Where to do a ~1 week WINTER holiday going through towns or cities (vs countryside)?

[Timx]

Union wharf at market harborough, would give you a run to leicester,or Rugby with the interest of Foxton locks.They have boats out all over the winter, and a great trip.

[ShrimpBurrito]

On 01/11/2019 at 01:27, Captain Pegg said:

 Canals that stay shut all winter this year are Llangollen, Macclesfield and Rufford Branch which can easily be avoided.

The Llangollen is closed all winter? I see that several of the Hurleston locks are closed throughout the winter, but other than that short section, at least during the Dec 16-23 timeframe, I don't see any other closures on the Canal River Trust closure report for those times.

 

Dave

[john6767]

34 minutes ago, ShrimpBurrito said:

The Llangollen is closed all winter? I see that several of the Hurleston locks are closed throughout the winter, but other than that short section, at least during the Dec 16-23 timeframe, I don't see any other closures on the Canal River Trust closure report for those times.

 

Dave

That is correct it is Hurleston Locks that are closed, so you can’t get on or off the Llangollen.  If you were to hire a boat on the Llangollen then you should not have an issue.

[Onewheeler]

On 01/11/2019 at 18:42, OldGoat said:

I'd take a slight issue with the above - what is more certain this year is that there are lock closures pending (EA are juggling their equipment and contractors around to get their 'best bang for their bucks' - and the dates may well change. In addition most of the hire fleets have closed for the winter season. All the larger boats on hire are fibreglass cruisers and AFAIK none have wood burning stoves, though some may have diesel fire 'ebersplutter' units. When we passed both Benson and Reading most boats looked as though they were finished for the winter.

A shame as I'd love you to come on to the Thames....

There aren't any closures planned on the Thames for a good distance either side of Oxford as far as I recall (I am hoping to do some winter boating). Whether College Cruisers or Anglo Welsh at Eynsham are open I have no idea. The Thames might be unnavigable, in which case with College Cruisers you'd at least be on a canal in a nice place. Otherwise one could have a pleasant week bimbling around Oxford and Abingdon.

 

Martin/

[Mr Norman]

Surprised nobody has suggested a gentle bimble on The Broads! No locks, no competition for moorings. Norwich is a lovely city and, out of season, both Yarmouth and Lowestoft are much more civillised! The pubs have improved beyond recognition.

[OldGoat]

12 hours ago, Onewheeler said:

There aren't any closures planned on the Thames for a good distance either side of Oxford as far as I recall (I am hoping to do some winter boating). Whether College Cruisers or Anglo Welsh at Eynsham are open I have no idea. The Thames might be unnavigable, in which case with College Cruisers you'd at least be on a canal in a nice place. Otherwise one could have a pleasant week bimbling around Oxford and Abingdon.

 

Martin/

You can't get below Culham or above Shifford locks in the new year and apart from Oxford (full of moored boats) and Abingdon (less so) there aren't a lot of places to explore, or indeed moor...

[blackrose]

On 31/10/2019 at 19:57, The Dreamer said:

Both, hence multi, although it is less coal than a composite, anthracite based, smokeless fuel.  Most planning areas ban the use of smoke polluting fuels, including house coal...

 

I didn't think those rules applied to boats or has the situation changed? Not that you'd want to burn house coal. Ghastly stuff and everyone nearby will hate you.

[Sea Dog]

15 hours ago, Mr Norman said:

Surprised nobody has suggested a gentle bimble on The Broads! No locks, no competition for moorings. Norwich is a lovely city and, out of season, both Yarmouth and Lowestoft are much more civillised! The pubs have improved beyond recognition.

Quite a nice idea. Fir me, the Broads are spoiled only by their popularity, resulting in too many other boats. Out of season this wouldn't be such an issue.

[ShrimpBurrito]

Thanks all for all the input! Very much appreciated.

 

How important is the need for a solid fuel stove? I’ve narrowed it down to 2 boats on the Llangollen, one with a stove and one without, and the one without a stove looks to be more comfortable / better appointed. I directly asked the hire company of the boat without the stove if their central heat is designed to warm a boat from 0 C to 21 C, instead of simply “taking the chill off” in spring or autumn, and they tell me it would keep the boat “warm and toasty”. The person I talked with said they were just out on one and it was “lovely and warm” inside.

 

Looking for some feedback from those with first-hand experience, though I realize central heating systems can and probably do vary from boat to boat.

 

Many thanks,

Dave

[Cheese]

I hired a boat without a stove over New Year some years ago, and it wasn't a problem - indeed it was "warm and toasty".  (It rained a lot, but there was no snow/ice).

 

A stove is nice, but can also sometimes be a hassle: lighting it, getting it to draw properly, emptying and storing the ash without creating a mess etc, all of which you don't need on a holiday.  When living aboard you get to understand the foibles of your individual stove, but for renting I would probably tend to avoid.

