Deedee and I have done a lot of cruises from the largest cruise ship to our favorite river cruise. All of these have one thing in commom. Some one else is driving the boat. Most people that cruise would say thats a really good thing. Being on a boat with a very professional crew that takes care of your safety, navigates, serves you food, and entertains you is what everyone thinks of for a cruise.
In September 21, we tried something completely different. We cruised on a narrow boat where we were the crew, the cooks, and the entertainment. We were responsible for everything. Now I’ll admit that it was fairly difficult to get into too much trouble at the blinding speed of 3 knots, but we tried a couple of times.
Our route was from the Chirk, Wales base down to Ellesmere in England where we spent the night, turned around and headed back upstream. We made it as far as Trevor after doing the Aqueduct (more about that later), then returned to Chirk base in 5 days.
Our boat was the Catlin, and a good boat was she. As with all narrow boats, it is seven feet wide, but the length can vary between 45 feet to almost 70 feet. This depends on the number of bedrooms, and bathrooms on board. Our boat was 53 feet long, had two bedrooms, and a central bath. Essentially it is a floating Camper.
Our friends had done this several times and recommended Black Price Boats as our source. We were very pleased with the company and the boat. She was clean, tidy and reliable. The layout is very comfortable, if a bit tight, especially passing in the narrow corridor. The kitchen, while small, was very well equipped with a gas range, small oven, a refrigerator, and all the other stuff it takes to prepare a meal. Considering how much fun we had and what a great adventure it was, the price was very reasonable.
The bedrooms are very small, with limited storage, however that is the same situation on a camper so no issue there. Our boat had one bathroom, but there are boats with two.
All in all a very comfortable place to spend 5 days. There was a radio and CD player on board along with a small TV, neither of which we used. I did discover camera mounts on the roof at the front of the boat. Made it very easy to mount the 360 degree camera for videos and pictures.
I am used to extensive checkouts on airplanes including weeks of simulator training for a new aircraft I would fly. This was not that kind of a checkout. They showed where the switches were, how to start the engine, how the throttle and rudder worked, then said if you have questions, its in the manual. That took twenty minutes, and we were on our way. In truth that was enough, we learned very quickly how the boat operated and after the first hour or so, we were an experienced crew.
One of the first things we did was go through the Chirk Tunnel. – a one boat affair. (Chirk Tunnel is 459 yards, completed in 1801. It is a brick lined tunnel, one of the longest of the three tunnels on the Llangollen Canal. It and Whitehouse Tunnel were the first tunnels built in Britain to be built with a towpath – walking path alongside.) The guy at the marina had told us we could see the other side – to look for other boats and turn our headlight on. What I thought was the headlight was the circuit breaker for it. In the meantime, we thought we saw a light coming through the tunnel so we stopped on the right. We waited for awhile then actually did see a boat come through without a light on! He said no one was behind him so we started through. With Deedee holding a flashlight in front. It seemed like a long tunnel – 459 yards. And it was dark!! People walking on the walkway beside us had to have a flashlight. Finally made it through and there were 2 boats behind us! It went right into the 1 lane Chirk Aqueduct which blessedly has a passing basin between the tunnel and the aqueduct. So we pulled over because we could see 2 boats coming over the Chirk Aqueduct. We pulled almost to the bank. The 2 boats behind us pulled up beside us to let the other 2 boats from the Aqueduct go into the tunnel. We let the other 2 boats go first. Then we went over the Aqueduct. It is 70 feet over the River Ceiriog. Beautiful view of the country below and beside us was a railway line with 10 stone arches. It was very pretty!
After the aqueduct, it was pretty easy sailing until we tied up for the night. As with all things the learning curve can be steep at first. Our checkout included instructions for some clips that are used to tie up with. It looks like a massive paper clip. All along the bank are metal strips that look like road barriers, but are bolted to the canal side so there is a small gap. The idea is that the hooked end goes between the bank and the rail. It jams in and locks the clip in place. Then the rope just loops through, and ties to the bollards on the fore and aft of the boat. Of course, I didn’t get it right the first time, so I just pounded stakes in the ground and tied up to them. This was the first night we ate on the boat. Next day we did both locks on our route with some help.
