Tips on boating

The main ‘rules of the road’ are - don’t rush, consider others and don’t waste water. If you come to go up a lock and it’s full of water, see if there is a boat coming wanting to go down. It won’t take much longer, it will save water (a lock can use 50,000 gallons of water each time) and it will be easier for you.

YOU SHOULD KEEP AWAY, AND KEEP CHILDREN AWAY, FROM THE LOCK EDGE. Water enters the lock with tremendous force and anyone falling in to the lock or into the canal above the lock could be sucked beneath the water.

Living on a canal boat can seem to be a very pleasant existence when you conjure up images of brightly painted cosy craft tied up in alongside sunny country fields or in handy, friendly, economic city centre marinas, able to move on whenever the mood takes you. However the reality of being a 'liveaboard' is not quite so straightforward. There are a multitude of rules and regulations that you have to be aware of and a range of things to consider that you would not have to bother about if you were 'ashore'. Above all there is a great shortage of residential moorings.

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