More Boat Details
This time, our boat was called “Booted Eagle” (ABC Eagle Class), 66 feet long and 6′ 8″ wide. Dad noticed the little framed photo of a Booted Eagle in the boat.
The major difference from our previous boat was that this one had a rear galley and kitchen. Last time we found that the forward kitchen/galley split the boat into two groups of people. We much preferred the rear gallery, especially with fewer people.
We also had a microwave and a toaster, both of which were much appreciated. A more powerful inverter and lots of 220 V outlets throughout the boat made the boat even more livable when the engine was off.
We sort of expected more room in the common areas, but there wasn’t much more than our previous boat, in spite of having one less bedroom. I think the bathrooms were much larger, and the boat 2 feet shorter. Maybe the rear deck was a bit bigger too. Unlike our previous boat, we didn’t have drawers under our beds, which we missed a lot. The extra bunk in the forward cabin was not used because it made the bottom bunk too tight, with maybe only 15″ of head clearance. Claustrophobia city for any normal human being to use.
As before, the boat is MUCH longer than the canal is wide, so you can only turn around in special sections called “winding holes”, which appear every couple miles. These are clearly marked on all maps as it is crucial information. And this fact played an extra-special part in our trip this time.
