Save 10% on 2024 day hires

Quiet rural moorings and historic waterside pubs make narrowboat day hire the perfect romantic getaway. Fox Boats offer day boat hire near Ely and Cambridge for up to ten people, on the March Adventurer or the March Explorer. This gives couples the chance to escape on board their own private canal boat, or take family and friends along to celebrate an engagement, anniversary or another important relationship milestone. You can even bring your dog! There is plenty of seating both inside and outside the boat, and a see-through cover at the front protects passengers from any occasional rain showers.

If you hire a boat for the day you can enjoy a peaceful cruise along the east Anglian waterways, getting close to nature under the wide Fenland skies. Look out for kingfishers beside the river, and animals grazing in the fields while you’re getting away from the fast pace of modern life.

If you’re celebrating a special occasion, or even planning a marriage proposal, we can arrange delicious food platters to be available on board, from Grazing by Gem. Choose from a traditional afternoon tea, a gentleman’s afternoon tea or a selection of graze boxes.

On board the narrowboat you will find the galley equipped with a hob, fridge and sink, so that you can enjoy snacks and hot drinks while you travel. There is a convenient Tesco and other shops in March, before you set off. There is a dinette and seating area inside the boat. There is also a toilet on board.

Romantic Destinations

Cruising east through the town of March you can pass the windfarm and visit the picturesque villages of Upwell and Outwell. Church Bridge moorings are a great place to stay for a lunch for two. There are also idyllic moorings at Outwell Basin, which is convenient for The Crown (pub) and The Crown Lodge Hotel. Treat your partner to an afternoon tea here, or an intimate meal in the award-winning restaurant.

Church Bridge moorings

Alternatively, travelling west towards Peterborough, past Floods Ferry Marina Park you can reach Ashline Lock and Whittlesey; an ancient market town with an interesting maze of streets. Whittlesey offers limited moorings at the back of a leisure centre and only a short walk from the historic market place. There are two beautiful churches to visit, and a range of restaurants and takeaways.

Our day boats are really popular at weekends so book early if that’s your preferred time to get away. But they are also available on weekdays. If this is your first time narrowboating we will show you the basics. We’re a friendly family-run business, so you can ask us any questions you like, before you set off.

So, create special memories together with the one you love and take lots of happy-couple photos on a day out on a narrowboat this year.

We are spreading the love for Valentine’s Day. From now until 16th February 2024 you can save 10% off our 2024 day hires.

For more surprising and unusual tips and ideas for days out in Cambridgeshire, enter your email address in the box in the right side bar (‘Follow blog’) and we’ll send you articles direct to your inbox. (We never share or sell email addresses; this is just to send you our latest blog posts.)

The post This Valentines Offer is a Romantic Idea for Couples appeared first on Fox Narrowboats.

Have you been experiencing anxiety?

Are you suffering from low-mood?

Have the events of 2020 left you feeling isolated?

You are not alone. The Covid-19 pandemic has exacerbated many common mental health problems in the UK population, leading to concerns that there is currently a mental health crisis. The NHS, small community groups and national charities have all done their best to support anyone reaching out for help in 2020. But what can you do to support your own mental health and wellbeing?

Good mental wellbeing does not mean that you no longer experience life’s challenges or difficult feelings, but it does mean maintaining your inner resilience so that you can cope with life’s ups and downs as they happen. Here are five ways to improve your mental health in 2021.

Get Active

Taking a narrowboat day trip or canal boat holiday can be a fun way to take part in some gentle physical activity. Boat handling involves pulling mooring ropes, hammering mooring pins, and operating locks. Using a lock includes winding the paddles, pushing balance beams, opening lock gates, holding mooring ropes and sometimes climbing ladders. Between locks you may find yourself walking on the towpath, and when the boat is moored up you may enjoy longer walks, just for fun. Dogs are welcome on most of our hire boats.

Human Connections

If this age of social isolation has taught us anything, it is the value of our friends and family, and connecting with other human beings. Book a narrowboat trip with your family and support bubble this year, and take the opportunity to spend some quality time together. Boats can be hired for weekend, midweek or week breaks, as well as 10, 11 or 14 nights.

