Where are all the boaters?

[mrpaulo]

Hi,

 

Following a few holiday's a few years ago we have just come back to cruise the Birmingham mini-ring from Wootton Wawen via the Grand Union and back down from the top of the Stratford. About 10 years ago we spent a week pootling on the Kennet and Avon from Bath where it was not just busy with moored boats, but we regularly passed other boats, or met them at locks.

 

We were aware that the Kennet and Avon could get busy, we thought we would head to the midlands, but considering we were travelling the first week of the Easter break, making use of the bank holiday, we barely encountered any other boats on the whole trip. 

 

Working our way into Birmingham also brought a lot of attention from builders and passers-by watching us work the Ashton and Farmers Bridge locks, taking photos and some kids stopping to watch and ask how it worked - which of course we obliged.

 

Our question really is why it was so quiet? Are less people hiring (cost of living maybe, or after covid cheap package holidays abroad are more enticing), or was it going into Birmingham? 
 

Genuinely interested in people's thoughts?

 

Thanks

Paul

[Jen-in-Wellies]

Welcome to the forum. The canals in Birmingham just don't get the traffic. You were in probably the busiest part. The contrast with the K&A, probably the most travelled canal would have been stark. A shame really, as they are very interesting. Well done for going there. Brum does have a bit of a reputation, which isn't justified, as long as you take some precautions over where you moor. The lock flights to get up and down to the plateau also put people off, but they are easy to operate and generally better maintained than some flights on the system.

 

Peaky Blinders hasn't helped the reputation of the BCN either. 😀

[sigsegv]

I was at Great Haywood over the Easter break, and on the Monday I stopped at Anglo Welsh’s hire base/marina for fuel and a pump out. I noticed that their base was fuller than I would have expected for the Easter break and asked about it. They said they’d definitely had fewer boats hired out than they typically would, though I think the last few of years have been particularly good for hire  companies (someone correct me if I’m wrong), so perhaps this is just a return to the mean . They didn’t seem too bothered though.

 We’ve seen a fair few boats while out and about in the last few weeks, though less recently since we’re near the river sections of the upper GU and they’ve had quite a bit of flow. 

Edited April 23 by sigsegv

[Ex Brummie]

Given the abhorrent weather over the early part of the year, and with the dire forecast for easter, I'm not surprised there was little traffic.  The interesting comparison with the K&A would be just how many boats moved on there.

[Dave123]

It's very quiet on the South Oxford too, I read somewhere that the UK holiday market is expected to be very quiet this year because of cost of living and the bad weather last summer. But you'd think all the 1000s of new liveaboards one also reads about would be somewhere?🤔😅

[doratheexplorer]

It can be pot luck.  I've known both Farmers Bridge and Lapworth flights to be busy with queues and I've known them to be empty, even in mid summer.

[dmr]

I suspect boating is changing and there are more boats not moving much and less boats moving a lot. I also suspect that hire boating has seen a sharp decline in the last couple of years, bad weather and too many "boating season" stoppages have likely put people off, plus its an expensive holiday compared with cheap overseas stuff. However I suspect that out of season hire boating has probably increased.

 

Except for the main runs into central Birmingham I think the BCN is not popular.

If you want busy then the North Oxford and Braunston area, plus much of the South Oxford, Trent and Mersey through Stone, Llangollen etc. will please you 😀

[TheBiscuits]

1 minute ago, dmr said:

If you want busy then the North Oxford and Braunston area, plus much of the South Oxford, Trent and Mersey through Stone, Llangollen etc. will please you 😀

 

Nah, Rochdale summit.

 

There's sometimes as many as two boats a month moving ...

[mrpaulo]

Thanks all!

I think comments on the hire industry this year reflect what we were thinking too, it's a shame as it is a great holiday, and as we were a family with grown up children in the party we were able to share the cost - I can see that for a family with 3 or 4 small kids the cost of a 6 person boat in peak season might put you off!

