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Ultra-quiet hire boats


IanD

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I'm looking at the Aqua boats -- which do look excellent! -- but the boatyard location is not exactly ideal unless I want to do the whole of the Leicestershire ring :-(

 

Any other suggestions? Still haven't found another hirer who emphasizes quietness...

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I'm looking at the Aqua boats -- which do look excellent! -- but the boatyard location is not exactly ideal unless I want to do the whole of the Leicestershire ring :-(

 

Any other suggestions? Still haven't found another hirer who emphasizes quietness...

There are plenty of very nice 'out and back' routes from Willington though. Depending on how long you have you could venture North West up the T&M or down the Coventry onto the Ashby or on to Braunston. Heading East could get you onto the beautiful Soar Navigation or even onto the Trent.

 

We used to moor at the Marina where Aqua NB's are based and often did such a trip.

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At Chas Hardern Boats we use Barrus Shires engines on all except one boat. All have hospital silencers, soft engine mounts, flexi drive and soundproofing. However even though two boats can have identical engines and installation one will always sound different from the other. No idea why.

 

One of the main reasons we do not take part in the star grading scheme run now by A.P.C.O rather than Visit England is because their inspections make no reference to the fact that the boat has an engine at all.

You can have a 5 star boat with bells and whistles internally but the deck boards are not lifted, the engine not started and no inspection made of steering and engine noise.

They are judged only as stationary accommodation. Not fair on the customer at all. If I was looking at a star grading system when choosing a holiday I would expect it to cover everything used.

  • Greenie 1
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down the Coventry onto the Ashby

 

 

Yessss! As long as Ian and party don't require too many locks that is a mostly very attractive trip. They can always close their eyes as they pass through beautiful downtown Nuneaton.

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At Chas Hardern Boats we use Barrus Shires engines on all except one boat. All have hospital silencers, soft engine mounts, flexi drive and soundproofing. However even though two boats can have identical engines and installation one will always sound different from the other. No idea why.

 

One of the main reasons we do not take part in the star grading scheme run now by A.P.C.O rather than Visit England is because their inspections make no reference to the fact that the boat has an engine at all.

You can have a 5 star boat with bells and whistles internally but the deck boards are not lifted, the engine not started and no inspection made of steering and engine noise.

They are judged only as stationary accommodation. Not fair on the customer at all. If I was looking at a star grading system when choosing a holiday I would expect it to cover everything used.

That's really interesting Crispy, I had no idea that the "star" system did not cover the whole boat just the accommodation. As one who likes to spend most of his boating time outside and boating I may pay even less attention to the stars in the future!

 

 

Just to keep on topic I can say that the aqua-boat at Crick last year was pretty impressive (although the engine wasn't running so I couldn't say how quiet it was). I think they build to an owners specification, use it as a hire boat for a few years and then pass it back to the owner .,.... an interesting idea.

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At Chas Hardern Boats we use Barrus Shires engines on all except one boat. All have hospital silencers, soft engine mounts, flexi drive and soundproofing. However even though two boats can have identical engines and installation one will always sound different from the other. No idea why.

 

One of the main reasons we do not take part in the star grading scheme run now by A.P.C.O rather than Visit England is because their inspections make no reference to the fact that the boat has an engine at all.

You can have a 5 star boat with bells and whistles internally but the deck boards are not lifted, the engine not started and no inspection made of steering and engine noise.

They are judged only as stationary accommodation. Not fair on the customer at all. If I was looking at a star grading system when choosing a holiday I would expect it to cover everything used.

Thanks for the info, my choices are slowly increasing :-)

 

Agreed 100% about the star ratings though, I've been on boats where the interior and fittings were great but the engine/gearbox sounded like a tractor driving a concrete mixer full of cobbles.

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Yessss! As long as Ian and party don't require too many locks that is a mostly very attractive trip. They can always close their eyes as they pass through beautiful downtown Nuneaton.

Unfortunately we rather like locks and find long stretches without them (e.g. Lllangollen, Ashby) rather boring. To give you an idea of how far this goes, our most-fun-per-mile trip was definitely the HNC from Ashton to Sowerby Bridge (33 miles, 3 locks per mile), and I think we did 36 locks in a day a couple of years back. Of course the enthusiasm wears off after a bit, but if you're only doing it for one week a year...

 

There are towns/cities with strong industrial archaeology that I really like, but Nuneaton isn't one of them ;-)

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That's really interesting Crispy, I had no idea that the "star" system did not cover the whole boat just the accommodation. As one who likes to spend most of his boating time outside and boating I may pay even less attention to the stars in the future!

 

 

Just to keep on topic I can say that the aqua-boat at Crick last year was pretty impressive (although the engine wasn't running so I couldn't say how quiet it was). I think they build to an owners specification, use it as a hire boat for a few years and then pass it back to the owner .,.... an interesting idea.

The Aqua boats do look lovely, but I'd rather have a less than ideal boat on a canal I'll enjoy (moorings, pubs, towns etc.) than a perfect one on one I won't.

 

(I've been on all the canals and rivers reachable from their base, I'm not just guessing)

 

Current best bet -- because we haven't been there for more than 20 years, and it still has pubs that are pubs! -- is the Leeds and Liverpool between Barnoldswick and Apperly Bridge, which means the following possible yards:

 

Bear Boating (Apperley Bridge) -- beautiful and (too?) ultra-modern but can't squeeze 6 people in if two maybes (daughter and SOH) can make it after all

Silsden, Snaygill, Pennine - decent boats, fairly similar, all cruiser stern as far as I can see (prefer semi-trad)

Shire Cruisers (Barnoldswick) -- nice boats (used them before), suitable semi-trad available

 

The Shire boats are quiet (some other hirers have also commented about this) but I wouldn't say exceptionally so, but this looks like the best option -- unless anyone has anything exceptional to say about the other boats on this section of canal...

