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question about boat hire


georgekatkins

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17 hours ago, georgekatkins said:

We'll be on the Tinka 2. It's the tiny 25' boat. This is our first venture, so The Wife and I (there are just the two of us) thought we'd start off modestly, having never piloted a narrow boat before. And we'll make it a point to stop by, if not on the outbound, then the inbound.

George

Handling isn't the problem you might think, indeed as others have pointed out longer boats can be easier (although as they start to get towards full length much more care is needed in locks) - one advantage of a 25 footer though (and one Juno shares as a 23 footer cruiser) is you can turn almost anywhere... and on a busy canal, you can often get in near the pub in that gap that no one else will fit in :) 

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1 minute ago, magpie patrick said:

Handling isn't the problem you might think, indeed as others have pointed out longer boats can be easier (although as they start to get towards full length much more care is needed in locks) - one advantage of a 25 footer though (and one Juno shares as a 23 footer cruiser) is you can turn almost anywhere... and on a busy canal, you can often get in near the pub in that gap that no one else will fit in :) 

Fully agree with this.

 

We have never been stuck for a mooring or somewhere to turn around in our 25fter.

 

And the git gaps that people tend to leave on visitor moorings, they are often just the right size for our boat. :lol:

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41 minutes ago, Naughty Cal said:

Fully agree with this.

 

We have never been stuck for a mooring or somewhere to turn around in our 25fter.

 

And the git gaps that people tend to leave on visitor moorings, they are often just the right size for our boat. :lol:

I hate Git gaps!! I also hate the oh yes, we have left that space for our friends when they come along in a few hours...............................Torksey on the Trent side moorings!!!

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  • 2 weeks later...
On 19/06/2019 at 07:05, magpie patrick said:

Handling isn't the problem you might think, indeed as others have pointed out longer boats can be easier (although as they start to get towards full length much more care is needed in locks) - one advantage of a 25 footer though (and one Juno shares as a 23 footer cruiser) is you can turn almost anywhere... and on a busy canal, you can often get in near the pub in that gap that no one else will fit in :) 

Hello, Patrick!

Thanks once again for your advise. I thought I'd check back in with you, as we've more or less firmed up our plans for the area. We'll be doing an overnighter in Bath on 23 Sept. On the morning of the 24th we'll go over to the tow path and then it's shank's mare to Bathampton and the boat launch (if the weather is good). Should take about an hour. I'm not sure which side of the canal the boat hire is on, but I trust there is some kind of bridge thereabouts. Our check-in time is 11. Then it's a 3-hour training before we set out. I reckon our "day 1" is really just about half a day! :)

So, it would likely be on the return trip that we could stop and say 'howdy', as our boat is not due back until 4 PM. Could you send me the location and name of your boat? Looking forward to meeting you in September.

George

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On 19/06/2019 at 05:59, cuthound said:

 

This ^^^^

 

My first canal boat experience was 46 years ago on a 72 foot "camping boat" (ex-working boat.

 

After many years of hiring, shared ownerxhip and for the last 5 years full ownership, I have found that longer boats steer a straight course more readily.

 

Out and back trips look very different on the way back and allow you to revisit favourite pubs found on the way out and to visit those you missed ?

 

As to whether northern beer is better than southern beer, I was born in the North, spent my working life in the South and have retired to the Midlands.

 

Excellent beer is available in each area, (Hogsback Brewery's TEA, Timothy Taylor's Landlord and Bathams bitter being my regional favourites) but you may have to look for it.

Thanks a lot for the beer recommendations, CutHound. I'll look for them in our travels. And I hope you and your boat are getting along famously. We've been watching tons of narrowboat videos on Youtube, by the way; not only the owner videos, but also "the great canal journeys" series and the so-called "Slow TV" videos that have no added music or narrative. For that matter, I've come to dislike soundtracks on boating videos. They are usually annoying and mask the natural sounds.

