James Ashworth
Why Autumn Is the Connoisseur's Season
By the middle of September, the summer flotilla has thinned out and the cut returns to the people who love it most. Mist sits on the water until nine, the towpaths turn the colour of weak tea, and the hedgerows are heavy with sloes and rosehips. Best of all, you can arrive at a rural pub at half five on a Saturday and still find a mooring within sight of the door.
Cruising in autumn asks a little more of you than a lazy July afternoon, but the rewards are considerable: empty locks, kingfishers working the same stretch all day, and the smell of a coal fire drifting across the water as you tie up. Here's how to get the best from the season without spending a fortune or fighting your boat.
Getting the Boat Ready Before the First Cold Snap
Do this in early autumn, not on the morning you wake to frost on the cratch cover. A couple of hours now saves an expensive call-out later.
- Heating: sweep the stove chimney, check the firebricks and rope seals, and make sure the carbon monoxide alarm has fresh batteries. If you run a diesel heater, book a service before the engineers get busy.
- Engine: check the antifreeze strength, top up the coolant, and change the fuel filter. Cold starts are hard on tired batteries, so test them under load and clean the terminals.
- Water and pipes: lag any exposed pipework, and know where your stopcock lives. A burst pipe in November is miserable and costly.
- Condensation: ventilation is the answer, not sealing the boat up. Keep a roof vent cracked open, use a dehumidifier or a few moisture traps, and lift mattresses off the base to let air circulate.
- Deck kit: a decent headtorch, spare mooring lines, a boat hook and a good pair of non-slip boots. Wet steel and wet grass are both treacherous.
Cruising When the Leaves Come Down
Leaf fall is the single biggest nuisance of autumn cruising. A mat of leaves around the propeller will have you crawling through the weed hatch, so check the prop before you set off each morning and keep the stern gland greaser topped up. Carry a spare shear pin if your outboard uses one.
Plan your days around the light rather than the distance. By late October you'll be losing the sun shortly after half four, and the last hour before dusk is when the lock gates are slippery and the edges hard to read. Three or four hours of steady cruising is a satisfying day in autumn; eight is a chore. If you must move late, use a headtorch, keep well into the channel and don't attempt an unfamiliar lock in the dark.
Rivers rise fast after October rain, so favour canals and lock flights over tidal or fast-flowing stretches. Check the navigation authority's noticeboard or phone line the evening before you move, especially after a named storm.
Mooring and Overnighting as the Nights Draw In
Towpath edges soften with rain, and a pin that held firm in August will pull straight out in October. Drive pins in at an angle away from the boat, add a spring line to stop the boat surging, and never rely on a single pin overnight. Where the ground is hopeless, look for rings, bollards or a proper visitor mooring instead.
Visitor moorings are often free for 24 or 48 hours, which keeps the budget tidy. Winter moorings, where you stay put for a month or more, vary wildly in price depending on the site, but they are usually cheaper than a marina berth and far more atmospheric. Just remember that staying in one place means running the engine to charge batteries — which your neighbours won't thank you for after eight in the evening. Solar panels give very little in November, so a small generator used considerately, or a hook-up where one is available, is money well spent.
Fireside Stops at Waterside Pubs
Rural pubs shift their hours once the school holidays end, so a quick phone call before you cast off saves a long walk in the rain. Many keep to lunchtimes and evenings only from Tuesday to Thursday, and some close entirely for a fortnight in November.
Where a pub has its own stretch of frontage, overnight mooring is often welcomed in exchange for a meal — ask at the bar rather than assuming. Arrive tidily, keep the generator off, and don't run the engine in the morning until a civilised hour. A winter ale by an open fire, with boots drying on the hearth and your boat visible through the window, is one of the great pleasures of the waterways.
What Autumn Cruising Really Costs
The season itself is cheaper than summer: quieter moorings, no peak-season marina rates, and less wear on the engine. Budget for the extras that autumn brings, though. A 25kg bag of smokeless fuel might set you back £12 to £15 and will last a couple of weeks of evening fires; diesel for heating and charging runs to a similar figure per week in the coldest months. A mid-season engine service is typically £150 to £250, and a chimney sweep is a fraction of that.
Set a modest contingency aside each month for the repair you can't predict — a failed water pump, a split hose, a new battery. Keep a written log of fuel, moorings and maintenance, and you'll soon see where the real money goes. That way, when a bright, cold morning arrives in November with frost on the gunwales and the canal to yourself, you'll be out cruising rather than worrying about the cost.
