Canal boating holidays are a really great way to unwind. If you’ve never been on a canal barge holiday, don’t worry, the basic skills are easy to master. You don’t need a license, and there is no test for you to pass. When you hire your canal boat, you will be shown how to operate it – including the daily checks which have to be made, how to operate the locks you’ll find on the canal, and how to steer your boat.

Most cruisers, such as the boats you’ll find on the Norfolk Broads, use a steering wheel to control them. This operates in the same way as a car steering wheel – although the response times in boats is much slower. A canal boat works differently – a handle at the rear, called a “tiller”, is used to control the direction of your canal barge. The tiller makes the boat go in the opposite direction to which it’s pushed. Push the tiller to the left, and the canal boat goes right – push to the right and the boat goes left. This may sound confusing, but it’ll soon become second nature when you start your canal boating holiday!

Boats generally take a while to react to the steering, this is especially true of canal narrow boats. So start by move the tiller just a little, then move the tiller a little more if you haven’t gone far enough. This time lapse is a little confusing to start with, but you’ll soon get to know how your boat reacts.

For those of us who are used to a car the time delay between moving your tiller, and the actual movement of the canal boat, can be a little disconcerting. With a little practice though, and you’ll soon be taking the corners like a pro.

The maximum speed on the canals is about 4mph, so you don’t have to worry about crashing your boat on the first tricky bends.

Tags : Boat, Canals, Sailing