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On 19/06/2019 at 13:50, peterboat said:

I hate Git gaps!! I also hate the oh yes, we have left that space for our friends when they come along in a few hours...............................Torksey on the Trent side moorings!!!

We usually raft on the side of them if they have left "friend " gaps.

 

It's amazing how many times they then suggest  that you have the friends gap.

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  • 4 months later...
On 18/06/2019 at 00:31, georgekatkins said:

Hello!

 

However, my wife and I are going on holiday in England and hope to hire a narrowboat for a short break. It is a new experience for us. We ran across one company known as "Kennet & Avon Canal Boat Hire" and wonder if anybody knows anything about the company (experience, boats, etc.) they could share with us. 

George

Hello George, 

May I ask what your experience with Kennet & Avon canal boat hire was?

Just like you,  I can't find any reviews.

I have made a reservation for next year.  

Kind regards Paula 

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Hi, Paula!

 

My wife and I rented a 26' narrowboat for a short break (3 nights) this past September. The Kennett &Avon Canal Boat Hire is a small, family-run business. They have 3 boats (we hired the smallest), the last time I looked, so they do not have their own marina. They have a mooring in Bathampton.

 

Richard and Sue Warren run the business. Richard provided instruction and went with us through the first lock out of Bathampton. He was willing to spend as much time with us as we needed.  Truth be told, as the pilot I probably should have taken him up on the offer and worked through a few more procedures! Don't be afraid to ask Richard to go over anything in the training a second time. We found Richard to be friendly, supportive, and reputable. My seamanship will not be heralded in the pubs along the canal, but we had a grand time, all the same! Upon arrival back in Bathhampton, Richard was even nice enough to give us a lift back into Bath. In summary, we had no problems involved with renting or returning the boat. We'd have no problems working with them again.

 

Richard will advise you to make your major potty trips at pubs along the way. Very good advice. Even then, I also advise making at least one stop at an Elsan point, going and returning, to empty the cassette toilet. You definitely do not want to wait too long!

 

One final tip: It's not how far you go, it's how much you take the time to enjoy the trip!

 

George

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Hi George,  many thanks for your quick response.  Glad to hear it's a  legit company.  You are absolutely right about it's not how far you can go, to take the time to enjoy the trip.  We will take a 3 year old one with us, so  we won't be going to far.  Family time is more important than miles.  Also thanks for the toilet advice.  Glad you enjoyed your trip.  I'll hope we will have the same experience.  

Kind regards Paula 

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On 19/06/2019 at 13:03, Athy said:

I am not responsible for the standard of present-day geography teaching in our schools.

 

Actually, East Anglia is a bit further up the map than many people think. We are on the Cambs/Norfolk border, which is often thought of as a sort of extension of the Home Counties. But in fact we're about level with Leicester.

TAnd the last time I looked, Leicester was still in the East Midlands.

 

 

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On 18/06/2019 at 07:39, alan_fincher said:

Nothing wrong with cassette toilets,

So the website says:

 

Due to the configuration and layout of our boats they all have Elsan Cassette toilet systems.”

 

In other words, we bought second hand boats, and didn’t care about the spec...

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18 minutes ago, The Dreamer said:

And then there’s this outstanding endorsement of customer service, however I personally would prefer to hire a boat where the gearbox wasn’t likely to fail, IE: a new one!

 

 

E9FA9121-5AC0-43CE-87CF-CC92F353B313.jpeg

On the other hand, the time when you fund out how good the customer service really is is when something goes wrong. And on that score it seems they excelled.

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20 minutes ago, David Mack said:

On the other hand, the time when you fund out how good the customer service really is is when something goes wrong. And on that score it seems they excelled.

Indeed, there is an old adage in customer service, “customers have a better perception of a company if they have a complaint handled well, rather than their perception of the same company having never had a reason to complain”.  Nevertheless, there are times when I would rather be content with a firm, as opposed to having to find out that I am impressed with them.  Being on holiday, and using precious days annual leave, is one of those times!

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