Hire boat with a decent bed and comfy seating.

[The Black Jack]

Boutique Narrowboats based at Market Harborough have some high end boats with a cosy King Sized bed at the bow of the boat. There are only two disadvantages:

No dogs permitted on their poshest boats.

Located at the end of the Market Harborough branch means only two routes available if you only have one week to spare.

[Guest]

Just to avoid my wasting anyone else's time responding we have decided we are giving boating holidays a miss for the foreseeable future given the frequency of unplanned stoppages and the general condition of the system.

 

Boating holidays are very expensive and I would be less than pleased if a well planned trip couldn't go ahead because some lock or something else failed when if it had been maintained it wouldn't have done.

 

The money I would have spent has gone to Brittany Ferries and southern Spain instead.

 

Thanks though to all who did respond.

[john6767]

Anglo Welsh have (or at least had) some two birth semi-trad 57 ft boats that are set up more like a private boat, with a standalone table and chairs,  2 swivel chars and a multi fuel stove.  We hired one from Bunbury and went to Llangollen and back in a week.

[Stroudwater1]

That’s very sad. We’ve had three weeks of great cruises this year, apart from one low pound we’ve had no interruptions and no issues with locks at all. Friends have had 4 trouble free months, managed the L&L, appreciate that’s not currently possible 

 

I fear that the internet age where all issues almost immediately resolved gets reported so it skews folks idea of what’s happening. 
 

sure there are paddles not immediately repaired (or in three years, Hillmorton top) but the network is in a good enough  shape generally still to have a nice time. 

[Guest]

2 minutes ago, Stroudwater1 said:

That’s very sad. We’ve had three weeks of great cruises this year, apart from one low pound we’ve had no interruptions and no issues with locks at all. Friends have had 4 trouble free months, managed the L&L, appreciate that’s not currently possible 

 

I fear that the internet age where all issues almost immediately resolved gets reported so it skews folks idea of what’s happening. 
 

sure there are paddles not immediately repaired (or in three years, Hillmorton top) but the network is in a good enough  shape generally still to have a nice time. 

 

I think the difference is when you own your own boat a two week stoppage (for example) is not really a big deal but if that stoppage co incides with an expensive two week holiday it could completely ruin it.

 

I hear what you say but I'm just not prepared to take that chance.

 

 

[Arthur Marshall]

13 minutes ago, M_JG said:

 

I think the difference is when you own your own boat a two week stoppage (for example) is not really a big deal but if that stoppage co incides with an expensive two week holiday it could completely ruin it.

 

I hear what you say but I'm just not prepared to take that chance.

 

 

It was a holiday wrecker for me last year so I sympathise. The two week stoppage meant I couldn't risk going where I wanted to as I had obligations when I got back and had to be prepared for a ten day detour to get home.

Next year I'm going to have to turn musical commitments down in order to be able to relax. How you can get that relaxation when paying a couple of grand for a hire with so little certainty of getting back to base defeats me.

[The Black Jack]

21 minutes ago, Arthur Marshall said:

It was a holiday wrecker for me last year so I sympathise. The two week stoppage meant I couldn't risk going where I wanted to as I had obligations when I got back and had to be prepared for a ten day detour to get home.

Next year I'm going to have to turn musical commitments down in order to be able to relax. How you can get that relaxation when paying a couple of grand for a hire with so little certainty of getting back to base defeats me.

So far we have been lucky with our Easter or August breaks but I always try to hire from a base where there are alternative routes available for this reason.

[agg221]

1 hour ago, M_JG said:

 

I think the difference is when you own your own boat a two week stoppage (for example) is not really a big deal but if that stoppage co incides with an expensive two week holiday it could completely ruin it.

 

I hear what you say but I'm just not prepared to take that chance.

 

 

For some, yes. For others such as us, we are equally subject to the vagaries of stoppages. I am tied to school holidays with both school age children and my wife being a teacher. I have to give a month's notice for a week of annual leave and once booked it cannot be cancelled or the date changed. Whilst I am not affected by the cost changing, I am certainly affected by the value.

 

This year we went to the end of the Llangollen feeder, something I tried and failed to do in 1997. It was well worth the experience. Friends with whom we travelled had spent a fortnight over the summer going down to Stratford and back. There have been a few challenges but nothing which held us up to any notable extent. The greatest risk of not getting there was when the gate failed on Lock 7 of the Audlem flight just before the historic boat gathering - in the end it was fixed and we made it on Saturday morning somewhat earlier than planned, having gone down most of the flight on the Friday evening. There are maintenance issues, and more significantly there are issues with the management of maintenance which means best value is not being obtained, but the system is generally navigable unless you head to the northern reaches with known water supply issues.

 

Alec

[Ken X]

I must admit this the state of the network has caused us more concern in recent years. 

