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Class trip from Denmark


PeterOEM

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Hi!

 

I am a teacher in a Danish school equivalent to High School. My students will be 17-19 next year, where they will be going on an educational holiday out of the country mid March 2020. One of my ideas for the trip is to go to the UK, and I was thinking that renting narrowboats would be a fun way to use a few days. But I got some questions and concerns about that, so I hope you guys can help. Here goes:

 

- Do you normally rent a narrowboat at one dock and return it at another, or do you have to return it where you rented it?

- Do you normally stop and see a lot of places/things along the way, or do you mostly just sail and relax (they have to learn something, after all)?

- Would it be possible to rent narrowboats for just 3 days (I can see that most are rented out on a midweek or weekend basis)? And would it make sense to sail for just 3 days?

- Would it be responsible to let 18/19 year olds control some of the boats? We are two teachers and about 24 students who will be 17-19 in age.

- Is it possible to get boats that can have more than 6 people sleeping in them (mainly to save costs)?

 

Best regards,

Peter

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3 minutes ago, PeterOEM said:

Hi!

 

I am a teacher in a Danish school equivalent to High School. My students will be 17-19 next year, where they will be going on an educational holiday out of the country mid March 2020. One of my ideas for the trip is to go to the UK, and I was thinking that renting narrowboats would be a fun way to use a few days. But I got some questions and concerns about that, so I hope you guys can help. Here goes:

 

- Do you normally rent a narrowboat at one dock and return it at another, or do you have to return it where you rented it?

- Do you normally stop and see a lot of places/things along the way, or do you mostly just sail and relax (they have to learn something, after all)?

- Would it be possible to rent narrowboats for just 3 days (I can see that most are rented out on a midweek or weekend basis)? And would it make sense to sail for just 3 days?

- Would it be responsible to let 18/19 year olds control some of the boats? We are two teachers and about 24 students who will be 17-19 in age.

- Is it possible to get boats that can have more than 6 people sleeping in them (mainly to save costs)?

 

Best regards,

Peter

In order.

 

Either but most usually the later.

Yes, visit some very interesting places.

Yes, you may have problems in peak season and not really, in 3 days its hard to go far!

Certainly, there is no age restriction but it would be as well that someone could prove competence to instruct. Its not difficult to control.

Certainly, many take up to 12, Try Willow Wren

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13 minutes ago, Boater Sam said:

In order.

 

Either but most usually the later.

Yes, visit some very interesting places.

Yes, you may have problems in peak season and not really, in 3 days its hard to go far!

Certainly, there is no age restriction but it would be as well that someone could prove competence to instruct. Its not difficult to control.

Certainly, many take up to 12, Try Willow Wren

Thank you. I'll have to convince my fellow teacher that this is a good idea. The more I look at it, the more I wanna go. :)

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Narrow boats usually accommodate a maximum of 12 people, so if your total group (staff and students) is 24 or less you would need 2 boats, otherwise 3. There are a few companies which are targeted towards youth groups, but some of the general hire boat companies can also help. A couple of examples (amongst others): 

http://www.lnbp.co.uk

 

https://www.oxfordshire-narrowboats.co.uk/big-boats.html

 

 

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10 minutes ago, David Mack said:

Narrow boats usually accommodate a maximum of 12 people, so if your total group (staff and students) is 24 or less you would need 2 boats, otherwise 3. There are a few companies which are targeted towards youth groups, but some of the general hire boat companies can also help. A couple of examples (amongst others): 

http://www.lnbp.co.uk

 

https://www.oxfordshire-narrowboats.co.uk/big-boats.html

 

 

Thanks, I'll look into that.

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Another company that has 12 berth boats is

www.unioncanalcarriers.co.uk 

 

they have been operating boats for large groups for many years. Before we finished some years ago we ran camping boats taking 12 young people on each boat and we had a contact in Denmark who arranged the trips. We sent a coach to Harwich to collect them and from our base near Derby used to take them towards Stoke on Trent. The Wedgwood museum and the Chatterly Whitfield mining museum where great favorites.

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1 hour ago, Dav and Pen said:

Another company that has 12 berth boats is

www.unioncanalcarriers.co.uk 

 

they have been operating boats for large groups for many years. Before we finished some years ago we ran camping boats taking 12 young people on each boat and we had a contact in Denmark who arranged the trips. We sent a coach to Harwich to collect them and from our base near Derby used to take them towards Stoke on Trent. The Wedgwood museum and the Chatterly Whitfield mining museum where great favorites.

