Electric hire boats on the Mon & Brec

[Grassman]

Having gone through the boat hire - boat share - boat owning process since the 1970's, the latter as a liveaboard for the last 10 years, I'm thinking of trying out a weeks hire of one of those Castle Narrowboats' fully electric boats on the Mon & Brec Canal next year. 

 

Having previously had 2 hire boat holidays on it before (1993 & 2009) we're not bothered about 'doing' the whole length of the canal, so the limitations of having to moor at the 6 designated charging points along the way shouldn't be an issue. Being boat owners we are also used to being frugal with our power resources. We've always wanted to revisit this beautiful canal and thought we'd have an electric powered boat as it would be something a bit different.

 

Have any of you others hired one (or know somebody who has)? If so I'd be interested to hear how you/they got on, and about the differences compared to doing it on a diesel powered boat, except the obvious ones such as it being quieter and not always being able to moor where you like. Is it true that depending upon your usage you don't necessarily have to recharge every day? Are there any other issues I should be considering? Did you enjoy the experience? Would you do it again or go back to having a diesel?

[system 4-50]

We did it once many and I mean many years ago.

We did then have to charge every day, and we were pissed off to find all the charge points in use one day so we couldn't move!

It was no different to diesel, but quieter.

I expect it has changed considerably since we did it.

[RS2021]

Beacon Park Boats also have a fully electric boat now. Small and quirky, but they recon you can do a weeks hire on one charge. Not heard any real world feed back.

[Rebotco]

I did this over 20 years ago, and thoroughly enjoyed it.  Probably the prettiest canal in the country IMHO.

Certainly then, had to moor each night at one of the half dozen dedicated mooring sites. Never had a problem getting a spot then, though there may be more electric hire boats nowadays.  By the end of each days cruising the speed was noticably slower and the engine power definitely reduced, which didn't help when you got grounded.  So I would say a recharging mooring is essential each night.

Things may be a bit different now, for better or worse, but from my experience I would thoroughly recommend it.

[Grassman]

Thanks for your replies.

I've found out that at each of the charging points 2 boats can charge at the same time. Castle have three electric boats and Beacon have one. Also it's not always necessary to charge the boat each day.

 

I therefore don't think charging the boat will be problem so I've booked a week's hire for next year.