Our Boats
Cassiopeia and Little Egret are both 55ft, 6 berth narrowboats featuring bathrooms with flushing WCs and onboard showers as well as central heating. They have fully fitted and well kitted out kitchens for all your cooking and dining needs, dining areas and varying bedroom layouts.
Slipstream is a 42ft, 2-4 berth narrowboat featuring bathrooms with a cassette WC with spare cassettes, an onboard shower as well as central heating and a cosy wood burning stove. She has a fully fitted and well kitted out kitchen, dining area and varying bedroom layouts.
All boats offer a high degree of luxury and extras not usually found on hire boats such as snuggly throws, cushions, and DVDs to play on the flatscreen TV/DVDs, books and board games on request . We supply high end percale bed linen, and crisp hotel towels. Ask to see our inventory and then pack lightly! We also supply your essentials such as kitchen cloths, sponges, black sacks, kitchen paper, salt and pepper, dish soap hand soap and toilet paper.
Cassiopeia
Cassiopeia is a beautifully built and fitted out, semi traditional narrowboat of 55ft. She has seating at her stern ideal for socialising, and a well deck with seating at the bow to enjoy the wildlife whilst cruising. She has a traditional wood fit out throughout with a traditional layout, offering 3 double beds sleeping up to 6, derived from: a double cross bed at the stern, a dinette with bench seating and table for dining and game playing by day, mid ship, which converts to a small double by night, and a large sofa at the bow, which converts to a large comfortable sofa bed by night.
Little Egret
Little Egret is a well built and fitted out, cruiser stern narrowboat of 55ft, ideal for socialising at the stern, where she has seating, and a well deck with seating at the bow, to enjoy the wildlife whilst cruising. She has a traditional layout, sleeping up to 6. The beds are derived from a permanent double bed mid ship, double bench seats by day or 2 singles/1 double bed by night, at the stern, and a large dinette area with double bench seating and a large table for dining and game playing area at the bow, which converts into single beds by night.
Slipstream
Slipstream is the baby of the fleet at 42ft. A narrowboat with an unusual stern, a hybrid of traditional and cruiser. She has a roomy deck area at the stern with 2 stools to socialise and take in the wildlife when not cruising, and a small well deck area at the bow. With a traditional wood fit out throughout, luxurious granite in the kitchen and bathroom, she accommodates 2-4 persons. She sleeps up to 2 in the permanent small double at the stern (the bed pushes back further when not in use.) Mid ship, she sleeps up to 2 in the newly built dinette, offering bench seating and a dining table by day, converting to a small double by night. Slipstream also has a wood burning stove, adding that cozy touch to weekend breaks.
Facebook Reviews
We had a most amazing time! Thank you so much to Louise and Richard. The boat was so cool!!
We chose to sail into London ( no locks!) and moored at Paddington basin. Great way to see London and just an amazing experience overall. The kids ( 4 & 7) are already asking when we can do it again. We will be back soon xx
Had a great last minute weekend away on Little Egret. Louise and Richard were both super friendly and efficient. Made sure we were comfortable with the boat before leaving us to enjoy the peace and tranquility of the canal. Great to try something different and the kids loved it. Would fully recommend it!
We had a great family break on the Little Egret, the kids loved it too. Autumn was a lovely time to go with all the beautiful changing colours along the canal. Richard and Louise were so welcoming and helpful. A great Family holiday💕
We had a lovely week on Cassiopeia. Thank you so much for all the little finishing touches, the evenings were so much more cozy and comfortable 🤗 A perfect few days away with some very much needed quality family time. Board games and hot chocolate were enjoyed by us all. We were little lock pros by the end of the week, we all had our part to play. Lovely memories made 💛
We had a wonderful week on Little Egret in the October half term. Friendly and more than helpful in every possible way. Immaculate inside, would highly recommend. I have also contacted them for advice and where so helpful. Thank you.
Beautiful weekend away on the water with Little Egret. We were a crew of 4 heading north. Louise was a great help making sure we were prepared in the run up to the trip and Rich was a gent helping us out and showing us the ropes. Fantastic new experience. Thanks you!