 

Indeed UCC were my introduction to the the canals in 1973.

 

I belonged to a mixed scouting unit who hired two ex-working boats (camping boats), one for 12 boys, including the leaders and one for 12 girls, including the leaders.

 

Unfortunately basic camping boats are no longer available to hire. A pity as they must have been a cheap way for introducing hundreds of young people to tbe canals.

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Normally you return the boat at the base where you rented it. To take it to another base I think is the exception to the rule. You are in full command of the boat, and it is up to you whether you use your days sailing, or stopping and exploring. You are allowed to moor along the canalside almost everywhere, on the towpath side (but several long boats kan be hard to find room for in popular places!) But remember it is never just to "sail along" - there are locks, they are manual, and you operate them yourself.  :)

 

Remember to check the hiring company's T&C. There ARE age restrictions, as to the skipper needs to be above a certain age. I don't know how that works with more boats hired by a group. But just ask them - the hiring companies we used was very serviceminded.  But of course the teenagers are allowed to try their hand at steering.

 

Here's a link to a map I often use myself. https://www.centralwaterways.co.uk/guides-and-maps/lockmaster-maps/lockmaster-holiday-planner-flat-5th-edition.html

 

Best of luck with your venture - a great idea!

Edited by Sally Grim
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Remember that you usually collect the boat on the afternoon of your first day, and return it early on the morning of your last day, so a 3 day hiring gives you little more than 1 day of travelling. For that reason a longer hire, say a week which gives you 6 full days of travelling, is much better value for money.

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2 hours ago, PeterOEM said:

Hi!

 

I am a teacher in a Danish school equivalent to High School. My students will be 17-19 next year, where they will be going on an educational holiday out of the country mid March 2020. One of my ideas for the trip is to go to the UK, and I was thinking that renting narrowboats would be a fun way to use a few days. But I got some questions and concerns about that, so I hope you guys can help. Here goes:

 

- Do you normally rent a narrowboat at one dock and return it at another, or do you have to return it where you rented it?

- Do you normally stop and see a lot of places/things along the way, or do you mostly just sail and relax (they have to learn something, after all)?

- Would it be possible to rent narrowboats for just 3 days (I can see that most are rented out on a midweek or weekend basis)? And would it make sense to sail for just 3 days?

- Would it be responsible to let 18/19 year olds control some of the boats? We are two teachers and about 24 students who will be 17-19 in age.

- Is it possible to get boats that can have more than 6 people sleeping in them (mainly to save costs)?

 

Best regards,

Peter

Hello,

 

Others have already answered many of your questions. 

 

Here is a link to another popular company which, incidentally, seems to be popular with many people from your part of the world. I think the name and the name of their boats may be the reason!

 

http://www.andersenboats.com/

 

I hope you do decide to make the trip and I am sure whichever company you chose, you will really enjoy the inland waterways of Great Britain.

 

Howard

 

 

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34 minutes ago, Keeping Up said:

Remember that you usually collect the boat on the afternoon of your first day, and return it early on the morning of your last day, so a 3 day hiring gives you little more than 1 day of travelling. For that reason a longer hire, say a week which gives you 6 full days of travelling, is much better value for money.

That may be the case if taking the request for 3 days literally. Of course hires over weekends are normally 3 nights and midweek are 4 nights giving 2 or 3 full days of cruising respectively.

 

There are a couple of small rings in the Midlands that can be fitted into those timescales but it would of course mean tying into certain hire bases that may or may not be able to accommodate large groups.

 

JP

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On 08/04/2019 at 16:22, Captain Pegg said:

That may be the case if taking the request for 3 days literally. Of course hires over weekends are normally 3 nights and midweek are 4 nights giving 2 or 3 full days of cruising respectively.

 

There are a couple of small rings in the Midlands that can be fitted into those timescales but it would of course mean tying into certain hire bases that may or may not be able to accommodate large groups.

 

JP

 

If it does not matter to you whether you do a weekend hire (Friday afternoon to Monday morning) or a midweek hire (Monday afternoon to Friday morning) I would suggest going for midweek.

 

It's better value for money as, for the same price, you get 3 full days rather than 2.

 

As a bonus, the canal may be a little less busy as you won't have the weekend boaters out from their marinas for a couple of days.

 

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