boating information
boat types – details
the details
When you start looking at boats you will find a wide range of construction and services on the boat ranging from quite primitive up to facilities you would expect in a modern house. This is a brief guide to what variables you may come across.
- Engine
- These fall into two distinct camps, a modern marinised diesel and a ‘vintage’ engine. The former will generally be a basic 3 or 4 cylinder diesel and will be installed under the stern or enclosed at the back of a trad. They will need little attention beyond normal servicing and attention to such things as oil and water levels. The latter will normally take pride of place in an engine room, with side doors kept open to show off their shiny brass and copper. They are much slower revving, producing a characteristic ‘phut-phut’ sound and are usually the pride and joy of their enthusiastic owner. They need be no less reliable than a modern engine and some, the Russell Newbery for instance, are still being manufactured.
- Electrical Systems
- All boats can be expected to have 12 volt systems installed and more and more have a 230 volt ‘ring main’ present as well which can be supplied in various ways. In addition to the engine starter battery there will be several batteries for the domestic systems. These will be charged from the engine alternator through a ‘split charge’ device which will isolate the connection with the engine battery when the engine is not running, to prevent the starter battery being drained. Using the engine alternator to charge a large bank of batteries is fraught with problems and to help alleviate this, an external alternator controller may be fitted. The 12 volt system will be used to power such things as lights, water pumps, fridges and other devices, although some of these may also be powered by 230 volts.
230 volts (‘mains’) will be supplied by an inverter, a shore line or a generator. The generator may be driven by the engine or independent. The inverter will draw power from the battery bank and convert it to 230 volts for distribution round the boat. This comes in two ‘flavours’, ‘pure sine wave’ and ‘quasi-sine wave’. The former should produce a good imitation of domestic mains power but at higher cost. The quasi-sine wave is an approximation of the mains and may upset some equipment. Devices with electronic timers such as washing machines and microwaves can be sensitive to the waveform. - Heating
- Two types of heating are found on narrowboats. Many will have radiators fed from a small gas or diesel boiler which can also be used to heat the hot water. Gas boilers are compact, reliable and quiet but will be more expensive to run. Diesel boilers can be unreliable when fed by the red diesel generally available on the cut and many boats have a separate dedicated diesel tank. They can also be very noisy, particularly to neighbouring boats for whom their exhaust can sound like a small jet aircraft taking off.
The other type of heating comes from a stove which can be either diesel or solid fuel. The former are usually more reliable than the diesel central heating boilers as they lack sophisticated control systems and have the advantage over solid fuel of being clean and easy to control. Many boaters however will say there is no substitute on a chilly evening for a solid fuel stove glowing in the corner of the saloon. - The Bathroom
- A shower is the norm, either in a conventional shower cubicle or a small bath, often with a seat built in. Limited water capacity, hot water in particular, mean soaking in a luxuriant bath is not a practicality. Long drenching showers are also similarly limited and it is usual to turn the shower off between getting wet and rinsing off (a navy shower). For this reason the small seated bath works well.
It is rumoured that whenever three or more boaters congregate, within 15 minutes the conversation will come round to toilets. Although toilet technology has come on in leaps and bounds in recent years it is still for some a sensitive subject. Those of a delicate disposition should look away now.
Toilets come in two main guises, the holding tank and the cassette. The former will normally consist of a tank built in under the bed and either extending into the bathroom where the toilet can be fixed over one end, or connected by a pump and piping. The “dump-through” has the advantage of simplicity, but might bring some people a little too close to the subject. The pumped systems are much more like a conventional domestic flush toilet, but be prepared for some sticky unblocking events. The tank has to be emptied periodically, a service which is offered by most boatyards, and BW provide a self-pumpout facility at some sanitary stations. However as most of these have septic tanks it is not acceptable to use your own pump to empty the tank into elsan disposal points. Cassette toilets have a cassette built into the base and the contents can be disposed of, for free, at the many elsan points provided by BW. This is however a ‘hands-on’ activity and not for the squeamish. As for the pump-out, some toilets have remote cassettes connected by pump and piping which some might find more acceptable. - Surveys, BSC and RCD
- All boats on BW waters must be covered by a Boat Safety Certificate (BSC). These are issued by accredited independent surveyors and last for four years. It is your boat’s ‘MOT’ and covers aspects such as gas installations, electrics and wiring, fuel systems, heating systems, fire precautions and ventilation. It is solely concerned with safety aspects of the boat and should not be seen as any indication of the overall condition of a boat. See http://www.boatsafetyscheme.com/ for more information.
All new boats must also come with evidence of Recreational Craft Directive (RCD) compliance. This usually means a comprehensive owners manual containing detailed information of equipment installed and compliance of the craft with the relevant rules. Although it is possible for the builder to self-certify, it is lent more authority if it is prepared by a qualified marine surveyor. Whilst most professional boat builders will compile the documentation as a matter of course, it is a little more complicated in the case of sailaways. It is illegal to sell a boat that is less than five years from completion if it does not have full compliance with the RCD. It is therefore essential that all parties satisfy themselves that the documentation is complete. Boats more than five years old do not need compliance, but more and more buyers are coming to expect it.