Thoughts for that far off day when I have loads of time and even I can't use it all boating.
I am nostalgic for that I never knew - too young for steam trains and too young to have seen much narrow boat carrying but love their preservation (although one of my earliest memories is of a loaded boat going past 224 Booth Lane, Middlewich, the house we lived in until I was five), but I love the things I grew up with - I go weak for a decent class 118 DMU, and I recall with (possibly misplaced) affection the hire boats of old, and the companies that operated them.
So, if I were to research anything, it would most probably be the development of the hire industry - first we have to define that - hire boat meaning a boat that's available for self-steer rental on the canals (although the earlier development on rivers and the Broads has interest), who and where the companies that hired these were, and what craft they used.
One normally starts with a literature review - is anything published that anyone knows of? (I don't, and my knowledge is extensive but not exhaustive) or do I start with canal guides and whatever journals might have published adverts and track down at least the geography that way? I'm not looking for anyone to do the research for me (and this isn't part of my commercial activity - I'll be doing this for "fun" - do remind me of that when the sleepless nights hit!) just a few pointers.
Of course, if you want to tell a tale of your early hire boating feel free!
(My earliest personal knowledge of hire boats is 1959, seven years before I was born, Mum, Dad and Aunty Vera rented from the Potato wharf in Manchester and went to Nantwich and back - I'm aware there were hire boats from Stone before then)