 |
Stuff About Boats |
|
|
Links to our boat stuff: Links to our boat photo gallery: |
Our primary waste
of time is our boat. We have a narrowboat that we keep on the canal
system of England. Narrowboats are based on the traditional cargo
carrying boats originally built during the second half of the 18th century
and only going out of use in the period after the last War.
Significant changes were made to the motive power over the years -
originally horses and mules were the primary source, giving way to steam
and ultimately diesel engines. Now, almost all the traffic is
leisure with a small amount of commercial carrying remaining - much of
which is focused on providing fuel to the leisure boater.
Today, most narrowboats are made from steel; older wooden boats are still in existence and highly treasured if maintained in good condition. Dimensions of boats were dictated by the size of the locks that were built to allow for changes of height. Clearly, boats needed to fit the locks or not much progress would be made. In the Midlands of England, most locks are 7 feet wide and 72 feet long. Some canals have wider locks (typically 14 feet wide) and in the north of England, wider by shorter locks are the norm. All of the "thumb-nail" pictures in the gallery can be "clicked" to obtain a larger image. There are numerous web sites giving a fuller description of the waterways system. Two of the best (and which we use regularly for reference) can be found at British Waterways or canals.com. |
