>From experience on various ex-working boats, roughly 8' yep. Actually, anywhere between 7' and 9' plus. Butty and horse boat cabins tend to be a bit more generous than motor cabins (8' to 10') - cabins on motors probably got squeezed to minimise the loss of hold space due to the engine 'ole.
If I was building a replica back cabin, I wouldn't be inclined to go *too* long though. Although it might seem a good idea to go up over 10', the extra space is really just wasted. A 4' cross bed is adequate, 4'6 would be generous indeed and 3'6 is manageable even for two as long as the two are built for speed rather than comfort and *very* good friends! The table cupboard loses it's proper proportions if it's too wide (2' to 2'6 tops, 3' would be too big) and the range shelf likewise - just large enough for a back cabin range whuch are usually less than 2' wide. So a 9' back cabin would be, as back cabins go, pretty spacious. 10' would be really generous and any longer would be out of proportion (better to add cupboards either side of a corridor beyond the back door IMO). Conversley, 7' would be tight but workable especially if the cross bed was to be used as a single berth rather than a double and anywhere from 7'6 to 8'6 would be pretty standard fare. HTH Bru > -----Original Message----- > From: [email protected] > [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Steve Haywood > Sent: 02 August 2007 18:06 > To: [email protected] > Subject: [canals-list] Back cabins > > > Were back cabins traditionally 8ft long? Longer? > > Steve > > > [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] > > > > > Yahoo! Groups Links > > > >
