点评:When I arrived at Black Prince’s base at Stoke Prior I was welcomed and given a map of the local routes that might be best to follow. A short briefing onshore set us up for our trip and left us feeling confident that we’d be able to manage the Duchess class narrowboat.
These boats are comfortable 50 foot vessels with plenty of living space. We found the fittings and fixtures were all easy to use within the boat, and as we did a walkthrough with John, one of the staff, we found there was nothing beyond our abilities, in terms of the running of the boat. We’d not need to add additional fuel, and the water would be fine for at least four days. The central heating was simple to operate and things like the bathroom, the kitchen and the day to day boating equipment was all of good quality and frankly a pleasure to use.
The walk through with John was very helpful. We did a quick test trip through a lock and satisfied both ourselves and John that we’d probably not go down with all hands over the next few days. If you’re going to do this with a little boating experience it helps, but is by no means essential. It will take a little practice getting used to the way the boat responds to the help, but you can pick it up easily enough. The engine pushes the boat along at a canal speed, which is to say you are gong to move calmly and gently through the beautiful countryside at a little over walking speed. This is plenty.
The vessel is 16 tons, and so takes a moment or two to respond to the helm. You have to think a couple of boat lengths ahead as you maneuver, though at the speeds you’re traveling this is not as daunting as it might sound.
Travelling in mid April we were fortunate enough not to have to deal with much in the way of other traffic, though I don’t think this would ever have been much of a challenge.
We felt completely confident in the boat as we headed south on the Birmingham and Worcester Canal, and tackled our first few locks. Between the two of us this wasn’t too challenging. I think if we’d been aiming to go longer distances, we might have invited a couple of friends to join us to share the work, though we did manage to tackle 28 locks in one day, on one occasion. This sounds heavy work, but it’s not half as hard as most people imagine. On this particular canal a team of volunteers maintain the locks, and they are quite easy to manage. This is a great help to anyone on the canal. Some people cruise solo and manage them, though this was more than I could imagine handling.
You get used to the stopping distance, which is just a matter of practice. The boats are built to take a bit of a knock, and you find eventually that there’s a technique that you master and really enjoy the process. Bridges locks and tunnels become a pleasure. We fell into a comfortable routine of team work and thoroughly enjoyed the route.
If there was a criticism, and I had to dig deep to find one, it would be that for the life of me I couldn’t find a bread board on board. I love to cook, and the kitchen facilities are great. However, the knives were pointedly dull. It did cross my mind that this may be a safety feature possibly enacted after a mansplaining incident following the wife opening 28 locks in one day, but I couldn’t stand by this theory. I should also add that there’s an abundance of pubs beside the locks, including The Eagle And Sun at Droitwich, which had a carvery fit to relieve a famine stricken East African country. Excellent cider, great foods and abundant choices can be enjoyed on this route.
We passed rich farm land, historic buildings, artists working on other canal boats, and would see the occasional Saxon church tower in the distance. As you gently cruise by nesting swans you quickly realise you are seeing a very different view of the countryside, and one you’d never see from a car.
Remarkably we left most of the canals and bridges undamaged. The canal has survived since 1815, and we are pleased to say it survived our visit. Our boat was wonderful and when we returned it the team at Black Prince didn’t seem concerned that it was probably three feet shorter than when we’d picked it up. Vessels of this type when moored in some locations are charged by the foot, so we likely did them a favor. I am sure they’ll thank us later.
In all seriousness, it was a great way o spend a few days. The company was great and we had no complaints. Pricing was reasonable and we loved our adventure on the canal. We will certainly use Black Prince again.
翻译:当我到达 Black Prince 位于斯托克普赖尔的基地时,他们热情地迎接了我,并给了我一张当地最佳路线的地图。岸上的简短介绍为我们的旅行做好了准备,让我们有信心能够驾驭 Duchess 级窄船。
这些船是舒适的 50 英尺船,拥有充足的生活空间。我们发现船上的配件和设备都很容易使用,当我们与其中一名工作人员约翰一起参观时,我们发现在船只运行方面没有什么超出我们能力范围的。我们不需要添加额外的燃料,水至少可以保持四天。中央供暖系统操作简单,浴室、厨房和日常划船设备等都质量上乘,坦率地说,使用起来很愉快。
与约翰一起参观非常有帮助。我们快速通过了一道船闸,我们和约翰都确信,在接下来的几天里,我们可能不会全员沉没。如果您打算在有一点划船经验的情况下完成此任务,这会有所帮助,但绝非必不可少。需要一点练习才能习惯船对帮助的反应方式,但您可以轻松掌握。发动机以运河速度推动船前进,也就是说,您将以略高于步行速度的速度平静而轻柔地穿过美丽的乡村。这已经足够了。
这艘船重 16 吨,因此需要一两分钟才能对舵做出反应。您在操纵时必须考虑船身前方几段距离,但以您行驶的速度,这并不像听起来那么可怕。
四月中旬旅行时,我们很幸运,没有遇到太多其他交通,尽管我认为这从来都不是一个很大的挑战。
当我们沿着伯明翰和伍斯特运河向南行驶时,我们对这艘船充满信心,并解决了最初的几个船闸。我们两个人之间并不太难。我想,如果我们的目标是航行更长的距离,我们可能会邀请几个朋友加入我们,分担工作,尽管有一次,我们确实在一天内成功通过了 28 个船闸。这听起来很繁重,但并不像大多数人想象的那么难。在这条特定的运河上,有一支志愿者团队维护着船闸,它们很容易管理。这对运河上的任何人来说都是一个很大的帮助。有些人独自航行并管理它们,尽管这超出了我的想象。
你会习惯停车距离,这只是一个练习的问题。这些船的设计是为了承受一点冲击,你最终会发现有一种技巧,你可以掌握它并真正享受这个过程。桥梁、船闸和隧道成为一种乐趣。我们进入了舒适的团队合作模式,非常享受这条路线。
如果有什么批评的话,而且我必须深入挖掘才能找到一个,那就是我无论如何也找不到船上的面包板。我喜欢做饭,厨房设施也很棒。然而,这些刀子明显很钝。我确实想过这可能是一种安全措施,可能是在妻子一天打开 28 个船闸后发生一起男人说教事件后制定的,但我无法接受这种理论。我还应该补充一点,船闸旁边有很多酒吧,包括德罗伊特威奇的 Eagle And Sun,那里有一家烧烤店,可以救济饥荒肆虐的东非国家。在这条路线上,您可以享受优质的苹果酒、美味的食物和丰富的选择。
我们经过了肥沃的农田、历史建筑、在其他运河船上工作的艺术家,偶尔还能看到远处的撒克逊教堂塔。当你轻轻地从筑巢的天鹅身边驶过时,你很快就会意识到你看到的是乡村的完全不同的景色,而这是你从汽车上永远看不到的。
令人惊讶的是,我们保留了大部分运河和桥梁的完好无损。这条运河自 1815 年以来一直存在,我们很高兴地说它在我们的访问中幸存了下来。我们的船很棒,当我们归还它时,Black Prince 的团队似乎并不担心它可能比我们取船时短了三英尺。这种类型的船只停泊在某些地方时按英尺收费,所以我们可能帮了他们一个忙。我相信他们以后会感谢我们的。
说真的,这是度过几天的好方法。公司很棒,我们没有任何抱怨。价格合理,我们喜欢在运河上的冒险。我们一定会再次使用 Black Prince。