Tools Of Any Trade In A Song, Fun!
ChatterBank0 min ago
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For more on marking an answer as the "Best Answer", please visit our FAQ.i spent a week on a canal boat around bath in april and it was brilliant! it's great fun!
advice? tips? erm...get a decent map of the canal and make sure you know where you are. on the stretch of canal we were on there weren't many turning places, and one night we weren't sure if we had enough time to turn round and get back to the canal station by the end of the week, so you'll need to take things like that into consideration.
erm... what else? make sure you know what you're doing for dinner as well! either ensure you've got enough provisions on board or you're near enough to civilisation to get some pub food or something.
other than that, just observe the rules and etiquette of the canal - drive on the right, slow down past moored boats, etc.
have a brilliant time!
i was on one for a weekend - it goes about 4 miles an hour full throttle and i still managed to crash the thing within about 5 minutes (I very slowly steered us directly into a bridge support) - no one was impressed and i never got to drive again - so quite a good tip if you just want to relax and can't be bothered steering the boat! enjoy
oh and be careful of the locks (fell in one of those too)
We had a boat on the canals for about 20 years (until my Dad died). You will find most 'regular' boaters helpful and will advise you if you want to know how to do things.
If you have any kids on board (say aged 10+), don't be at all surprised if they can steer the boat better than you! Its 'cos you are used to driving a car and subconciously try to steer the boat the same way. It don't work like that. A boat will pivot about a point about 1/3 of the way from the front and the back end will swing out far more than the front end.
Have fun, its a wonderful way to see the countryside; and the pubs aren't bad either!!