Spen

I promised to report back on our holiday, and here I am. We had a great week on the K&A, the weather was mild although quite wet and blustery at times. We hired our boat from Foxhangers, and the 50' Foxtail set us back £600 for 7 days. Once we had learned not to leave the boat to her own devices in gale force winds and use the ropes and bollards provided the holiday went very smoothly indeed. I do believe though that my experience at creating canal road blocks will put me at an advantage should I ever be asked to stop any jewel thieves making their getaway on a narrowboat We didn't thrash it, only making it to the Dundas Aqueduct and back, but this made the whole experience very pleasant indeed. Although we were obviously hirers ourselves, we encountered many people in the various hire boats who had obviously not read into the rules or ettiquette before they went, and one particular family who were a danger to themselves and anyone unfortunate enough to encounter them. We also met lots of friendly and helpful people - a particular thank you to Barbara and Colin from Hydeaway who were invaluable on our first day of locks and bridges. The result of this taster trip is we are now certain that this is where we want to spend our time, and as soon as this house sells we will be looking to buy our own boat and continue the experience. Thanks again to those of you who responded to my request for info. Spencer

Thanks for all the replies I am getting, it is reassuring to hear from those of you who have already experienced our little trip lots of times before. David, thanks for taking the time to detail an itinerary for us, much appreciated. Rob I will be sure to check out the link and will certainly report back. I am also hoping for lots of inspiration for my cartoons as I am hoping to be published in Canals & Rivers from next months issue Spencer

Thanks everyone. I am hoping for a mix of weather to fully experience the lifestyle. Seems like I slightly overestimated where I would be by the Friday so my guests will be joining me at a different place! If anyone sees a 50' hire boat on the K&A looking confused next week - please play nice Spencer

My guests can be very flexible! In your opinion, where is the mid-point on a weeks relaxing cruise from Foxhangers?

Thanks for the info snibble. Are you saying that getting the boat back to Foxhangers by 9AM Monday morning from Friday afternoon is going to be difficult? I suppose we will get a good feel for how long it takes on the way West, and we really wanted to take it easy and enjoy the experience rather than rushing. Fingers crossed for some serious downpours so I can test my waterproofs

We're taking our first ever holiday with Foxhangers starting on Monday 27th, and as we have a week and are beginners we will be travelling West down the K&A. We have hired their 50' boat Foxtail. We did complete the Helmsman course last August, but that seems aggggges ago, so any advice on what to look out for, must see sights etc are welcome. We have been told that Bath and back from the bottom of Caen Hill is possible in a week, but we have decided to take it slow and are picking friends up at Avoncliffe, so that is our 'must reach' point by Friday 31st. We are sooooo excited! Finally we get out on the canal for longer than a day! Spencer

I'll introduce myself first My name is Spencer and my wife Linda and I have been seriously considering taking to life on the canals for over 18 months. In that time we have read loads of magazines, visited marinas and shows, spoken to everyone who was foolish enough to make eye contact and really thought hard about a potential change of lifestyle. I am hoping to make my money from my cartooning and maybe a bit of temping as required. The house has been on the market for a few months and in five weeks time my job comes to an end at the same time as we spend our first week on the canals, we have already completed the Helmsman course and are really looking forward to trying the lifestyle out for more than a day. We are really excited about living a different life, but it is a tremendous risk as we are having to sell the house to buy the boat. Living costs are obviously a worry too, but if £5 - 6K a year holds true then it is cheaper than running this house, and the thought of getting out of the rat race brings tears of joy to my eyes! I'm glad I found this forum, it is already proving invaluable and no doubt I will be searching the board for answers to my many questions. Look forward to getting more involved!

This is my very first post here, and I have started by reading through the subjects to get a feel for the place. I was slightly alarmed by Tom and Sophie's post and the replies which indicate it is more expensive living on a boat than in a house. We're going to do this anyway as it is the change of life which is more important. I couldn't find any threads here which help those who want to live the life economically... has that already been done? Spencer