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Mark Cotton

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Everything posted by Mark Cotton

  1. This post cannot be displayed because it is in a forum which requires at least 10 posts to view.
  2. Great pictures, Martin!
  3. We flew over from the U.S. and did the Caldon in 2009 and would highly recommend the folks at Black Prince Narrowboats. We picked our boat up at Etruria and they were very helpful for boating novices. Here's a link to my blog post about our trip: Yanks On the Cut: Our Week on an English Narrowboat
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  5. We passed the Beatrice twice, once moored and once going in the opposite direction with a boatload of happy kids. It's a great thing you do, giving them a chance to get out on the water.
  6. There's another one of those word differences. We call them "shopping carts" instead of trollies. I was trying to remember the sign above where the trollies were stored and almost called them "shopping lorries" by mistake in my post, because lorry is another word we don't commonly use over here that we saw over there. (we call them "trucks")
  7. Thank you, Mac. And I didn't even go into detail about the new words we learned on our trip. Even though we share a common language, some of the signs we saw along the way had us scratching our heads.
  8. My wife and I, along with her sister and brother-in-law recently completed a long-anticipated week aboard a hired narrowboat on the Caldon and Trent & Mersey and we had a fantastic time. The one thing that made the biggest impression on us was the friendliness and helpfulness of the people we met along the way. I don't know if anyone reading this is among those we met, but if you were, thank you for your hospitality shown to us. We weren't sure what to expect being totally inexperienced at boating, but everything went very smoothly. The people we met along the way kept mentioning that there might be a few unfriendly people on the canals, but we sure never came across them if there were. Thanks also to those on this board who offered advice and assistance to my earlier posts. Tips you offered were key to our preparations for the trip. If any Americans are reading this and considering traveling to the UK for a narrowboat vacation, you absolutely won't regret it. And, if anyone would like to read the details of our trip and see some pictures, here is a link to a blog post I've made about it: http://cottonpatch.wordpress.com/2009/10/0...ish-narrowboat/ Mark Cotton
  9. Thanks Pete! We (four beer-swilling adults) will keep it in mind. Mark
  10. Does The Coachmakers serve food? Four of us are coming from the U.S. to spend a week on the Caldon in September.
  11. Generally speaking, where does the water in the canals at higher elevation come from? Is it from lakes and rivers, or rainwater runoff, or something else?
  12. Now that I see the layouts of their boats, they do look to be wider than 7 feet: http://www.midlakesnav.com/lockmaster/theboats.html As Americans, we love the open road and taking our home along with us, as evidenced by the millions of motorhomes on the roads here. I can see how the same concept could easily transfer to the water. I've been joking with my wife that I would never get her to agree to a motorhome vacation, but she's going along with the narrowboating idea easily. (She's even reading "Narrowboat Dreams" by Steve Haywood)
  13. Here's one firm that rents boats on the Erie Canal that look similar to English narrowboats: http://www.midlakesnav.com/lockmaster/index.html My wife and I considered staying on this side of the Atlantic and doing the Erie Canal instead of a canal in England, but couldn't get excited about seeing more of the USA versus the English countryside. But, aren't traditional English narrowboats difficult to handle on open waters? Most of the waterways over here are wider and have idiots buzzing around on Jet-ski's or their father's speed boat.
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  16. Yes, we'll be hiring from Black Prince at Etruria. Thank you for the advice. I got it scheduled out this past weekend using CanalPlannerAC and now just have to sit and watch the calendar tick by until next September. If anybody has any more advice for a newbie about pubs, mooring places, sights and stores along the way, feel free to chime in.
  17. Thanks Duztee! Currently, we're leaning towards doing the Caldon Canal, starting at Etruria and doing both the Froghall and Leek branches. We're planning on one week and the only hesitation we have with this plan is that we are planning on starting and ending where the Caldon branches off from the main Trent & Mersey and since there won't be more than an hour or two cruising time on the starting and ending days we will end up mooring overnight in a relatively urban area. I haven't used CanalPlannerAC yet to figure out exactly where those overnighting spots will be, but once I do I may be back to ask about the safety of the area.
  18. I've become obsessed with planning a narrowboat holiday next year, coming from the U.S. My wife and I have been studying the brochures and websites of hire companies and have a question about the newer narrowboats that most of the hire companies use: Is the electricity that runs the lights, heating, etc. produced by the narrowboat's engine? And, if so, does that mean the engine must be running to have lights, or is there some sort of battery arrangement?
  19. Mark Cotton

    Caldon and Trent & Mersey September 2009

    Photos from a trip along the Caldon and a portion of the Trent & Mersey from Stoke-on-Trent to Barlaston.
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