Canal Boat Hire FAQ

Please see https://www.kateboats.co.uk/coronovirus/

Please see https://www.kateboats.co.uk/coronovirus/

We do not allow single handed boating, for a number of reasons. Firstly our insurance doesn’t allow boats to travel with only one member of crew aboard. It is also be much more difficult to manage the locks alone, meaning that you have to climb off or onto the boat during the locking process.

If you do arrive to collect a boat without a crew you are more than welcome to use the boat in the marina, as a floating hotel, but you will not be allowed to cruise.

We provide buoyancy aids free of charge for those requiring them. We suggest that children wear them at all times, especially when near locks. They will be fitted on arrival. They are fitted by weight, it is useful to know weights in Kg when you arrive.

You do not need a licence to drive a narrowboat in the UK. We will ensure that you are comfortable with handling the boat before we leave you to your holiday.

Yes. You need to get used to the idea that you can enjoy life by going relatively slowly. 4 mph is a comfortable walking pace, so someone on the bank can keep up with you. The speed is set to minimize damage to canal banks, and disturbance to the whole host of wildlife that the canal is home to. And lets face it with the speed we all live our lives these days it has to be good just to slow down.

And slower past moored boats!

Yes, if you are on a moored boat, however carefully moored it will move as a boat goes past, and if, as you will no doubt experience, someone goes past too fast the boat will rock alarmingly, so tickover past moored boats.

It is likely that if someone is shouting at you that you are moving too fast its because you are – just get into the rhythm of it and slow down.

You need to have someone in the group able to cope with the locks, which have to be pushed, pulled and the paddles “wound”, and someone needs to be able to pop on and off the boat easily to pull ropes and get the boat into position sometimes.  We will show you how everything works, and take you to the first lock if you haven’t done it before. If there are just two of you one needs to be able to steer, while the other gets off and does the locks (and ideally it’s great if you can swap jobs, to give each other a break – but whatever works for you!)

When you come along we make sure you get some practice at steering before we let you loose. It is tiller steering, takes a little getting used to, but it not difficult.

Please see https://www.kateboats.co.uk/coronovirus/