The Boat Safety Certificate
Every four years, canal and river boats must undergo a safety check by an authorised inspector. The “BSS” remit seems to expand gently every few years as potential hazards are
Continue readingAuthor: David Johns
The cost of insuring a canal boat
Your craft must also be insured, not just against damage to itself but more relevantly perhaps, against any damage that you cause to other boats or property. Without valid insurance,
Continue readingThe cost of licensing a canal boat
Do not be fooled into thinking that once you’ve bought your boat, you can just launch it and sail merrily off into the sunset without further compulsory costs. Regardless of
Continue readingThe initial cost of buying a canal boat
So what does a canal boat cost? It depends on numerous factors such as what sort of boat it is, whether you’re buying new or used, how long it is,
Continue readingBuying a canal boat, new or used
The first crucial point that needs to be hammered home here is quite a peculiar one and that is that there are no official, formal records of who legally owns
Continue readingCanal boat engines & motors
I’ll cover outboard motors further down the page but the de facto powerplant for a modern narrowboat or widebeam is the inboard diesel engine. Known for long reliability and substantial
Continue readingCanal boat interior layouts
I’ll start with traditional narrowboats because by far and away they have the most variations in their designs. Widebeams and cabin cruisers will be mentioned further down this page. Interior
Continue readingCanal boat exterior layouts
For a type of boat that’s really quite limited in what you can do, and which has the same basic elements such as bedroom, bathroom, kitchen and so on, there
Continue readingCanal boat construction & maintenance
Metal-hulled boats Modern narrowboats and widebeam ‘barges’ are almost entirely constructed of mild steel. Given that this stuff rusts when exposed to water and air, this might seem like a
Continue readingTypes of canal boat
Narrowboats When you think of a canal boat, most people (in the UK at least) would bring to mind a traditional narrowboat. Definitely not to be referred to as a
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