Connect With Nature

Spending time outdoors is widely recognised as being beneficial for mental and physical health. Exercising outdoors, or practicing mindfulness outdoors, have both been proven to increase wellbeing. Mindfulness is simply focussing your awareness on the present moment without judgement. Being around animals can also have positive effects. Nature improves mood and reduces stress. It can improve confidence and self-esteem, and improve your physical health by encouraging you to be more active. We hire canal boats near to Cambridge and Ely from our marina in March, Cambridgeshire. The Fenland waterways are a large network of rivers and canals packed with wildlife to enjoy.

Connect With Others

Helping others is a recognised way to improve your own sense of wellbeing as it shifts the focus away from ruminating about your own issues. If you love canals you could use the NCBA website to find your nearest community boating project and get involved. Local projects tend to facilitate access to the waterways for disadvantaged and excluded groups, promote social cohesion and protect the environment. Alternatively you could volunteer with the Canal and Rivers Trust or the Inland Waterways Association to get that feel-good factor that comes with helping others.

Take a Break

Enjoying the outdoors is a real benefit of travelling by canal boat. The activities needed to operate the boat and locks will help you to keep fit and active whilst also experiencing the stunning Fenland waterways. If towpath walking or jogging isn’t your thing, then boost your mental health with a creative hobby such as photography or painting. It’s not all about outdoor activity. A canal boat holiday is taken at a leisurely pace, and at the end of an active day enjoying life on the waterways you can sleep peacefully in a comfortable narrowboat cabin. Remember, self-care is a necessity not a luxury. So check our availability now for a narrowboat break this year. Search canal boat breaks.

Keep up with the latest news: Click ‘Blog’ (top right) and look for ‘Follow Blog’ in the right sidebar to get the latest helpful holiday tips in these changing times. (We never share or sell email addresses, we’ll only be sending you our local, insider knowledge, every two weeks.)

The post How a Narrowboat Holiday Can Improve Your Mental Health appeared first on Fox Narrowboats.

We are however extremely excited about the launch of our new boat Rural Fox for the 2019 season.

The base plate was laid on 30th August and the hull is now starting to take shape. With a length of 47 feet or 14.23 metres there will be slightly more room in the galley and shower room than on Urban Fox. There is still a great deal to complete before the hull is water tight and very shortly the main hire fleet will require preparing for winter.  Alan was heard telling Emily that she needed to ensure that all of the new equipment was ready for installation.  We then heard mutterings from her that she had the curtains in hand but couldn’t see now they could be fitted yet! We are however pleased to share the progress of the project to date.  Close inspection of the bow shows the lower shape which has been so successful in our day boat hire. With some changes to the livery and coach works we are looking forward to showing you a new and more contemporary feel.  Rural Fox  will accommodate 2 to 4 people and the innovative design will mean the accommodation can be in 2 doubles or a double and two single beds. All of our 2019 and 2020 holidays are now available for booking and currently there is 15% discounts on Sliver Fox and Platinum Fox and 10% discount on Rural Fox on all bookings

Hey! Are you new here? Subscribe on the right to receive more secrets of the undiscovered Fenland waterways, by email. (We never share or sell email addresses, we’ll only be sending you our local, insider knowledge, two or three times a month.)

The post Au revoir Urban Fox and hello and welcome Rural Fox! appeared first on Fox Narrowboats.

Pam

Name: Pam

Role: Marina Assistant

Responsibilities: Reception, Till reconciliation, Day Boat handovers and invoicing

How long have you been working for fox boats? 7 years

Favourite thing about working for Fox Boats: Having the knowledge to pass on to customers when doing boat handovers. I even did a day boat handover to Rick Wakeman

Funniest memory/experience of working at Fox Boats: Trying to remain professional when a delivery driver accidentally went through a puddle and covered a cyclist in our road, who then came in to complain.

Something interesting/unusual about you: I was born on Remembrance Day. On my 40th birthday I was in Munich listening to the glockenspiel. The time and date was 11am 11/11/11.

Best thing about living in Cambridgeshire: Flat land and scenery

If you could name one of the boats, what would you name it? I used to have a boat which was called Aquaholic.

The post Staff Spotlight – Pam appeared first on Fox Narrowboats.