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Milzy Collinson

By Milzy Collinson
in New to Boating?

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howardang Influencer

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Posted
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10 minutes ago, Milzy Collinson said:

Hi, are there any 'must have' book / maps etc to make life easy ?? For eg, a 'book's that tells me when things are on the canals where I can get fuel, do washing, water pointsxetc ?? Oh and do the canals have a 'canal atlas' like you can get for the roads ??

 

Many thanks

 

 

Nicholsons guides or alternatively Pearsons guides are what you need. Just Google them.

 

Howard

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nicknorman Veteran II

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I use the Nicholsons guides. Like anything on paper the information can be out of date, but good for boatyards (fuel), water points, rubbish disposal, pubs and food shops. And of course locks and canal junctions/routes. I don’t think they cover laundrettes though.

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BEngo Veteran II

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For Laundrettes you need the Aylesbury Canal Society laundrette list

Published annually.  Updates on ACS website.   Available from IWA Sales or get a copy by visiting the society at  Circus Field Basin.

 

The best route planner is Canalplan ac.

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Athy Veteran II

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6 minutes ago, BEngo said:

For Laundrettes you need the Aylesbury Canal Society laundrette list

Published annually.  Updates on ACS website.   Available from IWA Sales or get a copy by visiting the society at  Circus Field Basin.

 

The best route planner is Canalplan ac.

But that's on-line only, so many people will not be able to use it while they're on their boats.

Also, it may be fine for planning an actual route but, to the best of my recollection, gives no information about peripherals such as shops, pubs and the like.

We use Pearson's Guides.

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Jen-in-Wellies Veteran II

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What everyone else has said. Additionally, if on Canal River Trust waters, there are downloadable boaters guides. These are compiled direct from the CaRT database at the time of download, so are as accurate as the database is, which is mostly, but not always. Good for CaRT specific things where the paper guides have gone out of date, water points, sani stations (fewer of these), stoppages (lots more of these), booking times and details for places that need CaRT staff to work you through. They give the official point of view, so will give you the maximum length, for example, of boat that can fit in a certain lock, without the tricks that people use to get a slightly longer one through. I find them a useful adjunct to Nicholson Guides and CanalplanAC.

 

Jen

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jpcdriver Collaborator

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I'm a fan of the maps from Waterway Routes (waterwayroutes.co.uk). They come as files that can be used with gps equipped phones, tablets etc or pdf files which can be used offline or printed. They are regularly updated and update files can be bought at a discount.

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MtB Veteran II

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Posted
Posted (edited)
1 hour ago, Athy said:

But that's on-line only, so many people will not be able to use it while they're on their boats.

 

I'd take issue with this. The vast majority of boaters have smartphones nowadays, some of them specifically in order to access CanalPlanAC whilst on their boats.

 

 

Edited by MtB
To get the name of CanalPlanAC right!
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Athy Veteran II

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1 hour ago, MtB said:

 

I'd take issue with this. The vast majority of boaters have smartphones nowadays, some of them specifically in order to access CanalPlanAC whilst on their boats.

 

 

Possibly so (though "vast majority" may be an exaggeration), but I was referring to those who haven't for whom books are the best sources of information.

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Hudds Lad Influencer

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Another vote for Waterway Routes, found these to be the best cruise guides for us as they are compiled by a chap on his boat so you know if there's an M for mooring it is possible to actually moor up. And it's not just the official CRT ones listed.

 

For nearby pubs, shops etc. just open Google maps on your device, nothing on paper is going to be up-to-date enough. Nothing worse than being on a canal you don't know, planning a nice pub stop as listed in Nicholsons, and then find out it's now shut down, or a house, or a car park.

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nicknorman Veteran II

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On 19/08/2021 at 13:28, Milzy Collinson said:

Thank you all, I'll start looking. The Nicholson guides.......ebay ???? "Nicholson narrow boat guide" ??????

Nicholsons Waterways guides, several books covering different areas: https://collins.co.uk/collections/collins-nicholson-waterways-guides

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mrsmelly Veteran II

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4 hours ago, Mad Harold said:

Nicholsons guides are very good apart from you need eyes like a s- - - - house rat to read them!😰

Thats why my last couple of battery monitors where NASA. Having had victron and other makes NASA are way better in that a grown up can actualy see the numbers rather than only 12 year olds.

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Rob-M Veteran II

Rob-M

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3 hours ago, mrsmelly said:

Thats why my last couple of battery monitors where NASA. Having had victron and other makes NASA are way better in that a grown up can actualy see the numbers rather than only 12 year olds.

Don't even have to get out of bed to read our NASA display as the numbers are so large.

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nicknorman Veteran II

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1 minute ago, Rob-M said:

Don't even have to get out of bed to read our NASA display as the numbers are so large.

I don’t even have to get out of bed to see the battery monitor display because we’ve now got a BMV712 and it’s linked to my iPhone.

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