1st Ride 2014

[Tyke57nz_imp]

The boats look interesting, what is their purpose, tours? Tell us about the area please. And your bike looks great!

I'm not the op but lived in the UK for a few years and can answer the boat question. They are called Canal Boats. They're like houseboats in North America. Most of them are fully equipped with kitchen, beds, bathroom. Some even have a wood stove for heat. Some people live on theirs, others use them only occasionally and there are many firms that rent them out. We rented a 60 footer once and it was a blast. The canal system in the UK is extensive passing by towns, beautiful scenery, restaurants and lots of canal-side pubs! You (better) quickly learn how to manage the mostly manually operated locks and plan where to turn around! I highly recommend it if your trip there allows.

I found this picture online for a little more added incentive for the folks on this board.

I'm not the op but lived in the UK for a few years and can answer the boat question. They are called Canal Boats. They're like houseboats in North America. Most of them are fully equipped with kitchen, beds, bathroom. Some even have a wood stove for heat. Some people live on theirs, others use them only occasionally and there are many firms that rent them out. We rented a 60 footer once and it was a blast. The canal system in the UK is extensive passing by towns, beautiful scenery, restaurants and lots of canal-side pubs! You (better) quickly learn how to manage the mostly manually operated locks and plan where to turn around! I highly recommend it if your trip there allows.

I found this picture online for a little more added incentive for the folks on this board.


Guy Martin the exuberant TT racer rebuilt a long boat with his mate as part of his TV series, appears to be quite a character. The canals were basically built by labourers called navigation engineers which is where the term "navvy" comes from. Biggest canal from memory would be the Manchester Ship Canal; has been called other things I believe.