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Design Shell Sailaway Sailaway Guidance Costs
Complete
Boat
Delivery
CAD
or traditional Build?
Barge
Builders
There are a number
of companies that will design a barge for you, enabling you to either
fabricate it yourself, or get your favourite fabricator to build it for
you. A number of designers also have ‘off the shelf’ standard design
which you can buy. These are normally computer originated CAD designs,
often referred to as dxf files from which the steel can be
directly cut using modern high precision laser cutters. The ‘jigsaw’
pieces can then be sent directly to you or your chosen fabricator. See
also CAD or tradition design section.
Some
designers worth contacting include:- Sid Jacomb. Sid-Hoo Ltd. Montpillard, 58330 Crux la Ville, France. Tel from uk 0871 781 1467 email Sid
Hal Stuff. Hal Stuff Design Ltd. 16 Durcott Road, Evesham WR11 1EQ, England or 722 Fickes Road, Imler, PA 16655, USA email Hal Web: www.bruceroberts.com , then Cruising in Europe page.
Tony Tucker. Tucker Designs , 15 Wrensfied, Boxmoor, Hemel Hempstead, Hertfordshire.HP1 1RN England. web http://www.tucker-designs.com/barges.html Tel: +44 (0) 1442 253 775 email Tony Andrew Wolstenholme. Wolstenholme Yacht Design Ltd. The Flint Barn, Westbourne Road, Coltishall, Norfolk. NR12 7HT England. Tel: +44 1603 737 024 web www.wolstenholmedesign.com email Andrew If you have a CAD design and wish to do the fabrication yourself and are looking for a package of pre-cut steel (or aluminium) marked for assembly which is plasma cut, shot blasted and epoxy primed ready for welding, then contact:- SteelKit
Ltd. Aberleri Boatyard, Ynyslas,
Borth, Ceredigion, Wales, SY23 5JU. Tel 01970 871713 web;
www.steelkit.com
email
steelkit
(Steelkit
supplied the steel to Piper Boats for our own barge, Elessina) .
Most barge fabricators will supply a shell only, but this is not so popular amongst buyers. VAT will be charged and the shell will rust very quickly without some form of protection against the elements. A buyer will need to have a suitable location to complete the boat, preferably covered as it will be somewhat open to the elements. Included in the shell will normally be water and diesel storage tanks. The diesel and toilet water tanks are normally located under the floor. Fresh water tanks are often located at the bow, allowing easy inspection access. It is during shell construction that tank sizes have to be fixed. Around 200 gallons (1,000 litres) is a good guide for each tank, but the bigger the better.
Many
companies build to a 'Sailaway' specification. A 'sailaway' is a partly
completed boat, ready to be craned into the water and steered under its
own power to suitable moorings ready for completion.
A
delivered 'sailaway' will be fully functional in that you will be able
to navigate up and down rivers and canals so you can be 'underway'
immediately, but the inside
will be totally empty. If you think of it like a tent, and you can use
it immediately. A 'sailaway' generally comprises of:-
Extras
worth considering (making a sailaway-plus) are:-
Guidance
Costs for a Shell / Sailaway
The
following cost should be used for guidance purposes only, they were
obtained through 2002 from various barge fabricators, some were verbally
given, some written, some were not clear whether they were inclusive or
exclusive of VAT:-
Total
quoted prices (including all the work above) varied between:-
Since 2002 new build barge cost have increased substantially , probably around 40%, due to VAT and increased steel cost. A top quality sailaway will now be around £120,00 (up from £85,000).
All
quotes were based on RCD cat C construction (Cat D would be a little
less, cat B probably around £15,000 more)
I have estimated the diy fit-out cost to be £30,000. So the total cost will be £130,000 (with a £100,000 sailaway). For a breakdown of this estimated £30,000 diy fit-out cost see; DIY Fit-out cost. Complete barge costs are, arguably, harder to give. Like narrowboats, the price range varies considerably depending on quality of fit-out and equipment specified (you can purchase a 60ft fully fitted narrowboat from one of the largest UK builders for around £45,000, but you could easily pay over £100,000 for a live aboard standard 60ft narrowboat).
The
lowest priced will be wide beam barges that have the same lines as a
narrowboat, they will have open tiller steering with no wheelhouse and
likely large front opening doors, build to RCD Cat 'D'. These will start
from around £55,000 fully complete. At the top end of the market you
could pay £300,000.
A
Fully completed 60ft barge will cost between £100,000 and £250,000
depending on shell type, engine and equipment specified. But you should
be able to get a decent 60ft Replica Dutch Barge for around £200,000
with a reasonable level of equipment etc.
Delivery
by truck to anywhere in the UK can be arranged for a 60ft x 12'-6"
wide barge (and even longer and a little wider). Delivery should be able
to be arranged for around £600 (for 300 miles) and crane in should also
be around £600, although the heavier barges (Delta etc) will likely
cost a little more, especially for crane in if ballast is installed.
Many
replica Dutch barges (including Piper, S'Holland and New Holland) are
based on a Nick Branson CAD design. The author believes the CAD design
concept (with precision laser cutting of steel, direct from the drawing)
is the way forward (as welding was to riveted hulls some 70 years ago),
and that a CAD design that optimises minimum ballast (around 1 ton, as
opposed to up to around 10 ton for the same length of boat) is
technically superior. But there are many differing views on this
subject, between people who are vastly more experienced and qualified.
Many
of the CAD type designs have a 12mm thick steel base plate as standard
(with 1 ton ballast), compared to 8mm base plate (and 10 ton ballast)
from some traditional builders. Many of the original (100 year old) barges were built
with only 6mm base plate, but then they were of riveted construction
(not welded) and there are very few people (if any) that would still
recommend riveted construction over welded. Also most barges with 6mm
base plates have, by now, had a re-skin (often because base plates have
been worn down to 1mm thick in places).
Through
CAD it is possible to get someone to design a barge for you then find a
builder to fabricate it. If you have specific styling line requirements,
this may be a good option to follow. A list of all known barge builders is included on a separate page New Build Fabricators . Most builders also build narrowboats, some will build around 1 barge per year, others up to around 6. The biggest are still relatively small companies, often employing around 20 or people, plus specialist contactors. Some of the more established popular ones include:- Delta, Piper, Sagar, JL Pinder, RW Davies and Peter Nichols.. <<< Previous Page Next Page >>> RCD Categorisation
Last
updated
02 February 2012
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