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The Aqua boats do look lovely, but I'd rather have a less than ideal boat on a canal I'll enjoy (moorings, pubs, towns etc.) than a perfect one on one I won't.

 

(I've been on all the canals and rivers reachable from their base, I'm not just guessing)

 

Current best bet -- because we haven't been there for more than 20 years, and it still has pubs that are pubs! -- is the Leeds and Liverpool between Barnoldswick and Apperly Bridge, which means the following possible yards:

 

Bear Boating (Apperley Bridge) -- beautiful and (too?) ultra-modern but can't squeeze 6 people in if two maybes (daughter and SOH) can make it after all

Silsden, Snaygill, Pennine - decent boats, fairly similar, all cruiser stern as far as I can see (prefer semi-trad)

Shire Cruisers (Barnoldswick) -- nice boats (used them before), suitable semi-trad available

 

The Shire boats are quiet (some other hirers have also commented about this) but I wouldn't say exceptionally so, but this looks like the best option -- unless anyone has anything exceptional to say about the other boats on this section of canal...

I absolutely agree with all you say Ian, I like shire Cruisers too but just check carefully one or two of their boats still have old air cooled engines and are noisy, most are water cooled and are not. We did the L & L a couple of years ago, it really is a great canal with lots of contrasts. We went from Riley Green with Canal Boat Cruises but it is not an ideal starting point. Wherever you go, whatever boat you are on I am sure you will have a great time.

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I absolutely agree with all you say Ian, I like shire Cruisers too but just check carefully one or two of their boats still have old air cooled engines and are noisy, most are water cooled and are not. We did the L & L a couple of years ago, it really is a great canal with lots of contrasts. We went from Riley Green with Canal Boat Cruises but it is not an ideal starting point. Wherever you go, whatever boat you are on I am sure you will have a great time.

I'm also now looking at Silsden since they told me their boats have hospital silencers and flexible couplings, and being based "in the middle" instead of at one end gives more flexibility for unplanned stops -- also for the dates I'm looking at when boats are available they're also considerably cheaper than Shire, for >£500 difference I can put up with a cruiser stern...

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I'm also now looking at Silsden since they told me their boats have hospital silencers and flexible couplings, and being based "in the middle" instead of at one end gives more flexibility for unplanned stops -- also for the dates I'm looking at when boats are available they're also considerably cheaper than Shire, for >£500 difference I can put up with a cruiser stern...

 

Silsden is a great place to start and finish on the L&L. Be aware though the reduced price of Silsden's boats is a reflection of the boats themselves. There is nothing particularly wrong with them they are though perhaps the most basic of all boats we ever hired. Some of them also look a bit 'tired' externally as I think one way they keep the price down is by not repainting as often as the other hire companies. Again nothing wrong intrinsically with that but something to be aware of.

 

That said we had a problem free week on one of their boats a few years ago now and we would hire from them again should we ever need to.

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Silsden is a great place to start and finish on the L&L. Be aware though the reduced price of Silsden's boats is a reflection of the boats themselves. There is nothing particularly wrong with them they are though perhaps the most basic of all boats we ever hired. Some of them also look a bit 'tired' externally as I think one way they keep the price down is by not repainting as often as the other hire companies. Again nothing wrong intrinsically with that but something to be aware of.

 

That said we had a problem free week on one of their boats a few years ago now and we would hire from them again should we ever need to.

Thanks for the info. For other reasons (e.g. detailed boat layout) we're now going to use Shire Cruisers from Barnoldwick.

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  • 7 months later...

Turned out to be a good choice, Somerset was probably the quietest and most vibration-free boat we've hired -- could still have been better though with a bigger silencer and some sound insulation under the (heavy metal) deck "boards" :-)

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Zombie thread alert.

Phil

Always nice to see friendly helpful comments from people on the forum. There I was, thinking that anyone looking to hire a quiet boat in future might be interested in some feedback, but I was obviously wrong...

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Always nice to see friendly helpful comments from people on the forum. There I was, thinking that anyone looking to hire a quiet boat in future might be interested in some feedback, but I was obviously wrong...

Just pointing out the thread is nearly 2 years old. That's all.

Phil

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Just pointing out the thread is nearly 2 years old. That's all.

Phil

Started 29 Dec 2014 (before booking holiday), posted again 3 Sept 2015 (after returning from holiday), I make that 8 months and 5 days -- and it's difficult to see how I could have added anything useful any earlier... ;-)

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Started 29 Dec 2014 (before booking holiday), posted again 3 Sept 2015 (after returning from holiday), I make that 8 months and 5 days -- and it's difficult to see how I could have added anything useful any earlier... ;-)

Fat finger error, numeral one close to numeral two on my phone. A new thread would have been better because I at least clicked on to get the last post, clicked back to read and then had a déjà vu moment till I looked at the date and realised I had read all the thread before.

Phil

Edited by Phil Ambrose
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  • 2 weeks later...

Most often used phrase by the steerer of a hire boat in the course of a holiday? .............."I CAN'T HEAR WHAT YOU ARE SAYING!"

 

Sometimes accompanied by "I CAN SEE YOUR LIPS MOVING"

 

Couple of years ago I hired a boat where the engine cover was just a bit of badly fitting marine ply. I had to stand in a certain place to cut down the noise of the vibration. Couldn't hear the cricket commentary, was difficult to hold a conversation, and ended every day with a headache!

 

It's definitely worth checking, when possible!

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