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Waterway Map

waterwaymap.org

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Re: Waterway Map

#141

Post by sixothree »

JetSetWilly wrote: post #80
mock-possum wrote: post #55

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Double standards are practically a necessity to maintain bigotry. I’d be more surprised to find prejudice that lacks that kind of hypocrisy.

The narrowboaters thast stay near me don't seem to indulge in open air defecation everywhere around, they don't appear to litter and leave plastic and gas canisters in incredible quanties everywhere before buggering off, and they don't go door to door with dodgy schemes. The travellers that occasionally stay in the field next to my house do all of this and more. Pretending that this difference doesn't exist and that…

Since we're on the topic, are there regulations about sewerage for longboaters? Are there "hookups" available at mooring spots or is it more of a "well it all gets diluted when we dump it in the river" kind of thing?

Re: Waterway Map

#142

Post by marssaxman »

ghaff wrote: post #8
jkubicek wrote: post #2

The "Navigable by canoe" filter seems to filter out everything, which is a bummer, because I've always wondered how far up into the Sierras I could drop a canoe and still be able to paddle back to the bay area.

You have both hills and urban areas blocking about the whole east side of San Francisco Bay. Hard for me to imagine being able to get through that. And further north you've got the Central Valley.

There's no blockage - in fact oceangoing cargo ships can travel all the way to the Port of Sacramento, thanks to a thirty-foot-deep channel maintained by the Corps of Engineers.

Re: Waterway Map

#143

Post by EtherealMind »

s3krit wrote: post #48

I've been waiting for the day that HN would have something tangentially related to the English and Welsh canal system so I could gush about it. For those that don't know, we have around 2500 miles of (mostly) navigable canals around the UK. They were built during the industrial revolution prior to the invention of trains such that we could transport coal and other goods relatively quickly and without damage (consider…

I spend 8 months a year on my narrowboat moving around the canals as I hunt for pubs, relaxation and peace. In winter I hibernate in my house, pining for the canals and freedom.

Also, I work full-time from the boat.

Re: Waterway Map

#144

Post by EtherealMind »

mock-possum wrote: post #57
s3krit wrote: post #48

I've been waiting for the day that HN would have something tangentially related to the English and Welsh canal system so I could gush about it. For those that don't know, we have around 2500 miles of (mostly) navigable canals around the UK. They were built during the industrial revolution prior to the invention of trains such that we could transport coal and other goods relatively quickly and without damage (consider…

If you were to give take a broad guess at the cost of moving around like that, in terms of maintaining supplies and securing a place to stay when you’re not in the mood to move with the current, what would that come out to, say monthly?

My 0.02p, it cost about £6000/yr to do it cheap. Goes up to £10k/yr with a full time mooring in a marina and outsourced services.

Boat pricing comes in a spectrum that very roughly looks like this:

3. £20-£40K Narrowboats are thirty or more years old, or are under 50ft. They have had many owners each of which will have done something to the boat. The engine fittings will be old eg. coolant hoses , the radiators might not work, the fireplace might need replacing, there is rust in important places needing welding and so on. There may be overplating on the hull to repair holes. In general, you can expect to perform regular/constant maintenance and repairs to maintain and keep them in working order. (some people enjoy this, you may not)

4. In the 40-60K range expect the boat to be about 20 years old. Generally modern and most things will be working but it might not have a good electrical system for modern lifestyles. It will have 20 years of wear and tear, and the interior might feel old and outdated.

5. In the £100k-£120 range you should see 5-10 year old boats. It probably will have a modern toilet/shower, modern electrical maybe a solar panel, a nicer kitchen and modern diesel engine/gearbox and propeller.

6. At £160K-180K you can get a new but simple/basic boat fitout probably no solar, no dinette, few cupboards. Or it’s a five year old custom build that has been fully fitted with many extras e.g washing machines, quality inverter/batteries

7. At £200K+ it a brand new boat, built to your specification. An all electric boutique boat is £220K-240K. I’ve heard of narrowboats up to £280K. Luxury wide beams over £350K do exist.

Re: Waterway Map

#145

Post by racnid »

pavon wrote: post #138
RicoElectrico wrote: post #32

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You can go to https://openstreetmap.org/ , zoom in and enable the map data layer. History is accessible from the object pages.

Thanks, that is helpful. It looks like for some of the larger ones the editors left comments that dataset was imported from USGS quads which makes sense, while other smaller ones don't list any source information - possibly mapped personally by hiking with a GPS?

I know I personally mapped one with a GPS and canoe.

