Scotland Boat Hire

[ranworthbreeze]

Le-boat were offering a Birchwood 340 (similar to Ranworth Breeze) in May last year at £1650 plus the security deposit, plus the £250 fuel deposit and the usual waiver fees etc.

 

As Jonzo says not cheap and this could be a reason why le-boat have gone for the easy pickings of Scotland and France rather than compete on the Broads.

 

Regards

Alan

[SPEEDTRIPLE]

Iain, I thought you were an Electrician by trade not a bloody travel agent lol

 

Kadensa, you seem to have been on a lot of waterways, would love to hear more about your adventures, I've only been on the Yorkshire Ouse and the Broads lol

 

Grace

 

 

 

Hi Gracie,

 

 

Are there still any hire boats on the Yorkshire Ouse?.  I wanted to go there for years, but never got round to it, but now i think my chance has gone due to a lack of hir boats.

[Gracie]

Hi Speedtriple,

 

I think they were called York Marine, it was a long time ago, about ten years now I think, they closed down soon after our holiday I believe.

 

It's a lovely river but not like the Broads regarding pubs and moorings. My first experience with those bloody locks (not a great fan of them) and two weeks was long enough. I am not running it down it was beautiful in places and cruising through York was amazing.

 

Grace

[SPEEDTRIPLE]

Hi Speedtriple,

 

I think they were called York Marine, it was a long time ago, about ten years now I think, they closed down soon after our holiday I believe.

 

It's a lovely river but not like the Broads regarding pubs and moorings. My first experience with those bloody locks (not a great fan of them) and two weeks was long enough. I am not running it down it was beautiful in places and cruising through York was amazing.

 

Grace

 

 

Hi Gracie,

 

the only time i saw the Yorkshire Ouse, it was several miles wide in some places,  and in one particulat place, you could see only the cross bar of a goal post sticking out of it.

 

I still can`t find that lol smiley.

[kadensa]

Some more photos to whet your appetite, Grace -

 

The calm after the storm; Loch Oich

 

 

 

 

Ben Nevis from the moorings at Banavie

 

 

 

 

Hurrying home - Loch Ness

 

 

 

 

[SGWilko]

We were thinking of returning to the Caledonian last year but ended up going on the Union & Clyde canals instead

Aha,

 

Did you travel through the 'wheel'?

 

We've been on the tourist boats a couple of times on the wheel, it's very impressive, and a very simple idea!

 

Stuart.

[BroadScot]

Aha,

 

Did you travel through the 'wheel'?

 

We've been on the tourist boats a couple of times on the wheel, it's very impressive, and a very simple idea!

 

Stuart.

Stuart it looks simple, but wasn't. My mate use to work for Falkirk Council, and was involved in promoting the area. That wheel, marvelous as it is, cost a pretty penny to erect. For anyone who will be in the area early August, there is a fun day at the canal basin at Linlithgow, I think about the 16th.

 

 

Iain.

[ranworthbreeze]

Hello Stuart,

Yes we did, because of the pickup time on the boat we spent quite a good deal of time looking around the Falkirk Wheel Centre, and getting our two cars down to the canal side drop off point for unloading.

You have to tell the boatyard which way you are going so they can either book you onto the first lock up the wheel or the the locks or bridge on the canal.

Not so good with heights these days but really enyoyed the trips up & down the wheel.

Iain,

The fun day at Linlithgow is that in aid of the Canal Society?

I spent a fair amount of time with one of the volunteers of the society talking shop about canals. When our children were in their infant years (around 8 or 9) we did a lot of work on the Chesterfield Canal around the Tapton Lock and other locks in Chesterfield.

Tapton Lock took a long time because we had to dig all the black gunk out of the lock, Tan operated a barrow hoist or was in the lock filling the barrows, I did my fair share of digging but I also repaired stonework or brickwork and load of pointing with lime based mortor and pointing irons, I have a picture somewhere of myelf and another one of the volunteers sat on top of the new bottom gates we had made using an electric plane to get them to fit correctly, If I get a chance I will upload it.

Regards

Alan

[BroadScot]

Alan I am 99% sure you are correct about the Canal Society day. You have to build a boat made out of cartons and make it float over a short course. Most rarely make it very far into the water. But much hilarity is had by all lol    There are also short rides on the canal. I have pics on a CD somewhere will try look out.

 

Iain.

[Oddfellow]

We went about four years ago on a flybrige LeBoat cruiser run by West Highland (WH). WH knew who we were and so our handover was pretty sparse, but the boat was well presented and behaved perfectly throughout. Couldn't really fault it.

 

It was a very enjoyable time but very different from the Broads. As has been said - no wild mooring so exploration of areas can be limited. Scenery is just stunning. No TV on our boat as told that reception was non-existent.

 

We went in September and had no real trouble mooring, but I would imagine that it might be more problematic in busy times as proper moorings aren't around every bend. Canal-side facilities were OK and better than the Broads in many respects (laundry equipment and showers for instance).

 

But, it is expensive. I am sure this is largely due to the size of the area and the very short boating season  up there. We'd do it again, but not for some years.