Glossary of canal terms

Glossary of terms

Anodes:
Barge: Any boat over seven feet wide. There are over two hundred different types of barge, these range from dumb lighters, Tom Puddings etc. to Liverpool short boats. The term barge is also used by boat fitters and repairers usually in the form "A .....! nasty little barge" to describe a narrowboat which they consider to be of poor quality.
Battle cruiser: A narrowboat which is part of a hire fleet.
BSS: Boat Safety Scheme. A scheme designed to ensure that all boats comply with minimum safety standards. This scheme requires boats to be inspected every four years. A boat cannot be granted a licence unless it has a Boat Safety certificate or for a new boat it has been certified as complying to the CE standards.
Bubble tester:A small device which is fitted into the gas feed line, usually within the gas locker. This allows the owner or user to test for gas leaks in the system. A device which is recommended within the Boat Safety Scheme. A very useful aid to safety.
Bulkhead:
Butane: A liquified petroleum gas normally stored under pressure in a gas bottle. The colour of the bottle is usually blue. This form of LPG is useful for barbecues and other summer activities. Not normally used on narrowboats as the liquid ceases to gas at temperatures close to freezing and thus fails to operate any units connected to the system.
Cants:
CE: All boats built after June 1998 must be certified by the builder as complying to the CE standards. Boats built to these standards do not require a Boat Safety certificate for the first four years. The only new boats which need not be CE marked are those built on a DIY basis, these boats DIY boats will require a Boat Safety Certificate and may not be sold for five years from the date of completion without being bought up to CE standards.
Chine:
Coach line:
Counter:
Cratch: The board vertically mounted just aft of the fore deck. This board is often secured at the top end by a plank which runs aft to the cabin roof. This cratch and plank act as the frames for a cratch cover which covers the forward well deck. The cratch board is usually fixed to the cratch upstand. Press button for drawing.
Cratch cover: A cover fixed over the frame made up of the cratch board and plank. the cover can usually be rolled up to improve access to the well deck when travelling.
Cruiser: A boat normally of glass fibre construction with an enclosed cabin and steered by a wheel rather than a tiller. Some rather rude people call this class "Tupperware boats".
Cut:
Deck:
Deck Head:
Diesel Heaters:
Forced draft:
Drip Feed:
Drive Plate:
Ellum: The term used by working boatmen to describe the steering equipment. This is made up of the swan neck, extension, rams head etc. Please note the H is not missing it is not a part of the word.
Fenders:
Fly wheel:
Fore deck:
Fore hatch:
Long boat: A wooden boat with a single mast and sail. Decorated with round shields along the side, not to be confused with port holes. Propelled by wind or people power, environmentally friendly but terribly slow in narrow locks. Rarely found on canals as the owners have found that pillage and rapine are not welcomed by British Waterways.
Guards:For a definition of this term please see Rubbing strake below.
Gearbox:
Gunnel:
Josher:
Kelson:
Key way:
Knees:
Narrowboat: Name given to a boat of steel, wood or composite with a maximum beam of 7 feet and a maximum length of 72 feet.
Narrowboat cruiser style: A narrow boat with a cabin that terminates before the engine bay. This gives a large flat back deck for the use of the crew.
Narrowboat traditional style: The cabin extends very close to the stern. The cabin covers the engine bay in a rear engined boat and the boatmans cabin in a mid engined boat.
Navigator:
Navvy:
Non Slip:
Propane:A form of liquified petrolem gas stored under pressure in a gas bottle. The bottles are usually coloured orange. This is the form of LPG generally used on narrowboats. See Butane for another form of LPG.
Rabbits ears:
Rams head: The swan neck is terminated at the lower end by a boss. This boss is a female taper on well made hulls which fits over a male taper on the top of the rudder stock. Press Button for drawing.
Rubbing strake: These are additional strips of steel welded along the sides of narrowboat hulls to offer protection to the steel plates. These strakes are often called gaurds for obvious reasons. The gaurds are usually of a D section and of about two inches depth and 10 to 15 millimetres thick. On very cheap hulls these gaurds are often only fixed to the steel work using tacks along the top edge. Better quality boats have the top edge continuously welded and on the best boats they are continuously welded both along the top and bottom edge.
Roses & Castles:
Rudder stock: The vertical or slightly canted bar of metal that runs from the Rams head, through the top bearing, down the rudder stock tube, through or welded to the rudder blade and into the cup on the skeg. Press button for drawing.
Rudder blade: The rudder blade is a the flat steel plate which directs the water driven by the propeller in such a direction as to turn the boat. The blade is attached to the rudder stock. The blade normally has an extension upwards at the back end this is normally pierced by a hole. This hole allows a rope to be put through the blade so that it can be lifted from the cup and lowered in deep water so that repairs can be made without docking the boat. Press button for drawing.
Balance plate: An extension of the rudder blade mounted forward of the rudder stock. This plate normally of about one fifth the area of the blade balances the rudder blade enabling the rudder to be moved across the water flow with less effort. Press button for drawing.
Scumble:At first sight a rather strange boating tradition. Wood is painted with a coloured base paint and then an oil which is combed to look like wood grain. Base colours to simulate many timbers can be used but the commonest type used on the canals simulates Oak. It may seem a little strange to paint wood to look like wood but it is part of a tradition from the working boats when relatively cheap timber was used to build the cabins and scumbling this cheaper timber provided an improved appearance and the ability to clean the surfaces easily.
Skeg: A steel bar, folded section or U beam which extends from beneath the bottom plate to support the bottom end of the rudder stock. The rudder stock normally fits into a cup welded on the top of the skeg. Press Button for drawing.
Slide:
Splined shaft:
Stem post:
Steerer:
Stern post:
Stern Tube:
Straps:
Stringers:
Stuffing box:
Swan neck: The shaped piece of the tiller often shaped liked a soft Z. This has normally got a turned section of reduced diameter at the end on which a brass tiller extension bar is fitted. Press button for drawing.
Swim:
Taff rails:
Tiller:
Thrust bearing:
Track:
Tonneau cover: A cover over the forward well deck which stretches from the cabin roof to the cratch upstaged.
Van Dyking:
..: .......
..: .......