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Ladies day out help!


Lgeorge79

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Hello

I am looking to hire an electric boat along a canal for the day in August for my birthday with my lady friends. Can anyone recommend a route that is both scenic, easy locks for us to work and a good selection of pubs to stop off at along the way for food and drink. Attendees live between Bristol and Shropshire so we are looking for somewhere around those areas, including Midlands. Any suggestions would be very appreciated.

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5 minutes ago, Lgeorge79 said:

Hello

I am looking to hire an electric boat along a canal for the day in August for my birthday with my lady friends. Can anyone recommend a route that is both scenic, easy locks for us to work and a good selection of pubs to stop off at along the way for food and drink. Attendees live between Bristol and Shropshire so we are looking for somewhere around those areas, including Midlands. Any suggestions would be very appreciated.

How many of you? You will be hard pushed to find an electric boat but someone may well know of one.

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1 hour ago, Lgeorge79 said:

Hello

I am looking to hire an electric boat along a canal for the day in August for my birthday with my lady friends. Can anyone recommend a route that is both scenic, easy locks for us to work and a good selection of pubs to stop off at along the way for food and drink. Attendees live between Bristol and Shropshire so we are looking for somewhere around those areas, including Midlands. Any suggestions would be very appreciated.

There lots of Electric Boats on the Upper Thames at Windsor,Datchet,Abingdon and Oakley court Hotel,to name but a few

CT

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Why electric? was the first thought that occurred to me too. Evidently there are some but it limits your options.

Have you considered:

(1) Bringing your own food and drink aboard rather than going to the pub, to give you more time on the boat?

(2) Depending on your boating experience and interest in doing it, do you want to do the steering and locks yourselves or would you prefer a skippered boat? It would cost more but you get to concentrate on the party, and some would offer catering help.

(3) There tends to be a cut off point at 12 passengers beyond which extra regulations kick in and the cost increases. Besides which, beyond that a narrowboat would become very crowded.

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24 minutes ago, Lgeorge79 said:

Yes, electric or diesel, I just haven't noticed diesel option on hire. There will be 14 of us do may require two boats.

For the Midlands you could talk to Valley Cruises: http://www.valleycruises.co.uk/dayhire

They offer a skippered cruise if you'd prefer and from their base in Cov you have more than a day's cruising with no locks to negotiate. Their Mole Valley boat is only licensed for 12 but if you chat to them they can give you a few options. 

Loads more hire bases in the same geographic region but they all have locks somewhere close (of course, that might be an attraction for you). 

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Anglo Welsh have two day-boats at Wootton Wawen near Stratford-upon-Avon.

Each boat accommodates a maximum of ten people, so two boats should be ideal for fourteen people.

The price guide shows each boat is £99 Monday to Friday, £140 weekends.

I haven’t hired them, but a friend said he had a good day out when he hired one. Looking at the map there is a six mile length with one lock, so a twelve mile trip. 

Cruising hours are 9:00 am to 4:00pm. From the Nicholson guide it looks like there are a few pubs near the canal.

http://www.anglowelsh.co.uk/Our-Boats/Dayboats---A-day-out-of-the-ordinary

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17 minutes ago, Lgeorge79 said:

Thanks this is very helpful. I am looking into the Anglo Welsh canals/ routes for a day narrow boat now. 

 

Don't need many pubs, 2 or 3 would do 

You will need two day hire boats for than number of people. Have you not considered a day out on a trip boat with a bar etc onboard where you dont need to drive?

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It's not actually illegal to drink and drive a boat, but it's unwise and can be dangerous. Most boaters who like to do both, i.e. most boaters, wait until they've tied up for the day then go to the pub. All they have to do then is to get back aboard afterwards without falling in, and with day hire you don't even have to do that.

So unless your party includes two non-drinkers who fancy being the designated steerers, it may be wisest to splash out on a skippered trip boat of a suitable size, which would typically come with a qualified skipper plus two crew who know what they're doing. There are some which are set up to meet safety regulations for more than 12 passengers, and it's more sociable for you all to be on the same boat.

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If you really want a skippered trip then the Windsor Belle is the one to go for. Drinking Champagne from cut glass flutes while silently cruising the Thames on a steam launch. The helmsman rings a bell to tell the engineer in the engine room what speed to set the coal fired steam engine. I’ve no idea of the cost but it is a great experience

http://www.windsorbelle.com/index.php

 

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Not silent, but I think steam powered boats tend to be a bit quieter on the outside than diesel? Until they let of their noisy great whistles that is.

On my one pass along the river through Windsor last year, I didn't notice that boat, but then I was concentrating hard on steering a loaded pair of coal boats through a lot of traffic. There are some very big trip boats operating on that stretch. Oddly in 1977 I lived near the middle of Windsor for 6 months but never bothered to walk down as far as the riverside.

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18 minutes ago, lulu fish said:

A silent steam engine?

Perhaps I should have said a very quiet steam engine. It was a few years ago when I was on the Windsor Belle but I do remember a narrow boat passing us and it sounded very agricultural and very unrefined compared to steam power.

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