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Cunning Plan


Dartagnan

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Greetings everyone.

 

I have been researching buying a narrowboat for nearly two years. This forum has been absolutely brilliant in helping me.

 

In order to help even further I devised a cunning plan that involved hiring a boat in June 2011 on the T & M hopefully to entice the family in joining me in my endeavours. Well what a disaster! The weather was atrocious, the two teenage kids could not wait to get off the boat and said never again.

 

Well I am not deterred, and as the SWMBO has said that she is prepared to give it another go I am looking at hiring for a week in June this year. Having read loads of threads on the forum I came up with canals which I thought she would like from a scenery and social perspective:

 

Leeds @ Liverpool

Llangollen

Mon @ Brec

 

Unfortunately I have ruled out the L&L as she doesn't drive and therefore had even more difficulty with tiller steering so the thought of her having to do the swing bridges may not be such a good idea.

 

The Llangollen sounds gorgeous but when I have looked at a couple of hire companies (from suggestions contained in other threads) it appears that it may be a bit of a slog i.e. four days to actually get to llangollen and I am a little concerned that the return journey to the hire base will be a rush.

 

My questions are 1. Am II being a bit of a wuss or pessimistic regarding the Llangollen and 2. could someone recommend a hire company on the Mon & Brec?

 

Wherever I go the boat must be of a high standard as I will be attempting to convince the wife that she could spend some considerable time on one cruising if we buy one.

 

Sorry for the long first post but I am trying to regurgitate my cunning plan :lol:

 

All suggestions and input gratefully received

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Greetings, or perhaps Bonjour.

Now, you're thinking like a car driver. "It's the Llangollen Canal, therefore we must make haste and reach Llangollen. Full speed ahead!"

Nope.

Wander. Trundle. Idle. Relax. The bits in between are just as pleasurable as the bits at each end, perhaps more so. There is no rule which says that you have to get to the very end. I have moored on the Oxford Canal for three years now and I have not once been as far as Oxford in all that time.

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This will be the year I'm proved wrong but we always head out for the first two week trip in April and (shhhh!) the weather is invariably amazing - tshirts, shorts and suntans. If weather is part of your wish list, then maybe look at the dates as well? We're heading out for three weeks in April this year so I'm taking my own advice!

Edited by Jo_
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I don't think you will go far wrong with the Llangollen, but the Welsh end is really the most interesting so it seems a shame to me not to go to Llangollen.

 

The full length of the canal and back is easily do'able in a week, before we had our own boat we hired from Anglo Welsh at Bunbury, and went to Llangollen and back. There are a lot of hire fleets actually on the Llangollen, ABC at Wrenbury and Whitchurch spring to mind but there are many others, and then means there is even more time to get to he end an back without feeling pressed for time. Also if you miss out the Eastern end that is where most of the locks are so that may help with your quest! There is also Anglo Welsh at Trevor, which means you are starting almost at Llangollen, so you can go there ,and then head East for a few days before turning back with no pressure.

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Greetings everyone.

 

I have been researching buying a narrowboat for nearly two years. This forum has been absolutely brilliant in helping me.

 

In order to help even further I devised a cunning plan that involved hiring a boat in June 2011 on the T & M hopefully to entice the family in joining me in my endeavours. Well what a disaster! The weather was atrocious, the two teenage kids could not wait to get off the boat and said never again.

 

Well I am not deterred, and as the SWMBO has said that she is prepared to give it another go I am looking at hiring for a week in June this year. Having read loads of threads on the forum I came up with canals which I thought she would like from a scenery and social perspective:

 

Leeds @ Liverpool

Llangollen

Mon @ Brec

 

Unfortunately I have ruled out the L&L as she doesn't drive and therefore had even more difficulty with tiller steering so the thought of her having to do the swing bridges may not be such a good idea.

 

The Llangollen sounds gorgeous but when I have looked at a couple of hire companies (from suggestions contained in other threads) it appears that it may be a bit of a slog i.e. four days to actually get to llangollen and I am a little concerned that the return journey to the hire base will be a rush.

 

My questions are 1. Am II being a bit of a wuss or pessimistic regarding the Llangollen and 2. could someone recommend a hire company on the Mon & Brec?

 

Wherever I go the boat must be of a high standard as I will be attempting to convince the wife that she could spend some considerable time on one cruising if we buy one.

 

Sorry for the long first post but I am trying to regurgitate my cunning plan :lol:

 

All suggestions and input gratefully received

How about booking your selves on a RYA helmsmans course so the wife gets the confidence to drive the boat as well and then hire.

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If you are not a good teacher then hire from some company that can provide a good one, ask for a special session at extra cost if required. I see no relationship between not driving and difficulty with a tiller. Getting your other half comfortable with it is highly desirable.

 

Have Llanwhatever in the back of your mind as a possible target but only announce the intention to proceed forward in a casual manner. Your aim should be to remove any unnecessary pressures.

Finally keep your fingers crossed on the weather.

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The 1st time we hired a boat I was on crutches, and crashed the boat into the bank the 1st afternoon and gave up for the rest of the holiday leaving other half to almost single hand through locks! A couple of years later we have our own boat! I have done a helmsmans course nad found it clicked! However i still struggle to line up for locks and more complicated things! (will have to have another lesson!) I find each time i go out on the boat i can do more but also sometimes muck it up in a big way! But it's still fun! And a learning curve. As for not driving I've heard lots of people (including this forum) who say that those who dont drive often pick it quickly. My 14 year niece was better than most of the adults last year! Give your other half another chance to steer on straight/quiet parts before building up, take your time and enjoy!

