I’m interested in how you found the canals of Scotland and Ireland to be? We love self hire canal boating, particularly in France for there lovely canals that are well maintained with services available.
In 2018, we hired a narrow boat on the Kennet and Avon canal from Pewsey to Bath and back again. It wasn’t the experience we bargained for. The boat hire itself was about three times the cost of our previous four French boat trips. It was from a smaller, upscale boat hire company with deliciously comfortable bed, full size bathtub and a coal burning fireplace. Unfortunately the mechanics were not in sound condition. It became a nightmare of meeting up with mechanics along the route trying to fix the issues. Shame on the boat hire company.
Our grouse was the state of the locks themselves compared to the French canal system. We found the Kennet and Avon to be horrible overgrown with aquatic vegetation that continuously caught up in the prop and rudder. The canal side vegetation grew out into the canal so much it made them very narrow and impossible to moor up alongside. There was just no place to pull up alongside or pass other boats easily. It was very hard to find moorings anywhere, forget about finding electrical hookups. Water was a huge challenge to find too. I think we only found it in Devizes and Bradford. All the locks are manual so expect a bit of a work out as the are big, heavy and cumbersome. Google Caen Hill Locks, a set of 29 locks on the Kennet and Avon. Imagine doing that both up and down twice.
We could have overlooked all that and forgiven the sad state of the locks had it not been for the fellow boaters. Our experience has been that on the water, everyone helps everyone. There’s a sense of community and camaraderie. Someone’s always glad to catch a mooring line or lend a hand. There’s always a wave and greeting passing a boat. Not on the K&A which seemed to be filled with curmudgeonly live aboards on somewhat derelict narrow boats angrily spewing out their anti social rage at anyone who should pass by. It seriously felt as if they had a grudge against for hire boats. I’m sure there must be some underlying story. Maybe the live aboards feel the for-hire boats are taking up resources? I don’t know. Either way, it was hostile territory we were in and nobody was waving and saying, “Bonjour” to us like they would in France. It left us with a really bad taste for English canals. Hopefully, our experience was a one off. We would really like to do a boating holiday in Scotland but are hesitant. What was your trip like?
If I were to do England again, I’d research the canal more. Find out we’re services are, mooring opportunities and look at google maps to see what kind of overgrowth there is in and alongside the canal. Best of luck to you.. Cheers.