 

 

[cuthound]

14 minutes ago, ShrimpBurrito said:

Thanks all for all the input! Very much appreciated.

 

How important is the need for a solid fuel stove? I’ve narrowed it down to 2 boats on the Llangollen, one with a stove and one without, and the one without a stove looks to be more comfortable / better appointed. I directly asked the hire company of the boat without the stove if their central heat is designed to warm a boat from 0 C to 21 C, instead of simply “taking the chill off” in spring or autumn, and they tell me it would keep the boat “warm and toasty”. The person I talked with said they were just out on one and it was “lovely and warm” inside.

 

Looking for some feedback from those with first-hand experience, though I realize central heating systems can and probably do vary from boat to boat.

 

Many thanks,

Dave

 

Best to have both a stove and diesel or gas central heating.

 

Stove is much cheaper to run 24/7, but is not worth lighting just to take tne chill off chilly Autumn or Spring mornings and evenings. Central heating is better for those.

 

Having both means you are not left without any heating when one system inevitably fails andvis being repaired.

 

Can a stove not be fitted to the boat although one? Cost is about £1,000 DIY or double that if you get a boatyard to fit one.

 

 

[Cheese]

3 minutes ago, cuthound said:

 

Can a stove not be fitted to the boat although one? Cost is about £1,000 DIY or double that if you get a boatyard to fit one.

 

 

Probably not worth it when he is only hiring for a week ?

Edited November 18, 2019 by Cheese
Spilling

[cuthound]

1 minute ago, Cheese said:

Probably not worth it when he is only hiring for a week ?

 

Very true, didn't realise it was the OP posting. Whoops ?

 

That said a stove warms a boat in a much nicer wsy this time of year (providing you have the knack of lighting it and keeping it in overnight), and stops most of the condensation forming inside the boat.

[booke23]

9 hours ago, ShrimpBurrito said:

Looking for some feedback from those with first-hand experience, though I realize central heating systems can and probably do vary from boat to boat.

The central heating will in all likelihood keep the boat warm enough.

 

However you will probably need to leave it on all night (albeit with the thermostat turned down a bit) to avoid waking up with frostbite on your nose!  Personally I find the high pitch whine and roar of the diesel fired central heating units to be quite intrusive in the dead of night, and certainly loud enough to wake me up. A banked up stove is silent and keeps the boat at a nice temperature. 

 

So I would play it safe and hire a boat with both central heating and a stove to keep my options open.  

 

[Cheese]

6 hours ago, booke23 said:

...A banked up stove is silent and keeps the boat at a nice temperature.

Fair point.      The nicest time for a stove is perhaps when you are sitting near it "at home" on the boat, either moored up during the day or in the evening.  Most liveaboards probably keep their stove alight continuously during the winter.

 

But with hiring it may be different, since for your holiday you want to visit places during the day, and perhaps eat out more at pubs in the evening. (It will be dark from around 4pm).  Check if the hire company terms will let you leave the stove alight when you are away from the boat.  If you have to let it go out and relight it twice a day it may be lesss attractive.

[Athy]

8 minutes ago, Cheese said:

Check if the hire company terms will let you leave the stove alight when you are away from the boat.  If you have to let it go out and relight it twice a day it may be lesss attractive.

If a hire boat's stove and/or installation was so unsafe that the company forbade you to leave the boat while it was burning, I'd look for a different hire company.

[Sea Dog]

38 minutes ago, Athy said:

If a hire boat's stove and/or installation was so unsafe that the company forbade you to leave the boat while it was burning, I'd look for a different hire company.

Agreed - I'm not sure how you'd even achieve that in anything under a few hours... short of a bucket of water!

 

[Dave123]

On 11/11/2019 at 22:07, Onewheeler said:

There aren't any closures planned on the Thames for a good distance either side of Oxford as far as I recall (I am hoping to do some winter boating). Whether College Cruisers or Anglo Welsh at Eynsham are open I have no idea. The Thames might be unnavigable, in which case with College Cruisers you'd at least be on a canal in a nice place. Otherwise one could have a pleasant week bimbling around Oxford and Abingdon.

 

Martin/

The Thames is moat definitely unnavigable and likely to remain in a risky state the rest of the winter!

Another issue with just using a diesel heater is the amount of electricity they drain from the batteries (which will doubtless also be getting taxed from an inverter on all evening)...meaning with short days of cruising or a day off from cruising youll be needing to run the engine whilst moored to recharge which is even more noisey and annoying for you and any neighbours!

Edited November 20, 2019 by Dave123

[Onewheeler]

35 minutes ago, Dave123 said:

The Thames is moat definitely unnavigable and likely to remain in a risky state the rest of the winter!

 

It certainly is, at least for a few weeks. Had to paddle baarefoot to get off the boat on Friday, it peaked at about 1.3 m over usual in Oxford. Back down to about a metre up but it will take a while to get to a navigable state.