How much do you know about narrowboating?

I have been writing this blog for a good few years now and I hope that followers will have learnt more than a little about our summer narrowboat adventures. So just for a bit of fun as we near the end of our 2025 trip, I thought I would do a quiz. Good luck!

1. What is the longest narrowboat that can travel throughout the British network?
   a) 58 ft
   b) 60 ft
   c) 62 ft
2. How many miles of navigable canals and rivers are there in the UK?
   a) 2700 miles
   b) 3700 miles
   c) 4700 miles
3. Most locks are operated using a windlass, but for the Calder and Hebble canal, what else do you need?
   a) a ratcheted lever
   b) a handspike
   c) a twin coiled rope
4. How should boats travelling in opposite directions pass each other?
   a) port to port
   b) starboard to starboard
   c) at tickover
5. When leaving a marina to join a canal, what should you do?
   a) check the weed hatch
   b) sound your horn
   c) display your licence
6. There is cheery banter on the cut between narrowboat owners and people who have boats with keels (such as motorboats and yachts). They call us “sewer sailors” and “ditch dwellers”. What do we call their boats?
   a) gin palaces
   b) airfix kits
   c) yoghurt pots
7. What is the popular Channel 4 programme that showcases eccentric narrowboat owners (many of whom we have met)?
   a) Narrow Escapes
   b) Boat People
   c) Onion Bargees
8. If you fall in a canal what is the best way to avoid drowning?
   a) swim to the towpath side, where it is shallower
   b) swim back to the boat, avoiding the dangerous propellor
   c) stand up
9. What is the name of our narrowboat?
   a) Notayot
   b) Thuis
   c) Serendipity
10. Where is our favourite mooring (where we are right now)?
    a) Tixall Wide
    b) Tixall Narrows
    c) The Tixall Arms

And the answers are:

1. The longest narrowboat that can travel throughout the British network is (a) 58 ft

2. There are (c) 4700 miles of navigable canals and rivers in the UK. We must have travelled over 3000 I think.

3. To operate the Calder and Hebble locks you need (b) a handspike

4. Boats should pass each other (a) port to port

5. When leaving a marina to join a canal, you should (b) sound your horn

6. We call keeled plastic boats (c) yoghurt pots

7. The popular Channel 4 programme that showcases eccentric narrowboat owners is (a) Narrow Escapes

8. If you fall in a canal, the best way to avoid drowning is to (c) stand up. Most canals are less than four feet deep.

9. Our narrowboat is called (b) Thuis

10. Our favourite mooring is (a) Tixall Wide

How did you do? Any scores over five are pretty impressive I think.