That's a bummer, but at least you got it back.
Martin

I am afraid it is, 7 years older now . Recovering my trawler after it sank at the Weymouth Show. it was very rough as you can see the sails reefed right down.

Hammer, is that you in the little picture?
Martin

Sorry again missed the swim.

Hammer, the 18 foot swim is the length of the tapering hull as it leads to the prop. Some say the longer the swim the better it'll go backuds. Ha! Rubbish. Most of the locks we went through were also 7 feet wide. The standard dimensions of a working boat being 70/72x7. We had the famous Heather Bell and rebuilt her. My wife and I put 3 oak trees in her, but by then the bottom boards had gone and I couldn't face laying on my back doing them, so we sold the boat 75% restored back to original condition.
I've never heard from the bloke again!

Martin

Sorry Martin, but you said 18ft 70ft. A lot of the canals I have been on have locks of only 7ft wide. I have had 7 holidays on the cut. Did the Pennine ring 3weeks in the spring. Wide on the Leeds & Liverpool, but very narrow & shallow on the Rochdale. Got stuck twice.

No, just the normal system...Shroppie, Northern Oxford, Trent and Mersey, the Worcester Cut and the BCN. I think that was it. We took Frodsham up the Welsh to Whitchurch. if you got too close to moored craft the damned thing would suck itself on to them because of its cock-eyed swim.

Martin

Your on a wide canal then Martin.

Yeah, boats don't like going backuds. Even with a slender 18 foot swim our 70 foot narrow boat wouldn't perform backuds. it was a case of squirt in reverse gear, straighten up with a squirt of ahead. You could paddle it one way or another with the big rudder, but basically not something you did unless you had to. I wouldn't bother with backuds gear on most of my model boats. After all you can't back a yacht and that doesn't spoil things.

Martin

My princess 40ft with twin Z drives. Wheel on right inside & centre on flybridge. Now that was tricky to control at slow speed in a marina. Only steering with the engine, no rudder. All that top hamper & only 1 meter draft at the stern & zero at the bow. Power in to the pontoon slap into astern. Then hope the wife could jump & get a rope on quick. The wife is still here but the boat has gone. To old to do any jumping.

True, although I once had to deliver a replica Manchester Ship Canal tug "Frodsham" to it's new mooring. Apart from a 12 point list just to start its petrol/diesel Kelvin engine it had hydraulic drive and a steering wheel...slap, bang in the middle. it was a pig to keep in a straight line, especially as the swim was horribly assymetric. But that Kelvin made the sweetest noise!

Martin

But then narrow boats don't generally have a 'wheel'.
Most of my cruising has been on rivers.

That only really applies where the vessel is intended for restricted waters or is over a certain beam.
My Albatross speedboat was right hand drive. You don't tend to worry about navigation when you have a couple of skiers on the back!
And the most restricted of all navigators stand in the middle of their narrow boat.

Martin

In the Uk, the general rules of navigation state that boats should pass 'Port to Port', this is the opposite to driving on our roads, so the wheel is usually on the left in a boat.

Cruisers I've been on are generally left hand drive, but speedboats (British ones) were right hand drive.

It's entirely up to you!

Martin

Further to my previous reply I meant to say the sliding hatch was on the rear cabin roof
Dave

Hi
There are no plans so its personal choice. I put a sliding roof entrance at the rear of the roof in the middle. put some steps down in the floor and made a steering point on the left hand side. it could just as easily have been on the right side. My crew are having a lie down after a good party!
Dave