Narrow Boat Hire

Are you looking for Narrow Boat Hire?  Narrow boating is the usual holiday medley for people who like a relaxing holiday in the UK.  The canals are also popular with other types of craft including tiny motor boats and canoes but you mainly see people who go down the narrow boat hire method. The main canal system is very far-reaching, stretching from the south of England to Ripon in north Yorkshire and westwards through the industrial heartlands of the black country and the potteries into Wales.  All throughout this waterworks system you will be able to find many narrow boat hire shops and owners.   There is also a separate network of canals in Scotland. In general, the closer you stay to home the fewer damaging any holiday is likely to be and with so much of the population within a short distance of the inland waterways, a British boating holiday certainly fits the bill on that score.

No preceding boating experience or qualifications are needed to go down the narrow boat hire option, though the hire firms give basic instruction on handling the boat and working the locks you will encounter on your trip - and some centres offer formal training holidays. If canal boats are not for you, then companies such as Moores have contemporary motor cruisers for hire on the Norfolk broads and if rather than freshwater, it is the sea which beckons, a number of coastal harbours offer sailing holidays. Many of them also run training courses towards some of the sport's recognised qualifications. Alternatively, for some of the ultimate in eco-welcoming British boating breaks, you can join the wildlife trusts partnership basking shark expedition, aboard their 40ft yacht, or the whale and dolphin safeguarding society along the welsh and Scottish coasts.  Just make sure if you do go down the narrow boat hire method that you are fully accustomed to the controls and the laws of the waterways.

Narrow boat is easy to sail, and moor, so most pick it up very pithily. Remember, you are only travelling at 4 mph. The boat carries enough fuel for a team week cruise. If the trip is longer, contents is easy, and there are plenty of bases to re fuel. Also, with water, there are plenty of water points along the canal. Stuffing is easy, and hoses are provided on the boat. Toilets on the boat are easy to operate, clean and hygienic. They can be easily pumped out if needed at any of the many bases around the canal system. Narrow boats have three different stern types.

Narrow boats are a very common sight during the summer months, as they negotiate the partner or three locks through Penkridge.  There is even a very, very large boat being built in Penkridge which is predestined for travelling on continental canals one day as it is far too large for the English canal system

Narrow boats are cheaper with lower maintenance costs and running costs. The down side being time taken to transport and movement to and from the canal. The talk of restrictions of a tunnel mean nothing the Shropshire union between the welsh stricture and trevor has partner tunnels and two in partnership aqueducts in a 8 mile stretch, yet functions easily as it did when it was built. Boats go through in convoy and it would be easy to install a traffic light system. Some European canals operate and even hour one way odd hour t'other way system, with 1/2 a minute between boats at 4mph some 75 boats per hour (ish) can pass a tunnel.

The same canal is used for water transportation via the lift at Ponycysyllte where the water from the dam is raised around 40 metres from river to canal for transportation to the midlands, incidentally all water is treated before entering the public system. Open waterways are by far the best and cheapest method of water transportation.