The Amerian Narrowboater

[@CruisingTheCut]

That was absolutely fascinating. Thank you 😀

[@jackbeyer4356]

Wow! This is high praise indeed. I've been a fan of yours for years. Starting on August 6 I will be vlogging from the Erie Canal on a boat modeled after an English narrowboat. I hope to point out the differences in American canals and those of the UK. It's a totally different adventure, but when you can't travel to the place you love, love the place your with.

[@CruisingTheCut]

@@jackbeyer4356 I am looking forward to watching. I really want to come over and travel the Erie canal one day. Cheers

[@jackbeyer4356]

@@CruisingTheCut Wish you could come with us. You'd fit right in. My brothers are also big fans of yours

[@markhogan77]

Excellent… really enjoyed watching and learning some US canal history 👍🏼 thanks soo much .. look forward to more 👍🏼.. thanks soo much

[@jackbeyer4356]

@@markhogan77 Thank you. So I guess we have one thing to thank Covid for. Since I can't be in the UK on the cut I can explore the canals close to home. if you can't be with the one you love, love the one you're with. In a few days my brothers and I will be cruising and vlogging from the Erie Canal.

[@watersrising8044]

This is great! I’m a huge UK Narrowboat fan. Want to correct one thing, though: The Chesapeake and Ohio Canal ran 185 miles alongside the Potomac River from Cumberland Md to Georgetown port in Washington DC primarily bringing coal from the mountains from 1831 to early 1920s. Yes it was supposed to go to Ohio but didn’t make it, was overwhelmed by its topography (frequent breaches), economics and the arrival of train transport, but it was a vibrant canal in its day. You don’t see it from Virginia, you have to go to MD; You can walk the length of the canal, stay at restored lock houses, and take short canal boat rides through a lock (pre-covid) at a few places along its length. Managed by the National Park Service with support from various nonprofit orgs of canal fans such as myself. It’s a great historical and recreational resource.

[@americannarrowboater9634]

Thank you so much for your excellent, spot on corrections and comments on Chesapeake and Ohio Canal. I'll have to read up on it so that I can talk about it more accurately. I have seen the remnants of the locks back in the late 80's. From what you've said, they are more appreciated today. America owes a lot to it's forgotten canal history. Today my brothers and I are starting our week long cruise on the Erie Canal. Hope you continue to watch our vlogs.

[@gstealer11]

Grew up in Fairport NY along the canal and still live in the area. I didn't know these existed to rent. Have to look into it. Thanks for the video

[@americannarrowboater9634]

I don't know when next week we'll be in Fairport, but it is one of our stopping spots. We'll be in Lyons on Monday night so I guess Fairport is Tuesday. My research says it's nickname is the "Crown Jewel of the Erie Canal".In 2005 it was named as one of the "Best Places to Live" by Money Magazine. Is Mallet's

[@josephblansjaar5871]

I like your blog. I'm impressed with the layout with the galley and forward space providing a spacious lounging area well away from that noisy engine at the stern. I haven't seen this layout in english narrowboats but I think they need to consider the advantages. Our last UK Narrow Boat adventure was in the late 1970s and I recall that being in the bow was delightfully quiet but at the stern the noise was annoying and I kept slowing down so that I could hear what people were saying. Thanks for the insight!

[@americannarrowboater9634]

My wife and I had our first narrowboat adventure in 1976 during our honeymoon. The boat was only 48 feet long and the engine wasn't that noisy. Some boaters like to enhance or at least experience the sound and feel of an older engine. It's much like some folks with loud motorcycles or cars. Several narrowboat vloggers have engines that thump, thump, thump up the cut. I'm not a big fan of the noise though. My wife is a big fan of the well deck. When she wants some quiet time or to just be away from me for a while, that's where she heads. On August 7 I'll be videoing the Erie Canal boat that my two brothers and I have rented. I love their layout.

[@piratesalleycats2290]

Fascinating! All of a sudden, the lyrics from that song I sort of remember in grade school make sense. “Hauled some barges in our day. Filled with lumber coal and hay. Fifteen … on the Erie Canal.”

[@americannarrowboater9634]

We used to sing that song in elementary school and that was some time ago. The song was actually written by a professional song writer around 1905. I'd love to find some of the original Erie Canal Songs. But the one you are quoting sure does a great job explaining the cargo on the canal.

[@piratesalleycats2290]

I guess there is generally a rich tradition of singing to make hard work more bearable wherever you are. Except maybe under water and in space. But who really knows.

[@glynnisross7974]

That was amazing. Thank you. Glynnis

[@americannarrowboater9634]

Thanks for the kind comment. My brothers and I will be cruising the Cayuga and Seneca Canals starting this Saturday. Hope you watch and enjoy our next vlog.

[@MrLouis79]

I have a narrow boat bashed in the river lea, near Enfield, really like the vlog. Keep up the good work.

