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First Time on a boat


Andy G 1984

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Hi, 

I am hoping you will all be bale to offer me a bit of extra guidance. This August me, my wife, daughter and dog will be heading out on a canal boat for the first time ever. We have hired the boat from Clifton Cruisers and plan to head down the South Oxford Canal. Is this route a good choice for a crew of complete novices?

When it comes to night time and we want to moor up and can you do that anywhere along the canal or are there virtual 'double yellow lined areas'? For example during the day if we decide to all get off and talk the dog for a walk in the countryside, can we simply moor up and go for a walk? I imagine most night we will want to moor up within walking distance of a nice pub for a couple of beers before settling down. Can you more up for the night at most of the pubs? Are there plenty of them along this stretch of canal?

Also a question that my wife is particularly concerned about....where can we empty our toilet? How often (on average) do you thing we would need to empty it with 3 of us on board? Similar question for getting more water on board? Where can we get it from, do we have to pay, if so how much?

Sorry it must appear to be a lot of stupid questions. This is something we have been thinking about doing for a few years and i just don't want it to be a disappointing experience because I haven't asked the stupid questions.

I look forward to hearing some of your thoughts. 

Andy

 

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The first thing that occurs to me is Cropredy festival is 10-12th August which creates a lot of traffic during before and after.   If your holiday covers those dates I'm not sure the South Oxford is an ideal place to be if you have no previous experience and definitely not Cropredy itself.  

If your holiday doesn't coincide, then it's an ideal canal for a novice.  We tend to avoid pubs as a rule so I can't offer any help there but you'll find lots of suitable places to moor up for the night just use a bit of common sense and don't stop where you might make life difficult for other boats.  You can walk your dog anywhere along the towpath but best stick to designated public footpaths if you go "off piste".

If you are just out for a week the toilet tank shouldn't need a pump out.  You get water free at designated water points, if the hire company don't provide one why not invest in a "Nicholson's" guide, well worth the money it will tell you where all the facilities, pubs etc are.    

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Unless there is a notice to the contrary you can moor.  However other boats need to get past you, so don't moor in turning round places (winding holes) and blind bends, or very narrow places  where you may force passing boats into the overhanging trees.  I don't know the canal you are thinking of, but there are often visitor moorings at popular places and these are usually in good condition with mooring rings and a decent path etc.

Toilets - most hire boats have a big tank for waste.  The more you flush it the quicker it fills up.  If drinking in pubs, then using the toilet there will help.  With sensible use I would expect it to last a week for 3 people.  If they ask you not to put bleach or other disinfectant chemicals into the toilet, then don't as it will kill the 'good' bacteria and it will start to stink.

Water - The boat will have a fair size tank, but again the more you use the quicker it will empty, so no running taps for teeth cleaning etc.  The hot water is heated by the engine, so if running for a few hours, having a shower as soon as the water is hot will allow the replacement cold water time to heat up.  If you all have a shower at the end of the day, don't be surprised if you have no hot water in the morning.  A lot of boaters shower submarine style to save water, especially hot water.  As to refilling there are normally taps every few miles, so fill up every day or so.  Canal side taps are free to use.  When refilling, some taps are faster than others, but don't be surprised if the tank is not full after 30mins if the tank was nearly empty.

Most important of all, don't worry and enjoy.........

 

Added - a couple of links you may find helpful

 Select your canal and print out a guide  -  http://www.waterscape.com/things-to-do/boating/guides 

A guide to boating    https://canalrivertrust.org.uk/media/library/141.pdf

Boaters DVD from CRT  -  https://canalrivertrust.org.uk/enjoy-the-waterways/boating/a-guide-to-boating/boaters-handbook

 

Edited by Chewbacka
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If you are hiring for a week or less then you won't need to empty the loo or fill with water during the trip . The hire company do that on return, ready for the next hirer. If you are hiring for longer the hire company will advise what you may need to do, as part of the handover at the beginning of the trip. 

Water is free. Your boat will have a pumpout toilet which costs around £15 to empty. But if you are on a 2 week hire the company may reimburse that anyway.

