Lorraine,

Keel boats are pretty much an American hull type. They were largely a river boat and not a canal craft but I imagine there was some cross over. Similar in some ways to a Durham boat but without any rocker to the keel. The keel boats were pushed along the rivers of the American west by several men with long poles and they were used to transport people and supplies. The Lewis and Clark Expedition traveled much by keel boat. Good representations of them can be seen in the movies "The Big Sky" and "Davy Crockett and The River Pirates"

Narrows are slab sided kinda pointy on both ends and usually flat bottomed with a hint of a keel. The are as the name implies very narrow because they must travel the very narrow canals of Great Britain. I imagine they are powered now but in years passed they were pushed by a small, powered pram and befor that they were pulled by a horse from the towpath on the canal. Many families lived aboard narrow boats at one time. I'm not sure if they are used for anything but recreation now.

More than you needed Huh?

Don