[@jackbeyer4356]

I'm so sorry to hear about your boat being bashed. Does it still float? I hope you get cruising again soon. We Americans can not travel to the UK for a narrowboat experience again this summer. We'd have to quarantine for two weeks once we got there.

[@chrisrand5185]

Fascinating history and nicely presented. You can see the UK narrowboat influence on the hire boats. Not only did the Erie Canal open up the interior to the ports, it also facilitated the spread of cholera from New York along its route from 1832.

[@americannarrowboater9634]

I'll be sure to watch out for the cholera and covid on my cruise starting August 7. But you are absolutely correct with your statements about the UK influence on the Lockmaster style of canal boats. They were built specifically to copy them. This fall I hope to start a series on the canals that opened up other major US cities such as Cleveland, Pittsburgh, and Chicago.

[@josephtrainor279]

I'm a big UK Narrowboat fan and follow a number of narrowboaters on KZbin. The great thing about narrowboating there is that they are restoring canals that were once filled in and extending others. They can travel all over England and into Wales and a lot pf people live on them year round and cruise all year as well.

[@americannarrowboater9634]

So true. There is a strong feeling for the use of canals as a leisure time activity. It seems each canal as a corresponding social committee behind the upkeep, repair or restoration of their canal. I can't wait to get back there in 2022.

[@darwinhall8550]

Interesting video, thank you for sharing.

[@americannarrowboater9634]

I just got off of the Eire Canal about 4 hours ago. It was quite the experience. Not at all what I expected and totally different from the UK canal system. More in future vlogs. Thanks for watching.

[@hughcarson6837]

Very interesting vlog

[@jackbeyer4356]

Thanks Hugh. Stay tuned for my vlog from my Erie Canal voyage starting on August 6. I hope to capture and share the 7 day trip for others that share my interest in canal boating both here in the US, as well as in the UK and Europe.

[@sharonrimsza7960]

Thank you for this information. Great history lesson and even at $3,000 it is less expensive than renting a narrowboat in the UK. It would, however, be great to do both in my lifetime.

[@americannarrowboater9634]

Yes it is cheaper than a narrowboat hire in the UK. But I still like the UK canal system better. It's more extensive and different. I love the pub crawling and beautiful quaint towns. I'm doing the Erie because our plans for the UK have had to be postponed for 2 years due to the pandemic. There don't seem to be a lot of hire or house boats available in the US. Most are cabin cruisers and not like the narrowboat that is really an RV on water.

[@Priest92]

Fantastic new subscriber here

[@americannarrowboater9634]

I'm so happy you enjoyed it. Coming up on August 6 I'll be in Syracuse, NY with my next vlog while visiting the Syracuse Canal Museum. Then I'll begin a week long cruise of the Erie Canal. Hope you come along.

[@EASYTIGER10]

Fascinating story, thank you! Was there a reason they didn't connect the canal to the east end of Lake Ontario to keep it shorter, then connect Ontario and Erie with what is now the Welland Canal?

[@jackbeyer4356]

Going via Lake Ontario would have been much harder than going overland from Buffalo to Albany. Lake Ontario is at a lower elevation than Lake Erie; 577 ft above Sea level for Erie, 243 feet above Sea level for Ontario. There would have to be locks straight up and down that difference in elevation. To give you a sense, that's where nature put Niagara Falls. The Canadians solved the problem with the Welland Canal as you mention. There were two other attempts to connect Lake Ontario to the Erie Canal; the still in operation Oswego Canal and the Black River.

[@kenirwin276]

The canal boat of that time hardly resembled a narrowboat. Lock clearance was about 14.5 feet, so you could get two English narrowboats through side by side.

[@jackbeyer609]

Ken, you are absolutely correct. Now they are even bigger; 45’ by 328. An English wide beam would fit in the 14.5 lock. Narrowboats were never as large as American canal boats. I guess it was too much more of an expense to build wider canals and locks. Also the first canals in the UK set the standard for later additions to their system. When they did widen a canal they doubled the width. Why are American canals so much bigger? Don’t know. It must be one of those 110 versus 220 volt things. I’m currently sitting in the airport waiting for my flight to Syracuse and a week on the Erie Canal

[@hellyavard8552]

Great vlog I had no idea there were canal boats in USA

[@americannarrowboater9634]

They are only on the Erie and sometimes on the Cross Florida canal near Okeechobee.

[@tedharrison4109]

Have you considered going on the canal and Lake Champlain in NY ?

[@tedharrison4109]

To clarify, the canal from the Hudson River to Lake Champlain.

[@americannarrowboater9634]

@@tedharrison4109 Ted, I'd love to cruise that canal. If I had a narrowboat I'd cruise it all the way up into Canada to the St. Lawrence. Unfortunately, it doesn't appear that anyone rents boats for a cruise up to Lake Champlain. If I could find a boat, I'd definitely do it.

