Dear Confused of Canals, "Mack, David" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
>Adrian wrote: > >> > A boat is *broad* if its beam is between 2.1 m and 4.3 m (i.e. wider >> > than one narrow boat but not wider than two breasted). Only if the >> > beam is greater than 4.3 m is the vessel *wide*. > >Martin commented: > >> So the Wide Boats formerly used on the Grand Junction were >> actually broad, but the Norfolk Broads are wide... And some B roads are narrow. (And very few monkey boats carried monkeys). >> Does anyone else apart from Adrian actually think that using >> two synonymous words to mean two different widths of boat is >> a good idea? Before answering that, you may want to see Waterways World April 2006 P49 where an article explains why it is. >I think everyone apart from Adrian is completely confused by the >difference between "Broad" and "Wide". Interesting concept - "If I can't do it, then it can't be done". Translate "everyone apart from Adrian" into "David", perhaps? "Broad" is between one and two narrow boats in beam. " Wide" is wider than that. Hard to see how can that be confusing. [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: >Incidentally, by the above definition the majority of surviving ex working >narrow boats are actually broad... > Martin Only if they have a beam greater than that of a narrow boat. Tricky, that. >And since Adrian insists on using rounded metric conversions of >dimensions which were originally established in imperial units, his own >premise does not stand up. A boat can be less than 4.3m in beam (I >nearly wrote 4.3m wide) and still be wider than two breasted narrow >boats (4.2m by Adrian's figures). Or narrower. However, I do hope (perhaps over-optimistically) that we might be able to distinguish between the principle and the pickyness. BW and EA have committed to building all new broad locks to accept two breasted narrow boats (or a maximum-beam broad vessel). AINA has the vision of achieving a national broad network (by establishing broad routes among the present regional broad and wide networks). So, if you buy a broad vessel you might reasonably expect a large and expanding cruising range for it, but not if you get a wide one. Next week, fractions (with apologies to T. Lehrer). Adrian . Adrian Stott 07956-299966