Re: Waterway Map

#146

Post by s3krit »

sixothree wrote: post #141
JetSetWilly wrote: post #80

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The narrowboaters thast stay near me don't seem to indulge in open air defecation everywhere around, they don't appear to litter and leave plastic and gas canisters in incredible quanties everywhere before buggering off, and they don't go door to door with dodgy schemes. The travellers that occasionally stay in the field next to my house do all of this and more. Pretending that this difference doesn't exist and that…

Since we're on the topic, are there regulations about sewerage for longboaters? Are there "hookups" available at mooring spots or is it more of a "well it all gets diluted when we dump it in the river" kind of thing?

You're not allowed to dump any human waste in any of the canals or rivers (ignore the fact that plenty of companies in the UK do this...).

There are two common approaches to dealing with human waste aboard canal boats; cassette toilets which you can carry to 'elsan points' placed frequently along the canal to dump semi-regularly (I hear anything from a week to a month depending on how many aboard). They look like [1] - you remove the bottom bit and carry that to empty. And secondly, pump-out tanks with a macerator toilet which chews up the excrement before being deposited into a tank. They're much bigger so need to be emptied less often (over 3 months for our 500 litre beast). They need to be done at marinas or the ever-decreasing number of Canal and River Trust-maintained self-pumpouts. Costs about £10-17 per pump-out. Elsan disposal is free as is covered by your license fee. Hundreds of thousands of words on forums have been written about the pros and cons of either of these approaches, and is considered on the canalworld forum to be a bit of a holy war.

A much less common approach is composting toilets. There's not a lot of room on boats, so storing the waste long enough to turn into an effective compost doesn't seem too feasible. And then once it's done, what are you gonna do with it? You're on a boat, you don't have a garden. And recently CRT informed people that they cannot dispose of this compost toilet waste in their provided refuse bins.

[1] https://marine-deals.freetls.fastly.net/media/catalog/produc...

Re: Waterway Map

#147

Post by ghaff »

timeon wrote: post #126
ghaff wrote: post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There are a ton of rivers and sections thereof that are easily navigable flatwater in MA which don't show up.

Compared to Europe, US is sparsely mapped in OSM. But even in Europe there are not many waterways tagged with canoe.

And it's seasonal. Flatwater vs. whitewater (also bidirectional vs. one). How hard? How much portaging?

None of it's really reasonable for a binary database.

Re: Waterway Map

#148

Post by EdwardDiego »

JR1427 wrote: post #133
actionfromafar wrote: post #78

Earlier quoted context omitted.

bool boat = social_standing || affluence;

This isn't really true. You get lots of people living on boats because housing is expensive (like my mother and stepdad). You do get plenty of "crusty" boat people, but generally they keep themselves to themselves. Maybe this is because people on boats are often in public and accessible places, where people will quickly complain.

They still own where they live though.

Re: Waterway Map

#149

Post by JR1427 »

EdwardDiego wrote: post #148
JR1427 wrote: post #133

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This isn't really true. You get lots of people living on boats because housing is expensive (like my mother and stepdad). You do get plenty of "crusty" boat people, but generally they keep themselves to themselves. Maybe this is because people on boats are often in public and accessible places, where people will quickly complain.

They still own where they live though.

How is this different to travellers owner their caravans? Most people who live on boats don't own a permanent mooring. They either continually move around, or rent a mooring.

Re: Waterway Map

#150

Post by Symbiote »

shafyy wrote: post #115
yawpitch wrote: post #90

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If you’ve got the money for one it’s easy to buy (see a site called ApolloDuck for used prices) and register, though the specifics of registration depend on which waterways you want to be on (the Canal and River Trust covers the majority, the Environment Agency some key sections, and there’s some odd few others managed by their own agencies). It’s perfectly legal, but as Covid really proved access to services can be…

I see, thanks. And I'm also assuming I would need to get some special license to sail a Narrowboat? As a non-UK citizen (EU/Swiss), do you think it could be complicated to get a Narrowboat and live on it for half a year or so?

A friend-of-a-friend lived on a narrowboat for a year while we were at university.

It was all fairly straightforward, although maintenance cost more than he expected, and he was surprised to find he couldn't just moor it in central London — 'parking' is limited and restricted there.

You'll find plenty of people have written about this, e.g. https://livingonanarrowboat.co.uk/. You could also search "narrowboat holidays" and see if you can hire a boat for 6 months.

I don't think being non-UK will make any difference. You can visit the UK for up to 6 months as a tourist.

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