You can moor anywhere on the towpath where there are no signs to the contrary. Some popular moorings may have signs showing limited duration stops. The 24 /48 hour ones won't be a problem for you but there a few shorter ones such as the 2 hour mooring outside Tescos at Leighton Buzzard.

The South Oxford is a good beginners trip - pleasant countryside and enough locks to be interesting without being to much work. 

But if you hit the Cropredy Festival it will be busy. You could consider instead heading east from Braunston then along the Grand Union either north towards Foxton or south towards Stoke Bruerne - both honeypot sites which are worth visiting in their own right.

www.canalplan.eu will help you plan the trip.

Enjoy!

 

Edited by David Mack
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Water use is one of the hardest things to get used to when you go on  a boat.  Don't use water like you do at home.  "Be frugal" is the watchword.  This will help not just with your water tank but also your toilet tank.

Don't leave taps running. Take navy showers (i.e get wet, then turn the water off.  Soap up, then turn the water on to rinse off).  You really do not need to wash your hair every day.  Save the washing up rather than running a tap just to clean a couple of plates and a bit of cutlery.

The hire company will probably tell you to top up the water every day. If you do that, on a popular canal in August, you could spend more time queueing up for water than cruising.  However if you see  an unoccupied water point it doesn't hurt to top up - just don't get ruled by it.

Water refilling is the one thing that can interrupt your trip when you don't want it to.  Everything else is there to enjoy.  Most canalside pubs will have moorings nearby, but don't expect to turn up at six o'clock and moor up outside.

Enjoy the countryside and take the time to explore it a bit; don't treat it as a race and try and cruise for twelve hours a day.  Canal cruising is as much about enjoying the countryside it takes you to as the actual boating.

Enjoy your holiday!

  • Greenie 1
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1 hour ago, David Mack said:

If you are hiring for a week or less then you won't need to empty the loo or fill with water during the trip . The hire company do that on return, ready for the next hirer. If you are hiring for longer the hire company will advise what you may need to do, as part of the handover at the beginning of the trip. 

Water is free. Your boat will have a pumpout toilet which costs around £15 to empty. But if you are on a 2 week hire the company may reimburse that anyway.

You can moor anywhere on the towpath where there are no signs to the contrary. Some popular moorings may have signs showing limited duration stops. The 24 /48 hour ones won't be a problem for you but there a few shorter ones such as the 2 hour mooring outside Tescos at Leighton Buzzard.

The South Oxford is a good beginners trip - pleasant countryside and enough locks to be interesting without being to much work. 

But if you hit the Cropredy Festival it will be busy. You could consider instead heading east from Braunston then along the Grand Union either north towards Foxton or south towards Stoke Bruerne - both honeypot sites which are worth visiting in their own right.

www.canalplan.eu will help you plan the trip.

Enjoy!

 

I would be very wary of that statement. It depends on the size of the tank and how much people use. From my experience new hirers are not economical with water, and expect to shower every day and the ladies needing to wash their hair. It is much better to fill the tank once every 2 days at least.

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Just now, Graham Davis said:

I would be very wary of that statement. It depends on the size of the tank and how much people use. From my experience new hirers are not economical with water, and expect to shower every day and the ladies needing to wash their hair. It is much better to fill the tank once every 2 days at least.

When we first hired, over twenty years ago, there was Six of us onboard and two bogs. We managed to fill both in about 4 days. Must be a record. 

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13 hours ago, Chewbacka said:

....... The hot water is heated by the engine, so if running for a few hours, having a shower as soon as the water is hot will allow the replacement cold water time to heat up.  If you all have a shower at the end of the day, don't be surprised if you have no hot water in the morning.  ....

The boats we´ve hired have had gas boilers for hot water. So we didn´t need to run the engine to get a shower. But it probably varies from company to company - we haven't hired from Clifton cruisers, so I don´t know about them.

 I would recommend you to get one of the canal guides for the area. Nicholson´s or Pearson´s. It tells you where everything practical is (locks, shops, pubs, water taps, garbage bins,...), and it also help with planning and preparing the trip.

