Canal/river boat holidays

[Butch Willykins]

Surely Hamilton's Water Breaks...

"Here are some reasons to consider a Hamilton's Water Break: With the melting of the polar ice caps most of East Anglia will be under water in the next 30 years. So catch the Norfolk Broads while you still can"

 

[vegster]

No, probably a bottle of Hooch I'd imagine.

Yeah, it was a long time ago. And I wasn't the one steering. You'd be surprised at the noise a fibreglass boat roof makes when scraping the underside of a stone bridge, it really is quite something.

I had a lovely time on the Broads last year with friends. most of us had a go at navigating and bringing the boat in to tie up, luckily I have a bit of previous experience on the water so I was well aware that throwing it in to to forward gear as you are reversing in to a tight spot isn't going to stop you that quickly from 6 ft out !
The captain incumbent at the time copped a mouthfull of abuse from the other boat and as a bonus we found out our dinner service was toughened for just such an eventuality. Other than one of the group walking off the wrong side of the boat after a vodka/Jack Daniels binge it was a pleasant and enjoyable week. I'd recommend it to anyone.

 

[mikeyjh]

Ahhh, Potter Heigham Bridge. I remember it well. So did the boat rental company, as we brought our cruiser back to them a good inch or so lower in the roof area than it was when we picked it up.

Nobody told us there were tidal issues at that particular location

Haha! The boat rentals are very good at telling you that your boat can pass under PH bridge, less good at telling you that only at low tide, on certain tide cycles and there may well be a queue....

They also don't tell you that mud anchors don't work on Salhouse broad and that after 8 cans of Stella, your 40ft boat in high winds, after your 1 ship mate has jumped ashore 'may' experience a slight loss in the number of windscreens....

 

[Lady Whistledown]

I had a lovely time on the Broads last year with friends. most of us had a go at navigating and bringing the boat in to tie up, luckily I have a bit of previous experience on the water so I was well aware that throwing it in to to forward gear as you are reversing in to a tight spot isn't going to stop you that quickly from 6 ft out !
The captain incumbent at the time copped a mouthfull of abuse from the other boat and as a bonus we found out our dinner service was toughened for just such an eventuality. Other than one of the group walking off the wrong side of the boat after a vodka/Jack Daniels binge it was a pleasant and enjoyable week. I'd recommend it to anyone.

Oh we had a great week. Must have been 1997 now I think about it, as I remember us all staggering out of bed one morning, somewhat hungover, going to pick up some breakfast and the Sunday papers for the football scores (Internet, you say? What's that?), and noticing billboards outside every newsagent announcing that Diana- Queen of ALL our hearts of course- had been in some sort of car crash in Paris. We travelled home on the day of her funeral, which was ace, as we got back from Norfolk in under two hours

Also remember vividly being sat up on the deck in the sunshine one evening, and being accosted by the local Jehovah's Witnesses, who were evidently knocking on all the boats tied up along the water's edge, spreading the good word and trying to save us heathen souls from a fiery hell. Failing, obviously.

All in all, a splendid way to spend a week, even if it does make me think of Alan Partridge having stuff lobbed at him by angry farmers.

 

[Lady Whistledown]

Haha! The boat rentals are very good at telling you that your boat can pass under PH bridge, less good at telling you that only at low tide, on certain tide cycles and there may well be a queue....

We must have gone under it at low tide initially, and it was only when we came back the same way, we noticed on approach that the bridge appeared to be considerably lower than we remembered. To compound this error, the person who was steering (captaining? piloting?) the boat at that point panicked, and, rather than just stick it into reverse, attempted to turn the thing around. I'm no physics professor, but even I know that if you turn a thirty foot boat so it's positioned across the tidal flow instead of along it, it's going to sail even faster into the hazard ahead. Marvellous stuff. We were able to laugh about it, but that may have been the alcohol.

Goes without saying that we lost a fair amount of our deposit

 

[BN9 BHA]

Avoid canal locks if possible, i ended up in hospital the last time I went on a canal, I was closing the lock and the metal spanner/ crank handle thingy came off and hit me above the eye, nice scar to remind me of that day.

 

[LamieRobertson]

Avoid canal locks if possible, i ended up in hospital the last time I went on a canal, I was closing the lock and the metal spanner/ crank handle thingy came off and hit me above the eye, nice scar to remind me of that day.

that'll be the windlass...hit me on the chin once...and doing the locks is fun

 

[BN9 BHA]

that'll be the windlass...hit me on the chin once...and doing the locks is fun

Didn't know it was called that, it knocked the wind out of me

I did one side of 9 locks that day it was supposed to be a fun day out, I have had easier days at work, we also smashed into a tree and got the boat stuck in some mud that day, and no one was drinking.

 

[desprateseagull]

the Broads offer plenty of routes to explore, or a nice relaxing trip, go for the Thames (from Kingston, going upsteam) - locks were operated by staff when we last went, so save your energy for the pubs!

Get a boat bigger than people going(for people, 3/4 berth etc), for a bit of space.

 

[LamieRobertson]

Didn't know it was called that, it knocked the wind out of me

I did one side of 9 locks that day it was supposed to be a fun day out, I have had easier days at work, we also smashed into a tree and got the boat stuck in some mud that day, and no one was drinking.

sounds fun smashing into a tree and getting stuck in mud ....i've done 30 odd in a day...and tunnels..its fun if u have a boatload there used to be at least 8 of us...one holiday there were 14 of us and we took 2 boats...canal iced up once

 

[sully]

 

[sully]

 

[Raleigh Chopper]

Firstly, I have never been on such a holiday. But because I used to live in the area I do know that there are some fabulous riverside pubs etc on the Thames. From Maidenhead upstream to Oxfordshire. Places like Cookham, Streatley among others. Obviously you sail straight through Reading without stopping.
I believe that the number of locks is quite low compared to some canals but I could be totally wrong.