Learning to Drive a Canal Narrowboat On A Helmsman Course

[@shirleygreaves9650]

Good idea to take a course, you see so many novice boaters who don’t know what they are doing. Thanks for reminding us that there is a course available to learn properly. Take care. X

[@onedaymoreaboard]

A helmsman course was top of our list when we were planning this life, as neither of us had any experience. It gave us so much more confidence, to protect our own investment, and everyone else’s! 👍

[@annhay4572]

Besides the great narrowboat training, the video and photos were super. Thank you.

[@onedaymoreaboard]

Glad you enjoyed it Ann 😊

[@zzydny]

Greetings from Mississippi. What a wonderful adventure you have begun! Somehow this reminds me of how my parents (who had a sailboat for many years) always used to quote Kenneth Grahame: “Believe me, my young friend, there is nothing - absolutely nothing - half so much worth doing as simply messing about in boats.” I'm not a boater myself but it's lovely watching others being happy on the water.

[@onedaymoreaboard]

Thanks so much for watching and following along with our adventures! That lovely quote is painted on a wall next to the canal in the beautiful village of Alrewas which will be in a future vlog 😊

[@garyneilson1833]

I did the same course last month, well done on passing

[@onedaymoreaboard]

Thanks Gary! It was a fun course and gave us so much more confidence handling our own boat!

[@orangecookie.]

We’ll be taking a course at the end of April this year, and then hiring a narrowboat for a few days (if all is safe to travel). Greetings from western Massachusetts!

[@onedaymoreaboard]

You will have a great time! Fingers crossed you can travel 😊

[@bethiakittify]

Useful overview of the content of a boat handling course. I'm looking forward to following your "journey" from Texas to life on the cut. Bon voyage!

[@onedaymoreaboard]

Thanks so much for watching and for joining us on our travels 😊

[@gwenmassey7631]

Wonderful. Will you be putting up regular videos about your time on the cut? Hope so. 💐💐

[@onedaymoreaboard]

Yes we will! Our first vlog will hopefully be published this week, a full behind the scenes tour of our boat! And then we will tell the story of our packing up and leaving Texas to move back to England to our new life on the canals! 😊

[@gwenmassey7631]

@@onedaymoreaboard Brilliant, cant wait it sounds exciting. 💐💐

[@NorthernNarrowboaters]

I’ve thought of doing this myself. I can only steer left handed 😂😂😂😂😂

[@onedaymoreaboard]

It was definitely worth the money to increase our confidence! But I’m still only good at steering right handed 😂

[@RichardReilly-tz5kd]

We are going in May 2025 first timers from New Hampshire USA I wish I could have taken a course first …gulp 😮

[@onedaymoreaboard]

How exciting! The rental company will give you training before you leave for sure, and they may even have videos that you can watch too. Worth checking with them now so you can be ahead of the game! We had never even been on a narrowboat holiday when we bought our boat so we were total beginners. The helmsman course was definitely a worthwhile investment before we took charge of our floating home! Which area will you be in for your vacation? 😊

[@MrJasperooney]

😃

[@malcolmmarks7374]

Well. How do you drive a narrowboat. What was your experience. That was the title but not a word said. Pointless vlog. Sorry.

[@onedaymoreaboard]

This wasn’t meant to be a vlog. It was the very first thing we posted and really just a compilation of the videos on the course, before we had decided to vlog about our narrowboat adventures. Sorry you were disappointed, but yes, we had a great couple of days that built our confidence for handling our boat.

[@stpancraschapel2136]

My impression too. Glad I didn’t bother sticking it out to the bitter, pointless end.