Most of the videos we did on the way back, because we were still trying to figure it out, and it rained hard on us all the way to Elismere. In fact the video of the tunnel is the one we did on the way back upstream.
We spent the next night in Elismere. It stopped raining so we went to town and ate at the Red Lion pub. Very famous old establishment dating from the 1500’s. Wonderful pub food. Fish and Chips, along with Guinness Lamb Stew.. The next morning was gorgeous, so we filled the potable water tank and headed upstream. About two hours later we came to the first of the two locks.
The locks are one boat affairs, and are manually operated. The drill is to wait for a boat coming out of the lock, so you can just go in. The aft gate is closed and the upstream paddles (the valves that let the water in or out) are raised by turning a gear drive with a windless. Every boat has a windless and you had best keep track of it. When the water level equalizes, the fore gate is opened and the boat is moved out. In the meantime the crew member working the lock insures that all paddles are closed for the next boat. This video gives a much better idea of how it works.
This canal had just two locks to pass through during our journey. As newbie’s on the narrow boats, we didn’t want to have to do a lot of locks. Our concerns were not warranted. Once you do one, it becomes obvious how to do it. Another issue for us was that it was just us doing it. This meant that Deedee had to stay on the boat while I operated the lock. She was not particularly thrilled with the idea of keeping the boat centered in the lock while the water was going up or down. If there are more folks on board, it makes the process go a lot smoother. On some canals, there could be as many as twenty locks, including some step locks that have multiple gates one right after another. Not what we wanted to tackle first time out, but not an issue for a future trip. The locks are completely manual. Once the boat is in the lock, the gates have to be closed behind the boat. Then the paddles, which are gear driven up and down by a windless, have to be opened. Depending on which way you are going, the water fills the lock, or drains from the lock. When the water level equalizes, you can push open the gate at the front of the boat and sail out. Still the operating crew member then has to lower the paddles, get the boats windless and get back on the boat. In most cases, for us, there were other boats waiting to go through, so lots of people on the banks to assist. Once you said this was your first time on the canal, they would help you get through. I believe it was the kindness of the folks but also a desire to not let the newbie slow up the process.
The truly spectacular feature on this canal is the Pontcysyllte Aqueduct. It was completed in 1805 after 10 years of construction and 1 death caused by carelessness. The Aqueduct is 1007 feet long, 11 feet 10 inches wide, 5 feet 3 inches deep and is 126 feet above the River Dee. It consists of 18 piers and 19 arches each with a span of 45 feet. The towpath (walkway) that runs along side it, just over the trough has railings running along side it to protect the towpath but the trough has no railings. The Aqueduct was named a World Heritage Site in 2009.
That’s all very interesting information, but going over it in person is just awesome. The view is spectacular, especially since the view from the edge of the canal is straight down. The pictures are not ours, but show the aqueduct from different views. The video is of us crossing it.
As we go across, you can hear the boat occasionally scrape the metal sides of the channel.
A great deal of the attraction for this kind of cruising is how serene and peaceful the journey is. On the canal, the sound of the boat is very low, so the birds and the wind, and conversation are all easy to hear. The pace is languid and the scenery is very pastoral. Everything is done slowly. Rushing to do anything seems pointless, although when docking or tying up, there is a small amount of monkey motion to get it done.
One other small feature we found on the canal was a manual lift bridge. This is a geared bridge that the boat must stop for. A crew member gets out and uses the windless to crank the gear to raise the bridge. When the boat is through, it needs to stop and the crewman lowers the bridge, then hops back on. In our case, there was a gentleman at the bridge who was kind enough to operate it for us.
The upshot of any experience is – would I do it again. In this case the answer is a resounding yes. This is a trip that combines so many things. Probably first and foremost is a sense of control because it’s you doing it. You are driving the boat, determining the speed, not some one else in a bridge far away. On the other hand, you are constrained by the canal and the slow pace of the boat, so the chances for serious mistakes are low.
Then there is the beauty and the peace of it. Watching the small part of the world go by at 3 Knots is an almost magical and fantastical experience. So do it again, yep, and we are working on that with another couple for the not to distant future.