 

This year we headed straight onto the Bridgwater Canal, going as far as the Wigan Flight (closed), back to Manchester and then across to the Shroppy for a bit of a noodle around. 

 

We are now not booking until the very last minute and watching the closures carefully.  I definitely feel the best years of canal boating are behind us in terms of network condition. 

 

Next year we are looking to perhaps start on the Wey and steam up and down the Thames, maybe visit the K & A or Oxford Canals  Plenty to do over several weeks and less worrying about closures. 

 

It's a shame as we enjoy the Canals,  but the risk of a failure is becoming a factor.

[Guest]

11 minutes ago, agg221 said:

For some, yes. For others such as us, we are equally subject to the vagaries of stoppages. I am tied to school holidays with both school age children and my wife being a teacher. I have to give a month's notice for a week of annual leave and once booked it cannot be cancelled or the date changed. Whilst I am not affected by the cost changing, I am certainly affected by the value.

 

This year we went to the end of the Llangollen feeder, something I tried and failed to do in 1997. It was well worth the experience. Friends with whom we travelled had spent a fortnight over the summer going down to Stratford and back. There have been a few challenges but nothing which held us up to any notable extent. The greatest risk of not getting there was when the gate failed on Lock 7 of the Audlem flight just before the historic boat gathering - in the end it was fixed and we made it on Saturday morning somewhat earlier than planned, having gone down most of the flight on the Friday evening. There are maintenance issues, and more significantly there are issues with the management of maintenance which means best value is not being obtained, but the system is generally navigable unless you head to the northern reaches with known water supply issues.

 

Alec

 

Yes your first paragraph is a valid point regarding limited time that even some owners may have.

 

However when that happens you haven't potentially lost the best part of two or three thousand pounds. Hire companies won't reimburse me the money and why should they?

 

Anyway for us the decision is made, for next year at least, and the money allocated spent on an alternative.

 

For 2025, we shall see.

[agg221]

11 minutes ago, M_JG said:

 

Yes your first paragraph is a valid point regarding limited time that even some owners may have.

 

However when that happens you haven't potentially lost the best part of two or three thousand pounds. Hire companies won't reimburse me the money and why should they?

 

Anyway for us the decision is made, for next year at least, and the money allocated spent on an alternative.

 

For 2025, we shall see.

I have lost the money, because I have paid for a licence, mooring, insurance, BSS and maintenance costs which nobody will reimburse me. You could go and sit on a hire boat at its hire base just as I could go and sit on my boat at its mooring. Neither of us can re-book, the hirer because the company will not reimburse them and me because I cannot take alternative time off.

 

I do recognise that owning means I intend to go out more than once a year, so proportionally I do get derive more value than a hirer who loses their whole trip, but given that we probably get no more than a couple of full weeks a year, and its mainly weekends which are often more about maintenance than cruising, it's still a big hit.

 

Alec

Edited November 13, 2023 by agg221

[Guest]

7 hours ago, agg221 said:

I have lost the money, because I have paid for a licence, mooring, insurance, BSS and maintenance costs which nobody will reimburse me. You could go and sit on a hire boat at its hire base just as I could go and sit on my boat at its mooring. Neither of us can re-book, the hirer because the company will not reimburse them and me because I cannot take alternative time off.

 

I do recognise that owning means I intend to go out more than once a year, so proportionally I do get derive more value than a hirer who loses their whole trip, but given that we probably get no more than a couple of full weeks a year, and its mainly weekends which are often more about maintenance than cruising, it's still a big hit.

 

Alec

 

Your licence fee and other costs cover the whole year, and facilitates the use of the boat over the entire fifty two weeks, the amount you 'lose' is way different to someone losing the equivalent of a whole licence fee, probably more, in one hit.

 

 

Edited November 14, 2023 by M_JG

[Naughty Cal]

On 13/11/2023 at 20:23, M_JG said:

Just to avoid my wasting anyone else's time responding we have decided we are giving boating holidays a miss for the foreseeable future given the frequency of unplanned stoppages and the general condition of the system.

 

Boating holidays are very expensive and I would be less than pleased if a well planned trip couldn't go ahead because some lock or something else failed when if it had been maintained it wouldn't have done.

 

The money I would have spent has gone to Brittany Ferries and southern Spain instead.

 

Thanks though to all who did respond.

You will get better weather down there as well.

 

Enjoy 

 

We did contemplate a boat hire for next year but have decided to have a week on the Isle of Wight in the summer and then a couple of weeks in Europe after the kids have gone back to school, probably in September.

 

Boat hire has got very expensive in the UK. A one week hire at the beginning of July on the Broads was going to cost us £2.5k for the boat we wanted. We didn't spend half of that on our French trip last year including food, drink and fuel for two weeks!!

