A Couple of Summers Ago
Some close friends of the family invited us for a day out on their longboat which they share with several other couples. Several families own the boat together with an arrangement that each group gets the boat at certain times of the year. I guess you could say that it is a self imposed time share.
I have seen the longboats around England for years but had never been on one before that day. I have to say, it was an incredibly relaxing and unwinding experience. It has made me contemplate getting one for our little family!
I really have no idea where we were at in the country. All I remember is that it is several hours drive from Cambridge where we first started. I do remember a lot of winding roads which I don't do well with being that I get motion sickness quite often.
Update: Turns out we were in Daventry - here on google maps.
All aboard!
The water is super smooth and calm while we were on it. Of course I can't speak for the times that it chucks down rain. I imagine it can get a bit choppy at times. The canals are relatively narrow most of the way so I don't know how bad it can get. I don't think that the water is particularly deep, either.
I wonder if there are any good fish in there? I don't remember seeing anyone fishing and I am not sure if you are even allowed to fish in here. There were plenty of other critters about, though such as ducks and other birds.
Eventually the canal opened up into an area where there are fields of various farm animals. You could definitely smell them coming, that's for sure!
The boats are so long that you generally don't turn them around that often. We ended up going several miles down the river to a tie off point to have lunch.
After that we went a bit further where there is a large area specifically for turning around. We timed it perfectly so that we'd get back just in time for dark.
Don't ask me why, but they actually let me steer the thing. I was a bit nervous to start with, but as long as you go slow and steady it isn't that difficult to control. The hardest part is avoiding running into people coming at you from the opposite direction.
Some of the boats have great names!
So I must say, I wasn't sure about it when we were invited, but in the end I was very glad that we went. We had been working a lot the week before so it was a really perfect opportunity to have a nice relaxing cruise on the river.
If the chance ever arises to go for a ride on a longboat, I would highly recommend it! In fact, we've talked about buying a house in England over the years. If we do, I think I'd consider getting one of these for weekend getaways.