My last (for now) pass at covering available and interesting Dutch Barge designs.
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Now I've found it :-)



The Bon Viveur 825 is a 27' x 6'9" trailerable craft that is being built of fiber-reinforced epoxy composites. Bon Viveur boats has built a 15 meter version (steel) for some time, and apparently in the past tried a small version like the 825 (called the Gem 23) that didn't work out, mostly due to cost of materials used at the time. read more »

This isn't one particular design, one particular designer, or one particular boat... its an entire class. Originally Dutch Barges were true cargo craft, sailed up and down the coasts in Europe transporting goods. There was a small cabin at the back (usually) for the captain/crew and the rest was for cargo. There are many of these craft still afloat (some approaching 100 years old), many of which have been converted to live-aboard use. The hold space makes for a large, comfortable craft.

Several designers have taken the basic shape and look, modernized the lines of the hull slightly (in some cases) and produce new built craft that are designed as personal passenger craft.

I find the design very attractive visually, the near vertical sides and flat bottom yield a lot of interior volume, they are a proven design for canal use, and have certainly ventured further when built to appropriate scantlings. I've written a little more about them here in the past. The hull design seems to lend itself to low power, displacement cruising.

I'm going to list several designers/build logs/etc. here, with a few comments where appropriate.

• EuroShip Services - this outfit has a huge collection of plans, from reasonably small to huge (including ones with on-board garages for your car, etc). Check out the web page... lots of pictures and information.
• Branson Boats - another designer with some modern designs around the classic look
• Bowcrest Marine - a barge broker with many listings of barges for sale, including pictures
• Goldwater Boats
• Tucker Designs
• Walker - not strictly a Dutch Barge, and definitely on the high end, but such nice lines...
• How to Build a Barge - a collection of articles and pictures chronicaling the construction of various craft. As new boats are built, this page is added to. Part of the Canal World Discussion Forums.
• Replica Dutch Barges - build logs, etc.
• Luxemotor Kei - a great site... its a build and cruise log with lots of information and discussion concerning design choices that were made. Based on a Euroship design. Also lots of links to suppliers and associated companies.
• Jenal - A Time Machine - a Dutch Barge build done with "only the best"... some great ideas and resources here.
• DBA - The Barge Association - a group dedicated to the ex-commercial barges and other broad-beam inland waterway craft
  • New Barge - a fairly detailed narrative of a barge being constructed
• Bill and Nancy's life on a barge in France - wrote about this one the other day, but I'll include it here for completeness
• Barging Europe - a great site with lots of details about owning a Dutch Barge in France and cruising the waterways

Some narrowboat sites... the narrowboat world are pretty unique to Great Britain's narrow canal system, and although a bit too limited for my taste, many of the design ideas are applicable to a lot of other craft, especially the wider beamed Dutch Barges

• Narrowboat Isabella - a good build log of a new built craft
• Living the Dream - another cruise log of a couple doing just that...
• Moët Chandon - broad beam canal boat cruising by a couple new to the life
  

And some general canal living and cruising guide sites:

• George's Canal Boating in the U.K. and Europe - not strictly Dutch Barge related, but canal cruising in general.
• Escape from America by Barge - another "lifestyle" site

Over my (now years) of research, I've gone through several phases of the type of boat I liked (wanted, drooled over, whatever). I've slowly become a bit (lot) more untraditional, if tradition is referring to the standard U.S. centric idea of cruising boats. I have never been greatly drawn toward the larger, go-fast boats... they are quite nice, just not "my thing".

My wife and I are both big fans of England and Europe, have traveled there several times, love the cultures and some of the "differences", and look forward to being able to go back. I would love to cruise the canals, both UK and mainland. A close friend has rented a narrowboat in England for a week and had a blast... we may get to do that someday.

Anyway, all of this has led me to researching the "dutch" or European designs more. Some of my current leanings come directly or indirectly from those areas.

I'm going to list a few links and some comments about them here, as a starting point. I'll probably expand on this post and add some links from it to more detailed pages over time.

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Euroship Services has some very interesting designs, from the small to the very large. They are fairly widely built, both professionally and by amatures. They have a large selection of "modernized" Dutch Barges. I have been particularly attracted to the Dutch Barge look/design. I feel that it could make an excellant coastal cruiser (maybe more than that if weather was watched closely). Not everyone agrees, but some do (check this thread).

Narrowboats (sized to fit the quite narrow U.K. canal system) are less interesting to me, but many of the ideas translate well from them to larger (wider) vessels. An interesting forum site is the Canal World Discussion Forums.

For kits, in addition to Euroship Services, Branson Boat Design Limited offers a smaller, but very interesting range of craft. I have exchanged email with them, and they are willing to work with me and a local steel supplier/CNC cutting house to have a "kit" produced locally to me, which seems more practical than shipping it across "the pond" (the Atlantic).

Lastly, for this article I'll bring MacNaughton Design Group to light. Most of Mr. MacNaughton's designs don't fit in this arena, but he has one design, the Eventide, listed on his design page (scroll down). In correspondence with him, he has indicated it would cost a small amount (I don't know that its a public figure... contact him through his web page for details) to finish this design. A very fair price for custom design work, I think.