Alan Gladman

We're currently booked in with Daryl to be crossing from Boston to Denver sometime between May 8th and 13th.

We would like to cross the wash sometime this spring, in the late April/early May timeframe. We're a 60' narrowboat, and we're looking to cross from Boston. Not fussed about where exactly we end up, as long as it's safe. If anybody is coordinating, we'd love to be part of a group. I've written directly to Daryl Hill to ask about his pilot availability, but that was only a week or so ago.

You could make that suggestion directly to CRT and let us know what they say. Here's how to contact CRT: https://canalrivertrust.org.uk/contact-us/ways-to-contact-us

We cruised past Finesse only last month, but I wasn't aware they were building electric boats. I'd love to think that an electric continuous cruiser was possible for year round cruising. Sadly I think that still requires a diesel generator. I'd be interested to hear about electric boats that people live on and cruise all year round.

I know the blue boat on the left as I'm in the process of buying it. She's called RG Bargee and that's Fry's Island.

From my research into building a hybrid narrowboat, my guess is that you either spend that £5k on an engine or a cocooned diesel generator. They will cost roughly the same, give or take. So my view is its best to have that diesel burner able to propel my boat as well as charge my battery bank (in addition to my solar). That's why I've decided to go parallel hybrid rather than full electric. I'll miss out on about £200/yr discount on my licence fee, but I think that's a small price to pay for peace of mind.