[@riverrat4631]

Does Mid-Lakes build these boats? I would like to have one to cruise the Ohio River down the Tennessee river all the way to Mobile bay. I was thinking of building a 30ft pontoon style house boat. But these seem a lot better and stronger built. I would love to have one 30-34ft that I can single hand. I would like to know if they build and sell these boats. Or would just build me hull. I can finish the inside myself. Great video. I will call Mid-Lakes and ask about these boats.

[@americannarrowboater9634]

Like you I had the same idea of building a boat similar to those rented by Mid-Lakes. It ain't gonna happen. First, all of the boats in the "Lockmaster" class were built by a single family at their own boat yard / iron works. The Wiles family had traveled to the UK and had a wonderful experience on a narrowboat. Upon their return they decided to bring that experience home to the US and specifically to the Finger Lakes and Erie Canal region. From what I've been able to gather they built 26 boats of various lengths from around 30 feet up to 44 feet. All have the same layout. A few are 9 feet wide, but most are 12. The last boat built was in 1992 or 1995. I've heard different dates. Two boats were sold to private individuals one of which is the Sunflower that I just recently rented. A few years ago the Wiles family sold out their hire boat business located the marina at Skanteales, NY. Mid-Lake bought the entire fleet and moved most of them to Macedon, NY. Their hire base is beautiful and the boats have all been refurbished and modernized. There are no plans to build more nor to sell any. But of course that may change. You'd have to contact them on that. But here are my thoughts about cruising on one on the Ohio, Tennessee Rivers. Don't. Sure they are rugged as hell, but they have a low freeboard and could not hold up in any kind of swell or wake. Second, they are a flat bottom boat with no V shape keel. The wind on a big river will push you all over the place. You'd have more control on a pontoon boat. I'll be putting out a vlog soon on my experiences with the Sunflower on the Erie. One final note, have you ever cruised on a UK narrowboat?

[@riverrat4631]

@@americannarrowboater9634 never been to the UK. But I grew up on the Ohio. I can see three states from my back yard. Indiana,Ohio and Kentucky. I actually build mud boats here in Southeastern Indiana. I have some on my channel. I build flat bottom boats and use one a lot on the river. My plan is to buy or build a displacement type hull for long distance travel. A pontoon is great for a lot of situations, but they can be dangerous in a bad wind. Wind can get under and turn them over. I seen it and been on the rescue. But with the right size diesel and bow thrusters and a displacement hull I think these canal boats would be perfect for the Ohio and Tennessee. I would like to know what they draft. I had a barge style aluminum shanty boat. (30x8). I sold it like a fool. The guy travels the Ohio a lot. I will probably buy or build another barge style hull. Then build a shanty boat out of it. I have traveled a lot on the Ohio, but I want to do it on a boat I built. I have a friend that went from Chicago to Mobile on a home built shanty boat. I just retired early at 53. I have a vacation home on the Manatee River in Bradenton Florida. But my dream is to follow the river system from Pittsburgh to Mobile. That way I can say I did the length of both rivers. The canal boats may not be the answer. But I would like to see one to be sure. Thanks for your reply..

[@suzettewilliams1758]

I'm shocked to find Narrow boats in USA. Very interesting.

[@jackbeyer4356]

They are really modified wide beam narrowboats. 90% of them are owned by a single hire fleet. They are well fitted out and have air conditioning. I MUCH PREFER the narrowboats of the UK.

[@dennyatnotts]

I noticed that there is no solid fuel stove. I live aboard a 57' and love having a fire in the late autumn to late spring. I'd love to have something about this length and 10' wide but it would limit cruising options. Anyhow, doesn't that make me the real American Narrowboater since I was born and grew up in Michigan? Don't worry, I can't be bothered to make videos so carry on mate.

[@americannarrowboater9634]

Most boats on the New York canals are for leisure use in the warmer months. The hire boats that I mention are all electric or gas heat. They have land lines are are usually moored or pulled out of the water and vwinterized. Being from Michigan you know how cold it gets. East of Buffalo it gets just as cold with even more snow than Michigan gets. Often times the canals freeze over and are closed. I'd love to have a boat like yours here in the States. I find narrowboats are much more comfortable to live on then the typical cabin cruiser.

[@NarrowboatNatterings]

Very interesting Jack! Thank you. Hard to believe.uk canals were being built when George Washington was alive!!!

[@americannarrowboater9634]

Thanks Lumpy. I hope to publish a bunch more Erie Canal vlogs once we actually take the trip.

[@NarrowboatNatterings]

@@americannarrowboater9634 I shall look forward to those!

[@TWR]

Hiiiii

[@jackbeyer4356]

Hi back. I am still here and enjoying your vlogs.