Some canal boat questions for you all you sailors

[JonnyBoy12]

Not sure if this is the right area but will ask them anyway. My friends and I are considering a holiday on a canal boat but have no experience of this. I have a few questions to ask about this and they are as follows:

Do any boats have multifuel stoves to burn wood and coal instead of gas?

Do any of them have solar panels on the roof to charge batteries?

Do any of them have wind turbines to do the same?

Are all the canals in the U.K. all connected to each other, and are there any in Scotland?

Can you recommend any good firms to rent out boats for the week or fortnight?

I hope you will be able to answer these questions and thank you for your kind answers.

[saxy_jag]

To your first three questions, the answer is yes, but you do have to look around for them.

Most - but not all - canals in the UK are linked in some way. Ordnance Survey used to do a very informative set of books with mile-by-mile guides and maps.

Yes, they do have canals in Scotland.

It's been quite a few years since I holidayed in a narrow-boat, so I wouldn't know the good/bad hire companies these days. You might want to take a look at Hoseasons' boats. They're not cheap, but I've never been on a bad holiday with this company yet.

http://www.hoseasons....al250/home/index.html

[VHG]

I am not sure if you are aware but the maximum speed of a canal boat is 4 miles and hour, which means in any day you are only going to do about 20 miles or so. If there are a lot of locks on the canal you will do even less.

And of course you need to get the canal boat back to where you picked it up from, so if you are doing say a weeks holiday you have to plan where you can get to (and back) in a week.

Many people do pre-defined "loops" that take you from your starting point and round in a big loop (along perhaps different canals) back to where you started.

So you may have the choice of a 3 day loop, a 7 day loop, a 10 day loop, a 14 day loop and so on.

The place where you pick the canal boat up from can advise you what local loops are nearby.

Note that locks are very hard work and can really slow you down. For example the Tardebigge Flight is 30 locks in just under 3 miles. It can take you all day JUST to do this flight of locks.

So you need to study carefully which canal company you use and where you pick the boat up from as the starting point will define where you can get to (how many loops are available) and how many locks you may have to go through.

Note also that during school holidays the canals can be very busy and you many have traffic jams at some locks. Out of school holidays the canals are quieter so you have less chance of hold ups.

[VHG]

I assume you live in or near Scotland due to you asking about canals in Scotland.

The Caledonian canal is 60 miles long and may have less locks (I am not sure as I have never been on it).

It MAY be that some companies offer the cnahce to pick a boat up at one end and drop it at the other end (again I have no idea as I have never been on it)

More here

http://www.scottishca...nals/caledonian-canal

This web site is specific to scottish canals

http://www.scottishcanals.co.uk/

[spudqueen]

This site might be useful to you.
http://www.canaljunction.com/holidays/

I have been on quite a few narrow boat holidays, and love it. It might be uselful to decide in which area you want to holiday, and how many of you are going. If it's just two people then you might want to avoid doing, say, the Leeds-Liverpool canal until you are more experienced as it is a wide-gauge canal and the locks, swing bridges etc are a little more hard work than on a narrow-gauge canal.

Where ever you end up I'm sure you enjoy it.

[welshlibranr]

hope you enjoy a canal holiday!..........I hated it!..........you can walk faster, the locks are a nightmare, I found it frustrating and stressful to say the least!......Oh, and sleeping was very uncomfortable!....was so glad to get home!........never again!......Once was more than enough for me!....

[hc4361]

I love boating holidays. Suggest you look at the Norfolk Broads. No locks, wider boats but it is tidal.
As far as I know all Broads boats are gas and electric. No problems cooking, heating, watching tv, or charging batteries.

[looobylooo]

i have had a couple of family day trips out on a canal boat .... it was ok and pleasant enough ... but, after 8 hours, id had enough!