Barge design, length and limitations. Size matters! ~ Buying a boat in France Ep. 5
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- čas přidán 28. 11. 2022
- If you are thinking about buying a boat over 15m in length you should really consider the full ramifications of that decision. If over 20m you'll need to wade into more red tape.
In this episode I explain the design concepts of two different types of inland water way vessels: converted barges and the Dutch Motor Cruiser.
Links:
Yacht Focus: www.yachtfocus.com/en/
DBA: Dutch Barging Association: barges.org
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Cheers!
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Modern yachts tend to become bigger because people want more space. But many Dutch river cruisers - even the newest - have a draft of less than 1.5 meter. And there's plenty fixed bridges in the Netherlands. Our boat is a (1993) Dutch built steel yacht of 12 meter and the draft is 1 meter. And with the canopy down, we only need 2.85 meter to pass under fixed bridges.
We use our boat mainly for the summer holidays. We "live" on the aft deck. Inside it is usually too warm anyway. Things we consider important (inside) are: ample headroom and storage.
Not covered in the video is the engine cooling system. Some boats use water from the canal to cool the engine, some boats have a closed cooling system like a car. We prefer the closed system because it never gets clogged up with water plants or debris.
Thanks for your comment! 😀
You might mention the best place to purchase a boat is usually The Netherlands. You can pay a bit of a premium when purchasing in France. By and large the vessels in The Netherlands are better maintained, there's usually a better selection and they're usually substantially cheaper, much of this can be attributed to The Netherlands being a true boating community.
Thanks for the comment and I couldn't agree more! I do mention this at the end of the video along with providing links to YachtFocus. I also touch on the design concepts of a Dutch Cruisers and some of the brands that are made there. However, it should also be considered that the draft of many of the boats in The Netherlands are not suitable for the French waterways as many of them tip toward the 2 meter mark. 2M is technically possible in most of the narrow gauge waterways in France but in practicality a 1.5m to 2m draft will substantially limit your cruising options on France's inland waterways. But these boats would be great for coastal cruising round The Netherlands and that is design purpose. As I say in the video size matters. Cheers.
38 meters? Probably at least 6 meters wide as well. That is the living space of a large house in Europe.
Yep, these boats are very big and impossible to turn around in the canal outside of official turning points.
These old barges - "péniche" in French, "spits" in Dutch - had standard dimensions so they could pass through the locks. And as mentioned in the video, old locks are about 40 meter long and 5.5 meter wide. With a beam of 6 meter, you could go nowhere. At least, when talking about inland waterways.