Stuck inside? Going nutz> Enjoy this very low key visit to the many canals of the UK. Very well done by a former ITC wonk. The channel CruisingTheCut Boats not your thing? How about vans? Vandemonium
I have been watching his videos for a while. I started by clicking on a link to an antique boat engine. Interesting stuff.
Read quite a bit about the extensive series of canals in both England and the continent. Got started in it by one of the Hornblower stories and how one of France's major weapons was the ability to move things quickly by water, another was the signal towers that allowed for quick transfer of information. Thank you. Enjoyed it and went a lot farther down the rabbit hole. The canal systems for both transportation and irrigation were some remarkable feats of engineering world wide,
You guys want an amazing trip, check out some of the river and canal tours around Rotterdam, starting at the mega port and going through the locks and into the inner waters! Crazy stuff! Those Narrow boats are pretty dang cool too, having seen a little of it when I was passing through, looked like a fun way to get around!
In Amsterdam the canals are also used to dispose of anything illicit someone needs to get rid of. The authorities dredge them out periodically to collect the hundreds of stolen bicycles, occasional firearm, knives, the very random automobile, and once in a great while a weighted body. I was told by a local coworker last trip over that most of them are not really that deep, and if not cleaned regularly the boats begin dragging on the accumulated debris.
Not narrowboats (they dont do so well on the loch’s, especially loch ness can be megga choppy) but we've done the Caledonia canal (Scotland, Inverness to Fort William) trip a couple times. Beautiful scenery and really enjoyable. Would do it again even though its a bit spendy (boat hire for 2 weeks if you want to take your time & be able to fully enjoy)
Self catering, this is the company we went with Caley Cruisers | Boating Holidays in Scotland dog friendly for a lot of their boats and different sizes to choose from. They give you a intro/safety course and show you how to operate (including how to manuver the locks) and then (as long as they can see your not an idiot...) your on your own
John, the narrow boat guy, chucked it at 55. This guy chucked it at 30, bought a Vega and went to sea The Adventures of Tarka – Sailing the world on a 27-foot sailboat and of course, the UToon channel to go with The Adventures of Tarka funnest episode - in the San Blas islands.
A 27 ft Vega isn't that expensive, even fully kitted and ready to go $15K for the boat featured above, less than I paid for a 20+ Y/O Eurovan camper. The camper won't sink tho.... Albin Vega 27 boats for sale - YachtWorld Albin sailboats for sale by owner.
