Narrow boat hire

First time afloat ?

If you have not been on a narrow boat before, you are not alone - many of our guests each year are complete newcomers and each and every one masters the controls to enjoy their narrow boat holiday.

With the holiday experience they provide, you could easily be mistaken for thinking that canals were built entirely for pleasure, but their history is strongly industrial. The first canals were built to take narrow boats just 7ft (2m) wide but 70ft (20m) long, hence the rather unusual proportions of the typical 'narrowboat'. However, you will find that every need is catered for in this intriguing living space.

Though designed to suit 200-year-old waterways, the modern narrow boats feature everything you need to enjoy a high quality self-catering holiday. Appointed to the standard you would expect of a country cottage, you have the added bonus of changing the scenery, without re-packing your suitcase, each day.

The nature of the industrial routes takes the canals from the heart of one city to the next, via the easiest route - usually through open countryside, often through towns and villages. Canalside country pubs are not a fortuitous accident of location - they were the service stations of the time when the narrow boats worked along the routes.

When you hire a narrow boat, there is no itinerary - you set your own agenda. In a week by canal you are likely to cover the distance you could cover in an hour by car. But the journey will be a far richer one!

Planning your perfect narrow boating holiday....

You need to:

Decide which area of the country you would like to visit.

A very popular choice is the countryside on the doorstep - seeing the area by canal gives a whole new perspective to an area you know well, but with the confidence of knowing the best places to stop for provisions. Alternatively there may be an area of the country or a historic town that you have always meant to give time to explore.

think about who is going.

As you take the narrow boat holiday at your own pace, 2 active adults can easily handle a narrow boat. If you are considering a route with more locks or with younger children in the crew consider taking a larger boat with another family to share the experience.

As you cruise along, one person steers and the rest of the crew is free to watch the scenery or even walk the towpath alongside. At locks (and when mooring) one person stays on the boat to steer whilst at least one person works the lock mechanism. When you are first taught to operate a lock it may appear bewildering but by your second or third you will already wonder what you were worried about.

then consider the type of cruising you would like to do.

Our various narrow boat hire bases all have a wide selection of routes and each is generally typified by particular geographic features dictating the style of the canal.

Other links you may like to try:-

A directory of canal boating websites - www.canalboatdirectory.co.uk

Boat Rental lake of the ozarks
Boat rental lake of the Ozarks- iguana water sports rental offer Lake of the Ozarks boat rentals at the Lake of the Ozarks. http://www.iguanawatersports.com