I admit I was confused when I was first asked the question, Why are canalboat holidays so expensive? During the operation of our hire boat business, I’ve spent many hours buried in cashflow forecasts and budgets. This enables us to set the prices of our holidays and therefore, to me, the answer to the question of why our holidays are priced the way they are, is basically maths. However I’m pretty sure this is not Read more
Luxury canalboat for hire Many of you have been following the creation of our newest luxury canalboat for hire, Woodland Grayling, and we are delighted to show you the final result. We had hoped that the maiden voyage would take place last month, but alas the second lockdown meant that we had to cancel bookings. Then we found ourselves in Tier 3. Then, you know, Christmas. So all being well, we now plan to wave Read more
There is such a lot of activity on the build of the newest Boutique Narrowboat, Woodland Grayling, that it can be hard to find a moment to take photos. But the parquet flooring goes in next week, so we have everything stored “up high.” It also gives me the opportunity to take a few more pictures of progress so far, which I know will be encouraging for those who have booked for November. Take heart, Read more
Sometimes we are asked if it’s possible to return a holiday boat later than 9:30 AM on the morning of check out. I’m afraid to say that the answer is always a negative because, behind the scenes, there is simply too much to get done in very little time. A holiday narrowboat takes between 3-5 hours to prepare for the next guests (unlike the 20 minutes needed for a hotel room.) These so-called Turnaround Days Read more
A narrow boating holiday doesn’t offer many shopping opportunities in our part of the world. The environment is largely rural and it isn’t easy to buy forgotten groceries. Most people arrive with several supermarket trollies’ worth of food, just to be sure. However, it’s not just about the eating/drinking experience. A narrowboat holiday means packing for all weather conditions, too. Here are a few seasonal essentials you’ll want to remember to pack: Sun cream. Read more
It’s time to start planning for the future. After many weeks of coping with the day-to-day affects of the pandemic, we knew that we needed to start looking ahead and build our little business at Union Wharf back up. Cue the Boris Bounce Back loan, and an investment in a lovely new narrowboat shell, all shiny and waiting patiently for a boutique fitout. This time round, we knew we wanted to fit out a new Read more
Leicester lockdown For at least two weeks from 29th June 2020, the city of Leicester is in lockdown due to the pandemic. This means that if you have a booking with us during that period, you won’t be able to cruise northwards through Leicester city (this will only affect hires of 7 days or longer.) The rural town of Market Harborough is not within the catchment of the lock down. It is on the Northamptonshire/Leicestershire Read more
Open for Boutique Narrowboat holidays from Monday 6th JuLY From 4th July, provided that no more than two households stay together, people will be free to stay overnight in self-contained accommodation, including hotels and bed & breakfasts, as well as campsites. Boris Johnson, 23/06/20 So here we are, peering through the other side. After weeks of total lockdown at Union Wharf, we are now seeing signs of life. The marina itself has been a very Read more
Coronavirus update – 6 June 2020 Although we don’t have any official news on when we can reopen for holidays, we are taking bookings from the 4th July onwards. But please don’t pay anything if you book a Boutique Narrowboat. If you wish to book a holiday within the next eight weeks, please reserve through the booking calendar as normal, but don’t pay at the end (the final screen.) Once we are confident that we Read more
Reopening during social distancing We don’t yet have a date when we are able to reopen for business, but in the meantime we are working on a process to ensure that the boats are handed over with minimal input from the trainers. We are currently writing an online course for each boat and updating our written manuals. We appreciate that this method of training is not ideal and inexperienced boaters will still need practical support Read more