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Trip from London to Bristol


DutchFrancis

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Dear readers,

 

I'm Francis, my partner here goes by the name Jetske. We originate from The Netherlands, near the Waddenzee islands. We plan to hire a boat at the end of april and navigate from London to Bristol. We're really looking forward to the Thames and the Avon. Should take two weeks. But the boat company says: we don't do one-way trips. I say: we only have two weeks. So until now it's no deal. Unless: we find us another party that is willing to go in the opposite direction with our boat... So there it is. Interested? Then please drop a line.

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Would the other party get paid for taking the boat back, or do the have to pay for the trip?

 

Sorry, L&E, for not being clear about this. I unfortunately don't belong to the rich and famous. Yes, the other party should pay for their own two weeks of boat hire. Nothing is settled yet at this moment in time, so when somebody is interested we can choose a boat that suits all parties.

 

Will a hire boat carry fuel for four weeks?

 

You certainly have a point there Arthur. Probably not. A refill of the fuel tank would have to be included in the planning, as well as pump-out of the dirt tank. Whether the hire company will pay for this or not, I don't know yet. Open for negotiation I guess.

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A lot of hire boats will not contain enough fuel for 2 weeks intensive cruising, let alone more than that.

 

That should in no way be a problem, as it is quite normal to fuel up hire boats at other bases, if the duration of your trip requires it.

 

I'm not fully up to speed on the topic, but I thought most hire boat companies no longer included diesel in the hire costs, and that you pay to replace diesel actually used ? In such cases many will be savvy enough to fill the boat up shortly before returning it to base anyway, as often another trader will charge considerably less for their diesel than a hire fleet will.

 

Don't some hire firms include a voucher for (say) an additional pump-out for each week beyond the first that a boat is hired ? I'm not that familiar with whether most fleets operate in a similar way ?

 

None of this should be considered in any way a difficulty in coming to an arrangement with someone, if the hire company is happy. You would probably need to talk to them about matters like who is liable for any damage found on return to base, if more than one set of hirers could have caused it!

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Hallo, so julie gaan voor een twee weeks vakantie, en hebben iemand nodig die de boat terug brengt?

 

Thank you for your kind replies, L&E. Our jobs are quite busy and we only have 23 days off each year here in the Netherlands. Which is ridiculously short, I agree! We started our canaltrips in 2003 on the Warwickshire ring. In 2006 we did the Pennine Ring, in 2008 the Thames and Grand Union canal and in 2010 we went from Acton Bridge to Llangollen and back again. So we already have a bit of experience with boats and canals.

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Hi Francis,

 

A reply from the other side of the country we both live in, we are in Zeeland, in the south-west.

 

My first thought was the same as what Water Rat suggests.

 

We have also hired for many years. We were fortunate that in those days fuel was included in the hire price. I'm not sure the hire bases were so glad with that as we cruised quite intensively. We found that we had to pay for all pump-outs, but the ones done in the additional weeks were reimbursed after we returned to the base.

 

If you find someone to bring the boat back, make sure there are enough towels and beddingfor them. And think what you are going to do with your own used towels, assuming you use the ones provided by the hire company. I for one would not be keen on having the dirty washing of a stranger on board. And what about the cleaning and servicing of the boat that would normally be done after your two weeks?

 

 

We are luckier than you, we have 10 weeks holiday a year (some years ago at my husbands work they handed in part of their salaries in exchange for more days off), we got bitten by the bug and now have our own boat, and we spend as much time as possible there. I hope the icy conditions will soon be over so we can go boating again.

 

Good luck in finding a solution to your dilemma.

 

Ik wens jullie alvast een heel fijne vakantie, geniet er van.

 

Helen

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Hi Francis,

 

A reply from the other side of the country we both live in, we are in Zeeland, in the south-west.

 

My first thought was the same as what Water Rat suggests.

 

We have also hired for many years. We were fortunate that in those days fuel was included in the hire price. I'm not sure the hire bases were so glad with that as we cruised quite intensively. We found that we had to pay for all pump-outs, but the ones done in the additional weeks were reimbursed after we returned to the base.

 

If you find someone to bring the boat back, make sure there are enough towels and beddingfor them. And think what you are going to do with your own used towels, assuming you use the ones provided by the hire company. I for one would not be keen on having the dirty washing of a stranger on board. And what about the cleaning and servicing of the boat that would normally be done after your two weeks?

 

 

We are luckier than you, we have 10 weeks holiday a year (some years ago at my husbands work they handed in part of their salaries in exchange for more days off), we got bitten by the bug and now have our own boat, and we spend as much time as possible there. I hope the icy conditions will soon be over so we can go boating again.

 

Good luck in finding a solution to your dilemma.

 

Ik wens jullie alvast een heel fijne vakantie, geniet er van.

 

Helen

 

I am so glad I joined this forum! These are all good points that I didn't consider before. Of course I can solve this problem by not going first but second: the other party goes from London to Bristol (or vice versa) and then we take over and bring the boat back to its hire base. We'll bring our own bedsheets and towels of course. How does that sound?

 

The weather in these parts will be no good for boating the coming weeks; there is lots of ice and lots of skaters on it. Tomorrow is going to be a crowded day in Appingedam because of the marathon! Thank you for the good wishes.

 

Why don't you do half the journey this year and next year start at the other end and do the other half? The K&A is a long trip and would easily make two holidays. Just a thought.

 

Thank you. We'll consider it. But I'm afraid that my brain has difficulties with a change of plan.

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Is there a Bristol hire yard who could do a turn round, -Laundry engine and tanks?

 

Is there a nationwide hire company who do one way hires

 

So far I've only contacted Black Prince, London base. But my queries will continue. In the meantime: any suggestions are welcome.

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Is there a Bristol hire yard who could do a turn round, -Laundry engine and tanks?

no but there is a marina which I'm pretty sure does fuel and pump out, just before the Cumberland Basin. Even if they only provide this service for their own moorings, there is the hire boatyard in Bath (Anglo Welsh).

 

Is there a nationwide hire company who do one way hires

 

AFAIK not on demand, but I notice that Shire Cruises give a good offer for one way trips for specific boats on specific weeks. Basically they hire out boats from the L&L but take them to their Sowerby Bridge base over winter, and these base transfers are done by paying clients. I guess a few other companies do this, and for example I bet Anglo Welsh move a few boats about from one season to the next.

 

 

BTW if you are forced to do 2 weeks there and back I would definitely do London side not the Bristol side (winding at Devizes if you can make it that far). I say this because Bath to Devizes is pretty but very busy. The eastern "half" of the K&A (Devizes to Reading) doesn't have nearly so many rookie boaters, is also pretty and has many varied points of interest.

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