CypherSD

Wow, thanks for all the great replies! Anglo Welsh looks very interesting, with plenty of boats to choose from (but not many of the new Heritage class yet). I had looked at Andersen, but oddly the only availability they had was starting May 25, the Monday of the school holiday, which is a bit late for us (though not entirely ruled out). I will look at Napton and Chas Hardern as well. Also, thanks for the comments on comfort level, and yes, as surmised, we have been on cruiser sterns before, but we had trouble with seated passengers blocking the full swing of the tiller, or blocking the space to disembark. I guess what we really want is reasonably comfortable seating for two passengers, without being in the way of boat operations.

First time poster here, planning a canal holiday from the States (May 2020). We have been on narrowboats a couple of times before, most recently did the Four Counties + Caldon. This time we would like to return and stay a bit longer (3 weeks), taking our time puttering around. We are thinking of roughly the same area, maybe going down the Llangollen, up to Chester, or down the Anderton boat lift. Honestly though, we just want a location that has a few options, depending on how much we want to cruise per day (laid back is the key for this trip). But we wanted to try a slightly different boat this time, hoping for a semi-trad with some seating. It's kind of hard to search for such a thing and was wondering if anyone here has any tips/ideas. Requirements are: 1. Room for 3 adults - 1 bed for my wife and I and a dedicated berth for my adult daughter (don't want to stick her on the dinette for 3 weeks) 2. Semi-trad with room for two passengers to sit in the stern while someone else drives (boats? Tiilers? Pilots? not sure what the proper word is) Would also be nice to try: 3. Reverse layout, or something other than the common singles/bathroom/double/galley/dinette layout 4. Pullman dinette (I think I prefer L shaped, but would like to try this) 5. Some lounge space in addition to the dinette Looking for something starting at 52', but not much larger than 65'. While budget is hardly unlimited (I wish!), I would be willing to pay a bit more for a nicer boat, also looking for a reputable hire company. Looking at early to mid May for the trip. I know Andersen boats has some semi-trads that would work, but they don't have availability for our dates. It seems like the one place hire boat companies neglect to show is the one place you spend most of your time! Any pointers greatly appreciated. I did search the forums a bit, but didn't see anything on this topic.