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Before going on a narrow boat I had an image of the people that did.
Jumpers, beards, pipes, that sort of thing.
I thought what sort of a challenge can it be to steer a boat in a straght line at a maximum 4mph. Easy peasy, eh? Not quite as I found out later.
Myself and three friends were all due to pick up a boat from Shire Cruisers in Sowerby Bridge for a long weekend of cruising the exotic Rochdale Canal.
However, before we set off on our trip we were sent a substantial information pack including a DVD, which covered the do's and don'ts of narrow boating. There were a lot more don'ts than do's. It didn't look good.
We picked our whopping 56ft boat christened York and were given a quick run-down on how to steer and operate the locks.
I say quick, it took an hour and featured an array of items with names more suited to medieval torture.
Then we were off. About 100 yards up the canal to Tuel Tunnel and Lock.
This miracle of modern engineering fills with so much water it drops the canal by an inch for two miles. Luckily you don't have to operate it, a lockkeeper guides you up the 2Oft the water rises.
Once through the Tuel lock we moored up for another run-through of how to steer, go forward and back and operate locks.
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The boat had a cabin with a double bed at the rear. At the front the seating area was convertable into another double bed and there were a pair of bunks in the centre of the boat.
Although a bit cosy it was well-equipped with all the kitchen essentials and had a surprisingly good shower.
It was a pleasant change from any other form of transport at 5pm on a Friday. There were no horns, snarl-ups or tailbacks, just us simply drifting along at a pleasant pace.
Yes, children on bikes try to race you (they win), but it's very relaxing. Steering the boat isn't boring. In all honesty it's quite tough.
You need to steer one way to go a different way. Plus you turn the rudder and brew a cup of tea before the boat starts turning.
After about an hour we moored up at Brearley and headed to the Grove Inn for food and a little light refreshment.
The next day we made our way along the canal to Hebden Bridge.
Probably the toughest thing about a boating trip is the locks. There are quite a lot and they can make you get a bit of a sweat on.
The basic gist is you turn a lever with a thing which looks like a wheel brace, which in turn lets water in or out, and then you push the big door (that can't be the right word) open to let the boat in.
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We moored up again, surprise, next to a pub in Hebden Bridge and disembarked. I'd never been to Hebden Bridge before but really enjoyed the range of pubs, shops and restaurants. When suitably refreshed we returned to the boat and fell soundly asleep.
The boat, due to its size and the quality of your mooring skills, shouldn't rock about too much. It does in a relaxing way that you won't notice until you get off and then you feel a bit strange having got your "canal legs" on.
On the final day we made our way back from Hebden Bridge to Sowerby Bridge. We had to turn (less said the better) and also navigate more than a dozen locks - tiring.
But when we got back we were all sad to tie the boat up for a final time.
After trying it once boating is something I would do again. We were blessed with glorious weather. To be honest if the weather was bad I don't think I'd have enjoyed it as much.
We were also lucky with the boat-they are quite snug and although the boat says it can sleep six, it could have been bit cramped if it was full to capacity.
But these are minor quibbles for a trip that turned all my expectations on their heads.
Boring no. Easy no. Enjoyable, relaxing and rewarding definitely.
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