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Hijacking things slightly but good info for beginners - local knowledge about a river's hidden danger points, where is best to find this?

I noticed a duck stood up well into the Beeston canal in Nottingham with just it's feet wet.....how on earth do you learn about these without ripping a hole in the boat? This was next some old warehouses do guessing that old walls fell in but it wasn't that close to the edge plus it was an inviting spot to pull into.

I remember near Oxford that there were certain tree lined spots where the roots used to extend out further into the river than most as well.

I'll be on the Llangollen canal in 10 days time and the Collins book hints at spots, as does the canal route planner, but know that nature can be quicker than a publisher's wand.

:cheers:

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I have done the Llangollen several times over the years,  the last being in 2015 in a 70 foot boat. Never had any problems anywhere, including the relined feeder section from Trevor to Llangollen itself.

The biggest problem I have encountered on the Llangollen Canal is speeding boats going from Llangollen towards Hurleston Junction, not being able to stop because they are carried on the slight flow.

Edited by cuthound
To unmangle the effects of autocorrect.
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3 hours ago, cuthound said:

I have done the Llangollen several times over the years,  the last being in 2015 in a 70 foot boat. Never had any problems anywhere, including the relined feeder section from Trevor to Llangollen itself.

The biggest problem I have encountered on the Llangollen Canal is speeding boats going from Llangollen towards Hurleston Junction, not being able to stop because they are carried on the slight flow.

Cheers cuthound - I guess my question was a bit more general regarding more regular updates on issues, in the sense that on any river there may be brickwork like that duck was stood on ....a lot further out than I would have been concerned about......is there a regularly updated site for canals networks - I.e. Watch out for a small obstacle in 'x' canal as Paxman's ego just fell in or wailing sirens on the Wolverhampton wharf....normal Fri/Sat night but a local knowledge info.

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3 minutes ago, The Grumpy Triker said:

Cheers cuthound - I guess my question was a bit more general regarding more regular updates on issues, in the sense that on any river there may be brickwork like that duck was stood on ....a lot further out than I would have been concerned about......is there a regularly updated site for canals networks - I.e. Watch out for a small obstacle in 'x' canal as Paxman's ego just fell in or wailing sirens on the Wolverhampton wharf....normal Fri/Sat night but a local knowledge info.

CRT often put warning notices on the towpath near temporary underwater obstructions (for example collapsed walls or sunken boats) for their waterways,  not sure what other navigation authorities do.

Edited by cuthound
Spillung
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38 minutes ago, cuthound said:

CRT often put warning notices on the towpath near temporary underwater obstructions (for example collapsed walls or sunken boats) for their waterways,  not sure what other navigation authorities do.

Cheers for that....still think that duck would have got me if absent :huh:

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You have got some great advise above, can't really add to it apart from to highlight buying a copy either Nicholson's Guide or Pearson Guide in advance so you can look at routes, find potential moorings as well the odd pub!     The Nicholsons are based on the OS maps whilst the Pearson are a bit more informal however equally useful.     

 

Croperdy on on the South Oxford is a lovely village, but have a check of the dates and if you are going to be around the time of the festival you might want to think of heading towards Foxton and Market Harbrough on the Leicester branch of the Grand Union.  Very worth visiting as well! 

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I don't entirely concur with all the advice above. My answers are;-

- you can moor against the towpath anywhere there isn't a sign to contrary. At most villages and towns there are also recognised and signed visitor mooring sites which will have rings or bollards to moor up to. Such sites are often coincident with pubs. Out in the countryside you will need to use the stakes and/or piling hooks provided.

- if you fill the water tank each day at a CRT water point (which is probably what the hire base will recommend) just use water normally. You may wish to take bottled water for drinking in any case. Understand how the hot water works before you set off. There will be a calorifier (a heat exchanger beteeen the engine cooling and domestic water systems) and there may be a secondary method of heating the water.

- you will not need to empty the toilet.

- South Oxford canal is a good choice of route. I concur with the advice to buy a Nicholsons guide.

JP

 

 

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