Narrowboat Holidays and Narowboat hire - moorings.
As you are not allowed to travel after dark it is important that about and hour or so before dusk ( or earlier) you consider where to moor for the night. Though of course you will also be seeking temporary moorings for shorter periods during the day for sight seeing, shopping whilst on your narrowboat holidays.
One of the advantages of narrowboat hire is that you can usually find free moorings even in the centres of major cities and other popular places, though if you know your destination is a popular one it is best to try and arrive in good time.In popular places official visitors moorings will usually be marked and supplied with bollards or rings for securing your narrowboat. These are preferable as bollards and rings are obviously more secure than spikes that can get dragged out by the movement caused by passing boats.
Do's and Don'ts for moorings
Do not use private moorings - these are usually marked as such.
Do not moor on the bollards set aside for craft waiting to use locks, water points or other facilities.
Do moor fairly close to other craft to make the most of available space, try and leaves gaps of around 70' so other Narrowboats can use the moorings as well
Do not leave ropes trailing across towpaths for people to trip over
Do mark spikes with something like brightly coloured plastic bags , so people can see them easily
If you have to use spikes, drive them deeply into the ground and tie the rope to them rather than looping the rope around the spike and back to the boat, this way if you do loose a spike you can recover it again.
Keep ropes tight and consider using spring lines to further restrict the movement of the boat, which will also help prevent spikes being dragged out.
Spring lines are illustrated in this image:
Marinas offer an alternative to moorings on the canals. inevitably there is a charge, but they usually offer a good range of facilities and also secure and safe moorings. it's a good opportunity to get things like the laundry done and a decent shower without fear of draining the water tanks. Most offer some sort of shopping experience and increasingly restaurants, entertainments and other leisure facilities. You will also find basic things like fuel , pumpouts and maintenance workshops.
If moorings are a problem, then one option , and usually a last resort is to "Brest up" or moor alongside another Narowboat. if you are attending a festival or regatta this can be the norm as moorings are likely to be under pressure and it can be quite a sociable experience, but do ask permission first and try and be considerate of the people on the "host boat". If you feel tempted to use an empty private berth out of desperation, talk to the people moored either side of it first, if they are sympathetic and the owners are known to be away cruising, you might be able to stay a night, but approach the people moored locally as sensitively as possible and do not make a habit of it. This should only be a very last resort when desperate.