 

We also thought the same as Jen-in-wellies when we were going into Birmingham itself, one part we did describe as "crack alley", but we are hardy souls and were chatty from the boat with the group "socialising" there, so there was no trouble. We also enjoyed working the locks and someone who walked down the Farmers Bridge flight and then back up again commented we had completed those in good time. We moored at the 4 day mooring right on Gas Street Basin and the biggest disturbance was the wind for the two nights we were there, and we really liked being able to access the night life. (It was Peaky Blinders that made me want to go there in the first place!!)

 

I think we enjoyed the quiet out on the canals - less pressure and locks were all our own, but did notice that we had to fill most of them as we had no one coming up ahead of us, perhaps a bit more company would have been nice!

 

Thanks for the welcome and feedback - we are looking to cruise again soon and have long term plans to buy so will be following the forum closely!

 

Thanks

Paul

 

Edited April 23 by mrpaulo
Added a sentence

[dmr]

6 minutes ago, TheBiscuits said:

 

Nah, Rochdale summit.

 

There's sometimes as many as two boats a month moving ...

I think this might be a good year for the Rochdale, we have been seeing  a boat most days recently. The rumours that the Rochdale is about to close (from this forum?). have possibly inspired a few boats to do it while they can 😀.

 

We are down in Tod for a week or two (cheap beer Tuesday at the Lion) and I suspect there are a few more boat movements here than the summit suggesting that some boats turn rather than risking Manchester.

Of the boats that I have spoken to at the summit most said that the Manchester 18 was hard work and unpleasant, but few have said it was a nightmare, so maybe things are improving.

[Arthur Marshall]

I'm just back from three weeks on the T&M, very quiet there. Most days saw one or two boats moving.

[TheBiscuits]

2 minutes ago, dmr said:

We are down in Tod for a week or two (cheap beer Tuesday at the Lion

 

Try the dark mild at the Market Tavern.  It's very good!

[Jen-in-Wellies]

8 minutes ago, mrpaulo said:

one part we did describe as "crack alley", but we are hardy souls and were chatty from the boat with the group "socialising" there, so there was no trouble.

Generally the folk by the cut with assorted substance and mental health issues are lovely.

[PaulJ]

Marsh Lock on the Thames yesterday morning🙂

[Annie cariad]

Moored by mailbox in march for four days shared me breakfast with Street people each morning no drama 

[IanD]

1 hour ago, Dave123 said:

It's very quiet on the South Oxford too, I read somewhere that the UK holiday market is expected to be very quiet this year because of cost of living and the bad weather last summer. But you'd think all the 1000s of new liveaboards one also reads about would be somewhere?🤔😅

Moored up, not moving...

[sigsegv]

44 minutes ago, IanD said:

Moored up, not moving...

As one of those young whippersnapper new liveaboards people love to moan about, I'd say we've done pretty OK over the last 90 days...

[Alan de Enfield]

7 minutes ago, sigsegv said:

As one of those young whippersnapper new liveaboards people love to moan about, I'd say we've done pretty OK over the last 90 days...

 

 

I take it you made the most of the 14 day stays and were only actually cruising for 4 or 5 'fairly easy' days.

 

You've certainly done enough to be a CCer. No moaning here !

Edited April 23 by Alan de Enfield

[sigsegv]

4 minutes ago, Alan de Enfield said:

 

 

I take it you made the most of the 14 day stays and were only actually cruising for 4 or 5 'fairly easy' days.

 

You've certainly done enough to be a CCer. No moaning here !

Based on the speed log I have, I count roughly 20 cruising days over that period. In the winter months we tend to do shorter days (maybe 2-3h if that), so that tracks. But I most certainly took advantage of 14 days at Ellesmere, and possibly Great Haywood (though that might've been more like a week and a half).

Edited April 23 by sigsegv

[Mike Todd]

9 hours ago, Jen-in-Wellies said:

Welcome to the forum. The canals in Birmingham just don't get the traffic. You were in probably the busiest part. The contrast with the K&A, probably the most travelled canal would have been stark. A shame really, as they are very interesting. Well done for going there. Brum does have a bit of a reputation, which isn't justified, as long as you take some precautions over where you moor. The lock flights to get up and down to the plateau also put people off, but they are easy to operate and generally better maintained than some flights on the system.

