--- In [email protected], "Roger Millin" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > Callum asked: > > > > * Question: Assuming that a 70 footer really will work and I'm not > going to > > sink it catching the stern on the cill on the first tight lock (is > it a > > cill, yes?) then can I build it 2 inches wider right up to 7 feet? > I say > > this because if it's going to be big, I might as well live the life > of a > > squeezed pencil..? >
I think that if you go for the full 7' beam then you will restrict yourself from canals that you would have been able to do with your 70' x 6' 10" boat. We have an old converted working boat and have not been able to do the Llangollen because the first lock is too narrow in the wrong places. Also, the Chesterfield canal has narrow locks (narrower than 7' IIRC) when you get so far up so you can't do the (quite recently?) restored section. There are also bound to be other places where you will stick more than a 6' 10" boat. I suppose narrowboats are now built 6' 10" for a reason so if I was having a narrowboat built I would stick to that width. Ben