[IanD]

2 hours ago, Naughty Cal said:

You will get better weather down there as well.

 

Enjoy 

 

We did contemplate a boat hire for next year but have decided to have a week on the Isle of Wight in the summer and then a couple of weeks in Europe after the kids have gone back to school, probably in September.

 

Boat hire has got very expensive in the UK. A one week hire at the beginning of July on the Broads was going to cost us £2.5k for the boat we wanted. We didn't spend half of that on our French trip last year including food, drink and fuel for two weeks!!

 

Not just the UK -- boat hire on the French canals in July is similarly expensive...

 

A motorhome trip where you own it (like my mum used to) is obviously going to be much cheaper on the surface -- but of course you have to buy and maintain it, pay fees and taxes and insurance, and lose value in depreciation. Still cheap per week if you spend a lot of time on it (she did about 6 months per year!), less so for holidays similar in length to hiring a boat. But then you could say the same for owning a boat... 😉

Edited November 17, 2023 by IanD

[Naughty Cal]

3 hours ago, IanD said:

 

Not just the UK -- boat hire on the French canals in July is similarly expensive...

 

A motorhome trip where you own it (like my mum used to) is obviously going to be much cheaper on the surface -- but of course you have to buy and maintain it, pay fees and taxes and insurance, and lose value in depreciation. Still cheap per week if you spend a lot of time on it (she did about 6 months per year!), less so for holidays similar in length to hiring a boat. But then you could say the same for owning a boat... 😉

Thankfully the van is a damn sight cheaper to "run and maintain" than the boat was 🤣🤣🤣

 

Not been hit with depreciation yet. We bought at the right time. Its worth a fair chunk more than we paid for it almost 3 years ago (blimey where has that time gone?)

 

The more you use something, the less per use it becomes. Have never understood those who have an expensive item, be it a van or a boat, and never use it. We bought ours to use it not leave it sat on the drive. 

 

Out in it now. Not gone far just half an hour down the road at a local country park site. Gets us out and about for the weekend. 

[Momac]

15 minutes ago, Naughty Cal said:

The more you use something, the less per use it becomes.

Very true.

Friends of ours only had one weekend on board in 2023 which makes a suite at the Ritz look better value.

But it is very much a low hours boat.

 

23 minutes ago, Naughty Cal said:

Thankfully the van is a damn sight cheaper to "run and maintain" than the boat was

I don't think there is any doubt about that . 

There is something very special about boating but it never has been a cheap hobby. And all costs are escalating.

 

You could't have timed the change from a boat  to a motorhome better from a financial perspective.

Boating on the UK inland  waterways  is slowly but surely being killed off by costs while motorhome/caravan/camping seems ever increasingly popular. Demand for motorhomes appears to remain high while boat sales are very slow.

 

 

 

 

[Arthur Marshall]

10 hours ago, MartynG said:

Very true.

Friends of ours only had one weekend on board in 2023 which makes a suite at the Ritz look better value.

But it is very much a low hours boat.

 

I don't think there is any doubt about that . 

There is something very special about boating but it never has been a cheap hobby. And all costs are escalating.

 

You could't have timed the change from a boat  to a motorhome better from a financial perspective.

Boating on the UK inland  waterways  is slowly but surely being killed off by costs while motorhome/caravan/camping seems ever increasingly popular. Demand for motorhomes appears to remain high while boat sales are very slow.

 

 

 

 

It's always been my intention to get a motorhome when I give up the boat. I'd have one now except my wife is still too busy to get more than a few weeks holiday a year and if I'm going solo I'd still rather chug about in the boat.

I've tried to fit my summer trip round musical obligations in the past and that has now, because of the maintenance problems, become impossible as there's no guarantee of being able to plan a journey with any accuracy.

I tend to work out the "value" of the boat by comparing the hire charge with the time I spend cruising, and as I still get at least eight weeks a year I reckon I'm just about ahead of the game. There again, my pension only stretches so far and a combination of the boat and my kids has now demolished all my savings so a lot depends on this round of price rises, which I notice haven't been announced yet - no doubt due to disappointment at CRT that the inflation rate has gone down!

[Stroudwater1]

34 minutes ago, Arthur Marshall said:

It's always been my intention to get a motorhome when I give up the boat. I'd have one now except my wife is still too busy to get more than a few weeks holiday a year and if I'm going solo I'd still rather chug about in the boat.

I've tried to fit my summer trip round musical obligations in the past and that has now, because of the maintenance problems, become impossible as there's no guarantee of being able to plan a journey with any accuracy.

I tend to work out the "value" of the boat by comparing the hire charge with the time I spend cruising, and as I still get at least eight weeks a year I reckon I'm just about ahead of the game. There again, my pension only stretches so far and a combination of the boat and my kids has now demolished all my savings so a lot depends on this round of price rises, which I notice haven't been announced yet - no doubt due to disappointment at CRT that the inflation rate has gone down!