 

Peaky Blinders hasn't helped the reputation of the BCN either. 😀

I would say that the K&A was the most travelled, perhaps the most moored.

[gatekrash]

21 hours ago, mrpaulo said:

Hi,

 

Following a few holiday's a few years ago we have just come back to cruise the Birmingham mini-ring from Wootton Wawen via the Grand Union and back down from the top of the Stratford. About 10 years ago we spent a week pootling on the Kennet and Avon from Bath where it was not just busy with moored boats, but we regularly passed other boats, or met them at locks.

 

We were aware that the Kennet and Avon could get busy, we thought we would head to the midlands, but considering we were travelling the first week of the Easter break, making use of the bank holiday, we barely encountered any other boats on the whole trip. 

 

Working our way into Birmingham also brought a lot of attention from builders and passers-by watching us work the Ashton and Farmers Bridge locks, taking photos and some kids stopping to watch and ask how it worked - which of course we obliged.

 

Our question really is why it was so quiet? Are less people hiring (cost of living maybe, or after covid cheap package holidays abroad are more enticing), or was it going into Birmingham? 
 

Genuinely interested in people's thoughts?

 

Thanks

Paul

We were in Brum over the same period, and did a quick run around the Black Country ring over a few days before we went back down to Droitwich. Brum was quiet at both ends of the period we were out. Quiet at every mooring we stopped at, space on the VMs at all the 'honey spot ' locations. As others have said, Easter was early this year, the weather was a bit pants. 

 

Busiest day was coming down Tardebigge when all the ABC boats from Worcester were on the way up, but I reckon that only amounted to about 10-12 boats over 2 days. 

 

Most of the Black Prince boats were still in at Stoke Prior. I chatted to the staff whilst we were hovering waiting for the lock and they said they had very few boats out or booked so far this year.

[Naughty Cal]

We looked to hire a boat on the Broads this summer for a week but very quickly changed our mind when we got to the price page. (£2768 + £25 parking + £40 pet charge)

 

https://www.broads.co.uk/boats/fair-chancellor/?unit_id=1556&arrival=2024-06-29&duration=604800&adults=2&children=0&arrival_time=16:00:00

 

We have booked the Isle of Wight ferry instead and will have a week over there with the van. Including food, drink and fuel it will come nowhere near the cost of the boat hire!

 

The hire yards are very much at a point now where they are pricing themselves out of the market. Foreign travel is open for business again and it makes holidaying in the UK look damn expensive.

Edited April 24 by Naughty Cal

[Big Bob W]

24 minutes ago, Naughty Cal said:

We looked to hire a boat on the Broads this summer for a week but very quickly changed our mind when we got to the price page.

We are heading out for a couple of weeks this weekend. Just out of interest, I have looked on the ABC site to see how much it would cost to hire for that period out of Gayton (our closest hire base). £2400 + diesel for a 58Ft boat! 

 

I think hire companies ramped up their prices during the pandemic when overseas holidays were not an option - and not dropped back down again since. 

[Alan de Enfield]

 

Just looked at a static caravan, 5 people, end of July, 7 nights, Devon, £2289

[Arthur Marshall]

3 hours ago, Big Bob W said:

We are heading out for a couple of weeks this weekend. Just out of interest, I have looked on the ABC site to see how much it would cost to hire for that period out of Gayton (our closest hire base). £2400 + diesel for a 58Ft boat! 

 

I think hire companies ramped up their prices during the pandemic when overseas holidays were not an option - and not dropped back down again since. 

I use hire boat charges to work out whether it's worth keeping my boat. So my usual 12 weeks cruising each year would cost... hmmm... probably keep the boat , then.

I can remember people saying it was cheaper to hire than own, and I suppose if you only get a couple of weeks a year it still is, just.