Canal and River Cruising : The IWA Manual

Exploring inland waterways is one of the most popular forms of activity holiday in Britain.

You can drift through miles of glorious countryside, investigate fascinating relics of former industries and, not least, marvel at the feats of engineering – the locks, tunnels and aqueducts – that carry the canals throughout the length and breadth of the country.Getting onto the water couldn′t be simpler: you just hire a boat.

But what sort of boat? How do you handle and maintain it, and how do you manoeuvre it through locks, tunnels and swing bridges?

If you get really keen how should you go about buying your own boat?