Solace day 7.

Our last full day on board.  We aim to be back in the marina for late afternoon to give us time to fill the water tanks, top up the fuel and have the toilet tanks pumped out ready for an early start home in the morning.  As it was a lovely sunny evening we sat out on the well deck enjoying a glass of wine.

Now to the photo.  I have included this shot as the boat is quite unlike any boat I have ever seen.  At first glance it is a heavily loaded work boat running "under cloths".  However when you look closer it just isn't right.  It isn't long enough (in my opinion) to be much use.  The boatman's cabin at the back would be 10 feet long which means the part under cloths isn't terribly long.

However it does give you a good idea of what a loaded working boat of the 1940s or earlier would have looked like.  the amount of hull showing above the water is more or less correct.  Some shots I have seen of loaded boats have even less.  I have included a part of Solace's hull to give an idea of how much hull is above the water on a modern narrow boat.  A working boat would have as much if not more.

Working boats on the canal had more or less died out by the 1960s however a few manage to hang on to this day as fuel boats, selling coal to houses by the canals and to boaters for their solid fuel stoves.  They also carry diesel and gas cylinders.