Dutch Barge) to have been made around the Art Deco style of the previous boat with larger (picture) windows. The sub-boat looks more like something the SAS might have commissioned.  

 

I have travelled on a couple of occasions, years ago, by canal through much of the Netherlands, on a converted dutch barge.   One such does make a very pleasant mode of transport.   There are many different types and sizes; the beam is typically 4m - 6m, which is fine on almost any river and on the wider canals which are the norm in continental Europe.   I suspect that some of the older canals would not, however, accept the widest dutch barges.   Although dutch barges are not uncommonly seen in the UK, they are confined to rivers and the wider canals, although they might venture into a short stretch of narrow canal up to the point where a lock or bridge became too restrictive, perhaps for mooring or residential purposes.

Yes, the 'sub' was clearly intended for continental travel - after crossing the Channel, no mean feat in itself for a 'narrowboat' - and I doubt that it would have any problem navigating the canals in France or elsewhere.   If mainly intended for UK (touring) use, I am sure it would not have been built as wide as its sphere of operation as built is distinctly limited.