| T O P I C R E V I E W |
| Mad Harold |
Posted - 26 Jan 2021 : 05:07:19
Finding my Norman 20 a bit cramped,and have been looking for a Norman 24 or late model 23. 24s are a bit scarce,but there is one on the Duck at the moment.
Sadly it ticks the wrong boxes for me.Inboard petrol engine with Enfield outdrive.I thought the point of the outdrive was so you could fit a diesel engine.I hve never heard anything good about outdrives on canals (expensive to repair,and none too reliable)
So I have dismissed this one,as removing the engine and plugging the hole and fitting an outboard would prove too expensive.
I will keep looking. |
| 10 L A T E S T R E P L I E S (Newest First) |
| Mad Harold |
Posted - 25 Mar 2021 : 05:23:38
I am guessing now with continental holidays being off the menu this year,that used boat prices are going to increase.
Have seen an ad already for a boat saying "ideal for staycation" |
| Mad Harold |
Posted - 25 Mar 2021 : 04:23:22
Yes,the Norman 24 became the Atlanta 24.The Atlanta being a later build plus the fact that Atlanta for whatever reason appear to be more upmarket than Norman.As a result prices are much higher.
Have looked at two Norman 24's one was a dog with a Ford diesel engine and when started made enough noise to wake the dead!and the vibration!!
The other was grossly overpriced and the broker tried to tell me it was really a Atlanta 24,despite the Norman badge on the side.The boat looked unloved and neglected with dead batteries,a missing gas bottle and when we eventually got the engine started it misfired badly.All these faults can be rectified of course,but the owner wouldn't budge on his price,so the search goes on. |
| philihun |
Posted - 24 Mar 2021 : 14:31:48
Looked at your post ref the Norman 23 /4. When Norman went bust first time
didn't Atlanta and /or Shetland buy the moulds and make their own 24.
pr hunt |
| Mad Harold |
Posted - 24 Mar 2021 : 10:21:15
Still looking for a Norman 23 or 24.
Very few have come up for sale let alone one which I am prepared to part with a wad of cash for.
Looking through the old Norman register,I tried counting them all and gave up at 300.
Either there are a lot of very happy owners,or most of them have sunk.(unlikely) |
| Mad Harold |
Posted - 02 Feb 2021 : 09:05:57
While looking at ads for Normans,there was an interesting ad for a Norman 20 on Boats and Outboards advertised as a liveaboard.
Says two people have lived on it for 3 years and it has a 100w solar panel and a log burner although it looks to me like a steel box with a chimney.I couldn't envisage living on my Norman 20 unless (heaven forbid)it came to a choice of a shop doorway or a Norman 20.
It is in Bedfordshire where I would guess rents and property prices are high,so I dont know weather to feel sorry for them or admire them.
I suppose they are 'roughing it' for a bit to save for a house deposit,so I think I admire their stoicism. |
| df |
Posted - 27 Jan 2021 : 10:57:33
Lots of people hate them, to be fair a fixed shaft is much simpler and there is very little in the water but you can't tilt a fixed shaft to clear it.
Outdrives often give better speed for planning boats I believe.
NBAS--The communal colostomy bag of the boating community.
 Visit leomagill.co.uk |
| Mad Harold |
Posted - 27 Jan 2021 : 09:33:36
Thanks for your thoughts on outdrives,Clive.
I looked at a couple of boats with outdrives a few years ago,but didn't buy one for other reasons than the outdrive.
Having at that time asked several boaters and an engineer,about outdrives,I have to admit that you are the first experienced boater to say anything positive about them.
But,what you have posted has been taken onboard. |
| cliveshep |
Posted - 27 Jan 2021 : 07:09:13
My next door neighbour bought a Norman 24 with an inboard and a "sail-drive". Now that was a piece of ordure, but a normal inboard on a 23 or 24 coupled to an Enfield should be perfect for you - don't be put off by nay-sayers! And as in my 20, the engine box doesn't take up much more space than a motor well does and has the advantage you can put a cushion on the top and people can still sit on it.
My 20 still had the 2 cockpit berths retained, fuel tank was under the now fixed panel at the helm, a helm seat over folded down at night, gas locker in one corner tight to the transom complied with BSS, battery under the opposite berth likewise. Fuel tank purpose mad in stainless steel (I did the engine installation myself, converting the boat from outboard to inboard and glassing in the transom, removing the motor well unit.)
So I strongly advise considering the full inboard/outdrive option as a No. 1 and not a "no-no"!
Finally living the dream!
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| cliveshep |
Posted - 27 Jan 2021 : 06:59:52
I agree, I've had several diesel boats on shafts - bad news on canal type navigations as anti-social elements use them as dumping grounds for traffic cones, supermarket trolleys, fertiliser sacks of hardcore, old mattresses, sofas, in fact anything they either don't want or see close to hand to lob into the water.
But I had a Norman 20 with a 1.6l Ford crossflow lump coupled to a 130 Enfield and frankly it was the bees knees. Moreover with fixed trim tabs it was a pretty fast planing boat used as a "taxi" to and from Chichester and Langstone Harbours across to the Isle of Wight Bembridge Harbour where my parents lived. The only problem I ever had was at sea clearing my own towed fishing gear off the prop and while leaning over the taffrail the boat had dropped the plastic prop cone that retains the locking pin through the prop into the sea and not having a spare aboard - my own fault.
I'll allow that on a Norman 20 an Enfield and inboard engine do increase the draft to around 3 feet but in all our travels that was only ever a problem on the Thames at Romney Lock when an inexperienced lockie squeezed us in at the head going downstream one Bank Holiday and we go left with the drive on the sill and the bow nose down into the water before other skippers caused him to react and refill the lock to get us safely off. Perhaps he was a Labour supporter?
So for economy, power, manoeuvrability, incredible bollard pull even going astern I recommend the Enfield/petrol engine configuration from personal experience. And if you go to sea it's simply brilliant (take an outboard get-you-home engine though!)
Just periodically service the drive, inspect seals and bellows, but otherwise they last for years. New bellows and seals now and it's unlikely to want more for a few years. In all that time you'll be on here whingeing about your outboard won't pump water, or won't start etc but you can service your inboard lump easily.
Finally living the dream!
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| df |
Posted - 26 Jan 2021 : 13:15:33
Outdrives don't really pick up any more junk than an outboard does and as long as they are looked after they are fine, I think I would stick to outboard on canals just because they give you more space onboard a small cruiser.
I wouldn't want an exposed fixed shaft on a canal though, at least on a NB that are normally protected and they have a weed hatch to clear junk, I dread to think how much damage mine would take on a canal unless a deep commercial one.
NBAS--The communal colostomy bag of the boating community.
Visit leomagill.co.uk |
