# Canal boats England



## Bunk (Aug 7, 2021)

DW and I think we would enjoy a timeshare week on a canal boat in England.  

Please let us know about your experiences if you've done this.

This article from The NY Times Travel section encourages us to go.
From The New York Times:
On England’s Canals, Boaters Embrace the Peace and Pace of a Floating Life
More people are calling England’s canals — and the narrow boats used to navigate them — home as remote work options in the pandemic’s wake make a mobile lifestyle more possible.









						On England’s Canals, Boaters Embrace the Peace and Pace of a Floating Life (Published 2021)
					

More people are calling England’s canals — and the narrow boats used to navigate them — home as remote work options in the pandemic’s wake make a mobile lifestyle more possible.




					www.nytimes.com
				





The article is about people buying the canal boats and not about timeshares.
Portions of the article are below
*ENGLAND DISPATCH

On England’s Canals, Boaters Embrace the Peace and Pace of a Floating Life*

More people are calling England’s canals — and the narrow boats used to navigate them — home as remote work options in the pandemic’s wake make a mobile lifestyle more possible.

*By Megan Specia*

July 20, 2021

LITTLE BOURTON, England — On a damp June afternoon, a floating home bobbed gently on the Oxford Canal, where it was moored just outside the village of Little Bourton, a blip on the map with just one pub.

Rachel Bruce and her husband, Chris Hall, have called this idyllic spot northwest of London home for a few days, looking out from the hull of their canal boat, the Glenrich V, over sweeping fields where the wind blowing through the long grass made a low hiss.

But it was time to discover their next patch. So the mooring pins were freed, and Ms. Bruce, 31, steered away from the bank. Their boat set off at the pace of a swift walk as it passed through the hulking wooden and steel gates of the canal’s locks.

A group of five ducklings skimmed the water in a V-shape. Kayakers hurried along, quickly bypassing their boat. The vivid yellow of buttercups peeked through the high grass on the towpath.

“We’re just feeling like we’ve made a very good life decision at the moment,” Ms. Bruce said about the couple’s choice a few weeks ago to give up their stationary lives to begin a slow traverse of England’s canal network.

In the wake of the coronavirus pandemic, more people around the globe are re-evaluating their living situations, with greater flexibility thanks to remote work. And in Britain, more people are choosing to call these canals — and the narrow boats used to navigate them — home.

The canals, a vast network once used to move goods across the country, cut their way through Britain’s countryside and meander through town and city centers. But after being replaced by trains and highways, they fell into disrepair.

Since the 1960s, though, they have been painstakingly restored and become popular for leisure cruising. And for many people, the appeal of turning weekend jaunts or weeklong trips into a permanently mobile lifestyle is becoming increasingly irresistible.

Within a week of looking at their first boat, they bought it, committing to giving up their decade-long London life and making the 6-foot 10-inch wide, 50-foot long steel boat — which they call the Glen — their permanent home. They paid 42,000 pounds, or about $58,000.

Although the boat is powered by diesel, the couple say they use less fossil fuels and resources then they did in London. This is also part of the appeal, they say. They have two solar panels to power a refrigerator and small electronics, and a Wi-Fi-router to get online and for Mr. Hall’s work as a technology consultant.

Life on board is tight but comfortable, with a small seating area next to a wood-burning stove, decorated with succulents and a stack of board games at the ready. A small kitchenette with a gas stovetop is steps away, and further along the hull is a bathroom with a composting toilet. In the back of the boat is the bedroom, with a double bed and small closet.

The Canal & River Trust, which is responsible for 2,000 miles of waterways across England and Wales, says there are now 35,130 boats wending their way across the country’s canals — more than at the height of the Industrial Revolution.

Life on a rustic canal boat is not all romance. Water tanks need filling, toilet waste needs emptying and tight quarters mean little space for luxuries.

Plus boaters without a permanent mooring have to move every 14 days and travel at least 21 miles a year, under Canal & River Trust rules.

Ms. Bruce and Mr. Hall have their aches to remind them that their muscles are not yet fully accustomed to this life. Unfamiliar with the ins and outs of boat maintenance and navigation, they’ve had a steep learning curve and have relied on online forums and a guidebook for help.

“It felt a bit terrifying to buy a hunk of steel with an engine when you know nothing about any of those things,” Ms. Bruce said. “But then the second I felt a little bit scared about that I was like, ‘This is what I need in my life.’”

They have noticed some divisions within the world of canal boating — for example, when an older couple with a flashy boat tsked and tutted as they made their way a little clumsily through a lock.

But they have also found a thriving community of like-minded fellow boaters who are quick to lend their expertise.

“I feel like we probably all have something in common,” Ms. Bruce said. “You know: loving the canals for the peace and the pace, and not tasting and smelling polluted air. And being able to hear the birds when you’re sitting out having tea.”

That shared bond makes it easy to connect with others journeying along the canals, who pass with a wave and some chat.

