Are you new to canal boat holidays?
Canal Boat holidays are a great opportunity for you, your family or friends to enjoy time together on a relaxing and slow-paced break away from the hustle and bustle of modern life. From the moment you arrive at our Hinksford Wharf base and board your boat for the first time until the end of your cruise you will find everyone connected with Heart of England Narrowboats friendly and helpful.
Upon arrival for your holiday we will take time to familiarise you with your chosen boat, advise on routes, mooring places, locks and pubs! You will be accompanied as you cast off for the first time to ensure that you are comfortable with handling the boat. We will happily take you through your first locks or give extra tuition if you feel it sensible and neccesary. We want you to enjoy your holiday with us, and you will be more likely to do that if you are confident about taking control of your boat.
Planning your trip is all part of the fun. With the amount of information available on line now, you will be able to plan it down to every detail, including the all-important pub stops. There are many routes that can be completed from Hinksford Wharf in anything from a weekend upwards. Our location on the Staffordshire and Worcester canal means a lot of customers will cruise the Stouport Ring. This can be completed in a leisurely week with 118 locks and approximately 45 hours worth of cruising.
Heart of England narrowboats is owned and run by Sail & Trail Ltd of Nottingham, you may have already had dealings with us at one of the many caravan, motorhome and boat shows we attend every year. Its principle director Neil Phillips is a RYA Yacht master who has cruised extensively around the world and also spent many years living on board his own narrowboat.
The majority of our team are highly experienced canal and boat operators who live aboard their own boats so you can rest assured that not only will you recieve the best tuition on the day. It won't just be based on theory, it will be built around real life experiences and many many hours cruising the canal, rivers and oceans of our wonderful planet.
We are always pleased to show prospective customers around the boats – we feel that they sell themselves! If you would like to come and see the boat that you are considering booking, please give us a ring before you visit so that we can advise when it might be available. We even offer pre-holiday training/introduction days if you feel this would help. These are great informal and full days encompassing lock, boat handling and general canal etiquette with a light lunch onboard included. If you subsequently book a holiday with us you will be entitled to a discount.
Frequently asked questions:
A: You need to have someone in your group able to cope with the locks, which must 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.