With eight weeks a year (which if hiring is really only Sat from 2 till Sat next week at at 9am ie 6 days cruise ) you are miles ahead Arthur. It’s around £2 k a week to hire now so you are saving at least £16k annually less mooring licence and maintenance.
 

Even at two whole weeks use  (Friday night to the Sunday 1 week later) many will be at break even without any other weekends or days out. That’s excluding all the other advantages of owing your own. Appreciate there are disadvantages too 🤣 

[Naughty Cal]

1 hour ago, Arthur Marshall said:

It's always been my intention to get a motorhome when I give up the boat. I'd have one now except my wife is still too busy to get more than a few weeks holiday a year and if I'm going solo I'd still rather chug about in the boat.

I've tried to fit my summer trip round musical obligations in the past and that has now, because of the maintenance problems, become impossible as there's no guarantee of being able to plan a journey with any accuracy.

I tend to work out the "value" of the boat by comparing the hire charge with the time I spend cruising, and as I still get at least eight weeks a year I reckon I'm just about ahead of the game. There again, my pension only stretches so far and a combination of the boat and my kids has now demolished all my savings so a lot depends on this round of price rises, which I notice haven't been announced yet - no doubt due to disappointment at CRT that the inflation rate has gone down!

It is weekend use where we really appreciate the van. Like your wife we only get a few weeks holiday from work plus a week at Christmas. 

 

If we wanted a weekend on the boat and didn't fancy going far we really only had a couple of choices, Lincoln or Saxilby. With the van we have almost unlimited choices of places to visit within an hours drive of home. 

 

We are only half an hour from home now, somewhere we have never visited before and somewhere we probably wouldn't have visited if we still had the boat. 

 

For now. We are finding the van much better value for money.  You are just reliant on UK roads for your leisure time which is no good thing the majority of the time 🙄

[Momac]

4 hours ago, Naughty Cal said:

  You are just reliant on UK roads for your leisure time which is no good thing the majority of the time 🙄

While I would consider a motorhome this is a big negative for me. There is no enjoyment in driving on the roads. So camping has to be about the destinations and not the journey.

Travelling by boat is great pleasure and privilege and the destinations are of secondary importance.

 

[Ken X]

One of my bosses had a motorhome and regularly weekended away with his dogs all year round. 

 

If the weather looked half OK, his wife would pack the van on Friday morning and he would flex off at lunchtime.  Probably spent more weekends away than at home.  Only went walking and visiting pubs but he loved it.

[Guest]

3 hours ago, MartynG said:

While I would consider a motorhome this is a big negative for me. There is no enjoyment in driving on the roads. So camping has to be about the destinations and not the journey.

Travelling by boat is great pleasure and privilege and the destinations are of secondary importance.

 

 

One of the reasons we enjoy travelling in Europe so much is the superior road systems which are also quieter. (Of course you do have to endure our UK roads to get there which is a PITA).

 

 

[David Mack]

5 hours ago, M_JG said:

Of course you do have to endure our UK roads to get there which is a PITA).

And moreso if you happen to live in the North of England. Shame the Hull to Zeebrugge overnight ferry no longer runs.

[Naughty Cal]

18 hours ago, MartynG said:

While I would consider a motorhome this is a big negative for me. There is no enjoyment in driving on the roads. So camping has to be about the destinations and not the journey.

Travelling by boat is great pleasure and privilege and the destinations are of secondary importance.

 

That depends how many times you are happy travelling the same stretch of water I suppose.

 

It stops being a pleasure and becomes boring after a while! 

 

We have travelled some amazing UK roads but equally we appear to spend a lot of time on the A1 or M1. We view the travelling as much a part of the adventure as the destinations.

 

The Applecross Pass will stick in my memory as part of the adventure of that trip. Epic road. Sadly they have banned motorhomes from it now so we won't ever get the chance to do it again 🙄

14 hours ago, M_JG said:

 

One of the reasons we enjoy travelling in Europe so much is the superior road systems which are also quieter. (Of course you do have to endure our UK roads to get there which is a PITA).

 

 

Which is why we are very much looking forward to heading back across again next year.

 

Far better roads and geared up for motorhome travel.

9 hours ago, David Mack said:

And moreso if you happen to live in the North of England. Shame the Hull to Zeebrugge overnight ferry no longer runs.

At least travelling down you know you are going to be on better roads soon.

 

It's getting back again and knowing you have six hours of worsening roads to contend with that's the real killer 😀

[Frankgh]

To the OPs question: We are renting Arthur Owl from Cafwin Cruises. https://www.cafwincruises.com/ 

It has a king side bed, that was what I was after! See ya this spring!