“Maybe you both feel like you’ve uncovered the secret to life,” Ms. Bruce added with a smile.


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## dmurray007 (Aug 7, 2021)

Bunk said:


> DW and I think we would enjoy a timeshare week on a canal boat in England.
> 
> Please let us know about your experiences if you've done this.
> 
> ...


Don't know if there are any timeshare options for narrowboats, but do know there are rental companies for narrowboats. Think along the lines of renting an RV. I follow a blog from a narrowboat owner and have found it very relaxing to watch.


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## Limace (Aug 7, 2021)

They are really reasonable to rent-I don’t know if timesharing is an option? It’s on our list too. 


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


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## JeffC (Aug 7, 2021)

Club La Costa has canal boats. They exchange thru II. I’ve never tried to book one but the Times article piqued my interest. We’re still waiting for the covid situation to stabilize before going abroad.
Checking their website they currently show mostly 2022 availability at Gayton, Anderton, Shropshire, Worcestshire, Hilperton and Alvechurch.  I don’t see any availability on II to exchange so an OGS would be needed. You can look at their website 
www.clcworld.com/destinations/on-the-water/canaltime for more info.


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## tschwa2 (Aug 8, 2021)

Like a lot of Europe, the narrowboats that I have seen (on non covid years) on RCI are off season only, as in November- March and if you are lucky you might see an early October.  Certainly nothing in the May-Sept.  Maybe with a 2 year in advance ongoing search?


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## JeffC (Aug 8, 2021)

CLC website shows availability in May-Sept 2022. They’re even offering 10% off points on some weeks. I don’t remember them discounting the canal boats prior to covid.


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## JudyH (Aug 13, 2021)

Yes!! We did it. I think 2012. We exchanged thru RCI. We flew from BWI to London to Manchester. Took the train to Chester then picked up the narrow boat near there. It was just DH and I. We went to Llangollen Wales, stayed there two nights and returned. We picked up groceries at a nearby store and ate most nights at pubs where we tied up.
It was very scenic. People were nice and helpful.
We are campers and RVers. This was similar. However I have no desire to do it again. Because I have better vision than DH I was the one who did all the navigation. Many areas were quite narrow. I needed to be very precise on my navigation and often passed very close to privately owned boats. Also there was no place to sit on the outside of the boat, so it was standing in all kinds of weather. We only had rain one day (July) so we’re lucky.









Last


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## T_R_Oglodyte (Aug 13, 2021)

If you google you can find lots of videos on the ins and outs of narrowboating.


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## JohnPaul (Aug 15, 2021)

We used to see this in RCI and joked that we could spend January and February for almost no points as that’s typically a dark and dreary time.


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## Laurie (Mar 3, 2022)

I just finished a fiction book entitled "The Narrowboat Summer" which I appreciated reading, since I'd considered a timeshare exchange, but wasn't quite sure I wouldn't get bored moving at that speed, and not having a wider range to see and do more. After reading it, I did regret we hadn't done it at least 10 years ago ... and it convinced me that the window is probably passed for us as seniors. Recommended for folks thinking about this.


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## JudyH (Mar 4, 2022)

For me it was so stressful navigating that I wasn’t bored.


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## Laurie (Mar 5, 2022)

JudyH said:


> For me it was so stressful navigating that I wasn’t bored.


I can see why -- the book cured me of that misconception. Also why they say at least 2 able-bodied adults. Did you go thru any tunnels? Yikes!  

We overnighted in Llangollen some years ago (to visit the pretty fascinating Plas Newydd historic site) driving from TS's in Scotland to St Davids, and stayed in a pub/inn on the river. We walked up to the towpath and watched the narrowboats for awhile. I was so tempted to knock on someone's window and ask if I could take a quick look-see, never did, but that was when I really started considering a narrowboat exchange.


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## JudyH (Mar 7, 2022)

Yes in the above photo, we had to go thru an equally long one way tunnel before we came out onto that viaduct. 
In Llangollan there was a large famous international music festival going on. We thought we would go. But it was a mile long one direction only curvy drive to enter the mooring area were we could stay 48 hours and there were 5 boats behind me.  At the entrance a boat started coming out and towards us. The driver didn’t know how to backup the narrow boat. My DH had to jump off ours, jump on his, help him back up and it started pouring rain. 
Once we made a docking we stayed put more or less the whole time. It poured rain. We did have heat and electricity. The festival was outside under a tent. We walked into town a bit. Then we had that whole drive back to where we started. I should have written a book. The YouTubes made it look so relaxing and easy. Thank goodness we are veteran RVers.


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## Carolinian (May 1, 2022)

We have traded to Canaltime narrowboats (I think the name has changed now) three times, once through RCI and twice through DAE, always on different canals, and loved it.  All were in warm weather periods.  We have talked about going back for another week, as we still have a couple of exchange credits left at UKRE, and they get narrowboat deposits.


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