The Boat Floats

Guide

Boat Skills and Experience

You don't need any boating experience to hire a narrowboat in the UK. Hire firms train you on the day. But the skills you pick up over the first day or two are

4 min read · Updated 2025-12-16

Boat Skills and Experience

You don't need any boating experience to hire a narrowboat in the UK. Hire firms train you on the day. But the skills you pick up over the first day or two are real skills, and they're worth understanding so you're not relying entirely on the handover briefing. This guide is a sketch of what you'll actually learn.

What the handover covers

A typical hire firm handover lasts 60-90 minutes and covers:

  • Starting and stopping the engine
  • Forward, neutral, reverse on the gearbox
  • Steering with the tiller
  • Stopping (in reverse; there's no brake)
  • Mooring up with ropes and pins
  • Working a lock (often with a practice lock at the base)
  • Toilet, gas, water, heating, electrical systems
  • Emergency contacts and procedures

You can usually leave the base and stop at the first quiet spot for half an hour to practise before tackling a lock.

The basic skills

Steering

The tiller is counter-intuitive at first: push the tiller right and the boat goes left. Within an hour or so it becomes natural. Aim for the middle of the canal, anticipate corners, look ahead not at the bow.

Stopping

There's no brake. Slow with neutral, stop with reverse. Reverse pulls the stern slightly to the right (UK propellers spin clockwise viewed from astern), so plan accordingly.

Reversing

Most narrowboats reverse poorly. The propeller pulls the stern sideways and the bow won't follow. Practise in open water before committing to a tight space.

Turning round

Narrowboats turn at "winding holes" - widened sections of canal designed for the purpose. Marked on canal guides. A 70ft boat needs a 70ft+ winding hole. To turn:

  • Approach slowly with the bow toward the wide bank
  • Engine in slow forward, push the bow into the bank
  • As the bow slows, swing the stern out using the tiller
  • Touch reverse to swing further
  • Repeat until you're round

Mooring

The basic sequence:

  • Slow approach parallel to the bank
  • Engine to neutral, step off with the centre line
  • Loop centre line round a ring or pin
  • Then walk bow and stern lines into position
  • Tie off with simple knots (round turn and two half hitches)

Lock work

A separate skill - see canal lock working skills and working a lock safely and efficiently.

What you'll get better at by day three

  • Reading the wind and current
  • Anticipating bends and bridges
  • Picking good mooring spots
  • Working a lock with one or two crew
  • Reading water depth from the way the boat moves
  • Judging speed without a speedometer

What you'll still find tricky

  • Reversing into a tight gap
  • Turning at small winding holes in wind
  • Steering past a moored boat in a strong cross-wind
  • Working a heavy lock with two people

These come with a few seasons rather than a few days. Don't expect mastery on a first hire.

Going beyond the hire

If you want more skills:

  • RYA Inland Waterways Helmsman certificate. A 2-day course covering theory and practice. Recognised, useful, and required by some operators in mainland Europe.
  • Crick Boat Show, IWA festivals offer informal tuition
  • Many marinas run "training days" for hire-curious boaters
  • CRT Volunteer Lock Keepers are happy to teach by example at busy locks

Honest limits

Hire boating teaches you flat-water canal handling. It does not teach you:

  • River boating with current and tides
  • Tidal estuary work
  • Navigation by chart or GPS
  • Ropework beyond mooring
  • Engine maintenance

If you graduate to ownership and want to go onto rivers, take a proper RYA course first.

A skill-building checklist

  • Pay full attention at the handover
  • Practise stopping and reversing in open water
  • Take the first lock slowly with the steerer staying on board
  • Rotate roles within the crew so everyone learns
  • Read a canal guide alongside the cruise
  • Watch experienced boaters at locks
  • Ask other boaters; they love to teach

Conclusion

The skills of canal boating are mostly common-sense applied slowly. A first hire teaches you enough to handle a boat well by the end of the week. If you want more, take a course, read a couple of books, and go again. Most of what makes a good boater is patience and observation; the technical bits come quickly enough.