Narrowboat and Canal Boat Hire for Barge Holidays at Mercia Marina Good quality boats at discount prices in the heart of the English canal system

 




The 4 Berth boats available include: Henry V and Puck
Accommodation consists of a single double bedroom and 2 single berths in the saloon. These boats are there for suitable for couples or small families.They are equiped with a single toilet / shower room, a kitchen area with a comprehensive range of utensils and all necessary bedding and linen in terms of duvets, covers , sheets, towel teatowels etc.

Four Berth4 berth

Minimum crew requirements two competent adults.
The boat has a  cruiser stern design and is powered by a modern low maintenance deisel engine, which you will largely be able to ignore.
On collection the boat will be complete with a full tank of fuel and engough gas cylinders (heating and cooking ) to more than see you through the week.

The toilet discharges into a septic tank, which should be quite big enough to cope with a week's cruise. After that you may want a pump out, a facility available at most marinas for £10 to £15.

Life jackets and basic training will be provided on collection. Before departing the marina, please make sure you have a good understanding of how the boat works ... where to switch on the shower pump... how to light the cooker and all the other odd questions. At the marina any problems can be dealt with swiftly, which is not so easy when the boat is twenty miles away, so test your knowledge and test the equipment before you leave.

On collection you will be asked to pay "marina Fees" of about £130, this fee covers marina services, your fuel costs, secure car parking for one car and a few other things. you will also be asked for a £500 deposit against damage, which can be taken as a credit card slip. The alternative being an insurance premium of about £45 to effectively insure against the first £500 of loss.

Other facilities include a television / DVD player and a low power 240v system, which can be used to run laptops recahrge mobile phones etc but should not be used for more demanding items.The electricity obviously comes from an onboard bank of batteries which need to be kept charged, to do this you will need to run the engine for 4 hours a day , which most people will do in the normal course of cruising. The engine also heats the water, so the best time to have a shower is actually while crising or soon after.

Water is supplied by a main water tank, with filtered drinking water available at the kitchen sink. The tank will probably have to be refilled something like every other day in normal use, more often if everyone showers every day. Waterpoints are available at the canal side at regular intervals, for this purpose.