We did Llangollen from Bunbury in a week even having time to go onto the Monty but we do like to do long days! You should easy make LLangollen and back but it you dont just turn halfway through the week, canal boating is all about the journey not the destination!

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Firstly, a special mention for using possibly the greatest number of exclamation marks ever seen in one post! I counted ten!! Including one in your forum name!!! Blimey!!!!

 

Your point about the lack of correllation between driving on the road and steering a boat is a good one. We invited friends for a day cruise on our boat a while ago, he is a professional lorry driver, but he crashed into the bank twice as he just could not get used to turning the tiller the "wrong" way. I have not driven on a road for many years, but I always manage to turn the tiller the correct way, even though I do not claim to steer with pinpoint accuracy (those who have seen Trojan's progress will agree with this). So, not driving on the road can be a positive advantage.

!!!!!

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Thank you all for taking the time to reply. As is the norm on here there are some very good points which have given me food for thought.

So it appears that it's the Llangollen canal for us. I also like the idea of the helmsman course as I am dreadful at instruction and hopefully I can pick up plenty of tips on how it should be done. If I am honest I like the idea doing the locks whilst she helms.

 

Once again, many thanks, I appreciate it.

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It is handy if you can both helm the boat and do the locks and bridges. That way if one of you falls ill or just can't be arsed one day then you won't be stuck.

 

A helmsman a course does sound like it might be just the ticket to give your wife some confidence.

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It is handy if you can both helm the boat and do the locks and bridges. That way if one of you falls ill or just can't be arsed one day then you won't be stuck.

 

A helmsman a course does sound like it might be just the ticket to give your wife some confidence.

You are of course right.

 

I have an RYA Day Skipper ticket and used to have a Bayliner when I got rid of the yacht. It's more than probable that I take over too much and the helmsman course would give her the confidence.

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You are of course right.

 

I have an RYA Day Skipper ticket and used to have a Bayliner when I got rid of the yacht. It's more than probable that I take over too much and the helmsman course would give her the confidence.

 

Stick to the real boats. What are you playing around with sewer tubes for?

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Be aware the M&B also has a fair few swing bridges along it.......very, very beautiful scenery and points of interest aswell as lots of good pubs along the way. Sorry, I don't know the hire companies there though...someone should do?

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Be aware the M&B also has a fair few swing bridges along it.......very, very beautiful scenery and points of interest aswell as lots of good pubs along the way. Sorry, I don't know the hire companies there though...someone should do?

We hired on there when we were "between boats" a few years ago. I think it was Red House Narrowbioats run by an ex-teacher called John, we were satisfied with them. But surprisingly Mrs. Athy became weary of the unrelentingly beautiful scenery - reminiscent of Sarah Miles' famous comment in (I think) 'Out Of Africa': "Oh, not another f****** beautiful day".

 

But D'artagnan thinks he has opten for the Llangollen anyway.

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Why not just do what I did.

I came home and said...Guess what...we're going to buy a boat and live on it forever!

Bought the boat, put them on it..and 2 yrs later...they're happy...LOL

 

Fair enough...I have worked my *** off to make sure they've always had their xbox power, but I'm slowly switching one appliance off at a time and hiding it without them realising . :)

 

The longer you "go on hiring holidays, trying to decide if it's for you"...the more chance you wont jump in the deep end. Of course some have moved on board, and got divored because she said..choose me or the boat and lost.

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Stick to the real boats. What are you playing around with sewer tubes for?

You are going to get me barred before I have even started :D

 

Be aware the M&B also has a fair few swing bridges along it.......very, very beautiful scenery and points of interest aswell as lots of good pubs along the way. Sorry, I don't know the hire companies there though...someone should do?

Well that has swung it for me ( sorry couldn't help myself).

Have looked at your web site previously. Your boats look very classy. Love the paint colours.

 

Why not just do what I did.

 

Hopefully that is the plan. Daughter is probably off to Uni and off we go :D

Just trying to get a fix in the mean time.

 

"Oh, not another f****** beautiful day".

 

 

I like that

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I was asking a serious question!

 

We certainly won't be giving up our sealine for a narrowboat. Would rather give up boating!

Well the real answer is that my wife has finally decided that the sea is a no no for her.

 

So I thought I would spend some time cruising the canals and then if funds permit - a Dutch Barge for the rivers and potentially Europe. I just want to spend some time cruising.

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Well the real answer is that my wife has finally decided that the sea is a no no for her.

 

So I thought I would spend some time cruising the canals and then if funds permit - a Dutch Barge for the rivers and potentially Europe. I just want to spend some time cruising.

 

Hmm.

 

How's about a cruiser on the river?

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Athy!!!! Sorry i feel i have to explain, i have to be correct in my punctuation all day at work, so when i get here in the evenings i let it slip a bit, it doesn't help that my typing is not great, I'm better with a pen! I have always liked exclamation marks and feel i don't get to use them often enough. I know this will probably annoy some of the purists on the forum who seem to enjoy correcting others, to be honest i don't often post for fear of being shot down for my errors! But i consider the humble exclamation mark an extension of my personality and besides i like them!!!!!!!!

 

sorry for going :smiley_offtopic:

 

Edited to add more exclamation marks!

Edited by little duck!
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