Coryton

Thanks. To be fair I haven't looked at the small print (I didn't book the holiday) - so I don't know what their policy is on charging for fuel. When I've hired boats before they've said they would charge fuel at cost price - and sometimes got us to witness the boat being filled up at the end so we knew they were being fair (though no point in this case as without a fuel gauge we'd have no way of knowing if the tank was full at the start). Well, for various reasons we wouldn't be rushing to hire from this company again anyway.

Thanks. I didn't keep track of engine hours specifically, but I did track travelling time because I wanted to make sure we'd be back to base on time. I make it 37 hours of travel, so maybe a little more than that in engine hours.

I do have one question for the good folk on this forum though. We paid £85 up front for fuel and have just been asked for abother £94. Does that sound reasonable for travelling from Swanlea to Chirk and back (I think it's about 60 miles round trip) plus having the Eberspächer on in the evenings (but not overnight!)?

Well we're back! Thanks to everyone for their advice (and particularly Tony1 for suggesting wellies - it was quite muddy and they were easy to kick off at the steps rather than walk mud through the boat). The other thing I'm glad I brought is some nice warm slipper socks. We all had a lovely time, with a bit of rain and a lot more sun. We got as far as Chirk, which was a satisfying place to turn round (and we had a very good lunch there in The Hand). We turned the boat before Chirk then walked in and did the aqueduct and tunnel on foot. It made a good week, with plenty of time to stop off and see some of the places we were passing through. For some reason for most of the time we were consistently taking about 30% longer than the timings on the (rather good) Waterway Routes chart I downloaded, then on the last two days we started beating the timings. I don't know why. I can see that the flow helps a bit, but the first day heading back towards Swanley we were still going slowly (it was very windy though). As a result the last two days were very relaxed because I'd left a fair bit more time than it turned out that we needed (which is far better than the other way round at this time of year with the daylight so limited). At first it all seemed a bit strange compared to river cruising - the boat seemed a lot more cramped than a river cruiser for the same number of people, and it took a while to get used to how much heavier it is - stopping a fibre glass cruiser with the ropes is a lot easier. And (this was I'm sure more to do with the boat design than narrow boats in general) there were very few flat places to put anything down other than the beds, and it would have been nice to have somewhere to put a drink mug down other than the floor when at the tiller. I also found driving much less relaxing - if you let go of the wheel on a boat with hydraulic steering it just stays there, whereas the tiller has a life of its own when you take your hand off it. And there always seems to be something to hit on a canal if you aren't paying attention the whole time. But after a few days I really got into it and appreciated the advantages. There's certainly satisfaction in getting through a bridge hole without touching the sides, and the novelty of doing locks and lift bridges didn't wear off. And being able to stop pretty much anywhere is a huge advantage - instead of having to moor up long before it gets dark to make sure of getting somewhere, we could just keep going until it started getting dark then stop where we were. Radiators are a lot better than the warm air heating we've had on cruisers, and it's nice having a proper shower cubicle rather than a squashed "wet room". And being able to get off and walk along the towpath alongside the boat is something that's rarely possible on a river. So far as anything moving went, we pretty much had the canal to ourselves. We'd pass a few boats a day going the other way and that was it, and there was no waiting around at locks. There were very few other hire boats out, but lots of liveboard boats moored along the canal. I'm glad it was out of season - it meant that on our first attempt at handling a narrow boat we weren't having to deal with queing at locks and mooring close to other boats without hitting them (though there was one lock where a couple of hire boat crews had decided that the bollards at the lock mooring were the perfect place to spend the night). One of the highlights was coming back through the Grindley Brook staircase without a volunteer lock keeper on duty. Much more fun to do it on your own, and we weren't in a hurry so we could just enjoy doing the locks without feeling rushed. One of the not highlights was coming back through Ellesmere and turning the corner just as a hire boat came the other way, then being unable to turn the right way with the wind and current being very unhelpful. Fortunately someone more experienced took pity on me and took the controls (they might have had a bit of a vested interest though as I think theirs was the boat I was trying not to hit as I attempted the turn). I was surprised that crossing the locks was generally on walkways on the gates - I thought that these days they came with footbridges. Not a problem for us, but I can imagine some people would be unhappy having to do that. So - it hasn't left me with the urge to buy a narrow boat and live on it, or give up river cruising holidays, but I'd very happily do another narrow boat holiday. I can see why the Llangollen canal is so popular, and it's rather convenient that at the less scenic end it keeps your interest up with plenty of locks. I'm quite tempted to do a shorter hire from the Llangollen end some time to do the bits we missed though,

It was wonderful on the Broads last Autumn. Less daylight, but on the upside it meant travelling in the lovely golden sunlight in the morning. Much better that way round! I'm used to flowing water - the idea of a canal that doesn't flow seems strange. Not having to tides to worry about is nice though.

Thanks for that. I currently have "Wellies?" on my packing list so I shall remove the question mark. (And nice warm lined ones they are too). Boating on the broads at the end of October last year I spent plenty of time at the helm exposed to the elements. Fortunately there wasn't much rain and it wasn't too cold either, though I was prepared for it being chilly. (It was a dual steer boat but I much prefer sitting higher up and with a good view all round to peering through a windscreen). As for whether it will be wet or dry....it will be what it is and after all it is (partly) in Wales...

I have a vague understanding of how the electrical side works on a boat, though I wouldn't know what voltages to expect from a lead-acid. I remember being told on one cruiser we hired that it had separate batteries for domestic power and to start the engine. But it really didn't look as if it was arranged like that...if it was, then there must have been a separate battery hiding somewhere else... I like the idea of having proper radiators rather than warm air heating as we had on the cruiser we were on last autumn.

Yes diesel central heating. If the batteries don't last, I'll be phoning up and asking them to swap them for something better. (Of course that won't help with the whole getting-to-Llangollen thing...)

Not at all...and thanks for the advice. I do wonder though how many boats they will actually have to turn round to go straight out again when we get back.

Very wise words! I think an attitude that we'll head towards Llangollen and see how far we get is an excellent one.

Yes canalplan did indeed show that (amazing web site) - which is why I was a bit unsure. No I don't - you're quite right. I'm quite happy with 6 hours cruising a day - and we'll have plenty of people to take turns at the helm (or whatever you call it on a narrow boat). I'm just not sure that everyone will want to be travelling that much.

Funnily enough Chester was my second choice (and it's certainly worth a visit) - but there didn't seem to be anywhere particularly interesting to stop on the way so it looked as if it wouldn't keep us occupied for a week.

I'll be interested to see if after this we want to do more, or whether we'd rather go back to river cruises. I did consider it, but I don't know if Frankton locks will be available for most of that week. The CRT web site gives "summer" opening times up to 31st October but is silent as to whether they are open at all after that. I think I'd rather try to make it to the aqueducts anyway,

Thanks for all of that. I was thinking that if we made it over both aqueducts that would probably do. I have been to Llangollen anyway though it was a while ago. I found your post yesterday, as it happens. Most useful!

Thanks You're all confirming the conclusion I'd come to. This will be useful ammunition n the case of disagreement over plans... I see your point about half term. I didn't check because I think this one is usually aligned with most of the UK. I'm sure it was last year because it was the end of the season on the Broads (at least for our hire company) - when the boats came in that was that. Probably explains why it was so easy to get a boat this year even though we booked quite late. For some reason we've ended up here with half term a week later than elsewhere and then the term finishing on December 23rd. It seems a strange decision to me, rather than having a week before and a week after Christmas. Good luck with the schools getting much work done that last week! Yes it's a shame about the clock change, but of course we still get the same amount of daylight- just have to get up an hour earlier.