Getting Ready

Getting Ready 

When I found the boat build slot, reserved since last July, had been delayed from March until April, at first I was disappointed - I mean I want to get on with the actual project. However, seeing how the days are flying by I am now rather glad that I am not faced with the prospect of getting one of these in the next couple of weeks.

That photo was taken at the boat builder - Colecraft. It's not mine, but a completed boat waiting for the customer to collect it (strangely, you have to arrange your own transport (a large lorry and crane) to get the completed boat where you want it.

I was up at Colecraft in Warwickshire at the start of the month to discuss my boat. I had been before Christmas for the first time, but that visit had been a bit rushed (not on my account) and subsequent emails and drawings were getting things a bit confused. As much as everyone loves(hates) Teams/Zoom etc., I thought I was a good idea to go up and talk about the design.

I had ordered what is called a 'traditional stern' narrowboat, in that the design has a nod to the original working boats. There is a small hatch at the stern for the steerer, but otherwise not much 'open space' at the back. If you are on the boat on your own, this has a lot of advantages, especially in the inclement British weather - you can stand so basically your top half of your body is sticking out, meercat like, whilst the rest of you is sort of 'inside'. You also have a bit more storage space inside.  However, if there is more than one of you ( and I dearly hope that I am not going to be on my own all the time), it is not so very social. Largely due to the social aspect, a lot of people like what is called a 'cruiser' stern. This has a larger deck  area at the back where the whole family can sit. However it is very exposed to the elements and the downside is that when you are servicing the engine (which is underneath) you are exposed to the elements.

Although looking for a traditional stern, I had wanted to have a larger sliding hatch (the part of the roof that slides back so you can descend steps into the interior of the boat cabin).  The idea being that when it was open there would be a bit more room for another person to be up there. Also, importantly, there would be room to manoeuvre the generator into the engine bay. Now I had seen various photos of this feature in books and online. However, the one downside of using a builder of long-standing repute is that they have 'their way' of doing things and there didn't seem to be much latitude to deviate from their standard dimensions, other than by a couple of inches (everything is in imperial measurements in this business ).

After discussing my wishes, Gary, the owner of Colecraft took me outside to show me the boat in the photo. It is larger than the one I am ordering and it is of the third type of stern - the so called Semi-traditional stern. A 'semi-trad' as they are referred tries to capture the best of the other two stern types. It has more socialising space, but the walls make it look, from the outside, like a traditional boat. Some people think it leads to the worst of both types, but in the canal boating world everyone has an opinion and for every 'you must do that' advice, you will find equally strong, 'you must never do that' voices.

Anyway, the upshot of it is that I agreed to be convinced that I should be having a semi-trad. I do like the idea of open space at the rear for people to congregate whilst underway. I don't like the reduction in interior space or the fact that the steerer (of the boat) is open to the elements and so is the engine area when the deck cover is removed for servicing. However the latter can be mitigated by having what is called a Tonneau cover - which is a canvas/PVC cover like they have over trucks, that you can fix in place when you are not going in and out or are away from the boat.

There are a couple of other upsides with the semi-trad design too. Although you loose some interior storage space, their are two external lockers. By making them a bit deeper, it will be somewhere to put the folding bike. Also, the layout of the traditional stern means that, with a modern boat layout, you have to effectively climb over the engine to get from the hatch to the cabin. This can often require a bit of body contortion. I can probably manage (at the time of writing), but I am looking forward to my parents visiting onboard and it might not be so peachy for them. The semi-trad design means there are steps from the hatch straight down, so it avoids this.

However, the downside is the hatch is several foot further along the boat, which means I will have to rejig my interior design.