Just had an absolutely amazing mid week break on Little Egrit. Such a warm cosy boat and super easy to handle, the beds were so comfy very hard to get up in the morning!! Took the boat up to Kings Cross and back stopping off for coffee at coal drops yard, pizza at Goldborne rd, an amazing night in little Venice and lots of really cute pubs and sights along the way.
Just had an absolutely amazing three night holiday aboard Cassiopeia! Everything supplied, very thoughtful owners! From towels to DVDs. All went like clockwork, the best little holiday ever. Thank you from the Atkinson/ Sabrosa family xxz
Very friendly, lovely boat and easy pick up. We had Cassiopeia which is a lovely boat. Clean, comfortable and smart. We went up to Rickmansworth and had a great weekend. Thank you Louise and Rich.
Just back from a lovely midweek break on Cassiopeia. We’re a family of two adults and two older teenagers who’d never hired a narrow boat before. Richard explained everything and was contactable in case of any issues. It was great to get the kids off their phones for a bit and help with navigating the locks! We managed the Camden locks even though it was our first time and we’ll be appearing in lots of tourist’s photos I think! 😀
Incredible long weekend a few weeks ago on the Little Egret. We had a great family trip with our 4 and 6 year old daughters. We went north away from London and the scenery beside the canal and peace and tranquillity was exceptional. It was great fun working the locks and learning to drive a narrowboat. We would definitely go again and are looking forward to it already! Thanks a lot Louise and Rich – wonderful experience…and all before the rain set in…very lucky!
Had a fantastic 5 day break for my husbands 60th birthday on Cassiopeia which was very clean had everything you could want on board. great fun met loads of lovely people on our travels easy to book lovely owners Louise and Rich most helpful they provided secure parking for car. plenty of places to eat on canal . well behaved dogs welcome will definitely be going again through Southern Narrowboats 5 star
We had a great week on The Cassiopeia. Great boat which was brilliantly prepared by Richard & Louise. Highly recommended.
My girlfriend and I stayed on Cassiopia just after lockdown restrictions were removed. The owners were really understanding, responsive and helpful. The boat was immaculate and really good fun. Highly recommend a stay on one of these narrowboats.
Great week through London and back. Everything we needed on board – very comfortable and well prepared for us. Professional, helpful and friendly owners
We had a fantastic holiday with Southern Narrowboats! With our three boys 4, 8 & 10, it was such an adventure and found our way into the country very exciting and relaxing. The boat was beautiful with a gold brass tiller that mage us feel a step up in the narrow boat style steaks ! Warm cosy and easy to manage it was a very restful holiday. Highly recommend both Louise and Richards very experienced and well managed excursions. ! The family Cox
We just finished a 3 week holiday after 2 years of waiting. Big thanks to Richard and Louise for going “above and beyond.” Cassiopeia is one of the best handling boats we have ever hired (this is trip 10 for us and we have hired all over the country). She is comfortable and really well kitted out.
Fabulous 4 day rental. A terrific operation.
I contacted this company to book a trip for me and my boyfriend. We were visiting from the states and wanted to do something unique. This trip was UNFORGETTABLE and so amazing. Louise and Richard were an absolute joy to work with. They were constantly in touch and so responsive with all our many questions. It was our first time operating a narrowboat (we rented Cassieopeia) and Rich made sure we felt confident before he left us at a nearby Tesco along the towpath. I would recommend this type of trip for any couple, family, or group of friends. You definitely need to be willing to try something new and learn a new skill, but it’s doable and very fun. We had some amazing moments, learned a lot about communication, and saw England from the most unique perspective. Feel free to contact me with questions–I’ll be sure to give you an honest answer about our experience. If you want to learn more about our experience, go to my Instagram page and click on the Canal Boat highlight to see highlights from our trip (and a detailed tour of the boat!). My instagram handle is @janebdiener.
Fantastic winter holiday, despite the awful storm on return day, still enjoyed the whole experience..
Great boat
Well supplied
Great company
Would definitely recommend
5 ***
Really enjoyed our recent trip on Little Egret. Great facilities on the boat, friendly and helpful, especially as this was our first canal boat trip. Ideal holiday to get the teenagers away from screens – They were more confident than the adults by the end of the week!
My family and I have just spent a fantastic mid-week break on the Little Egret, very comfortable for our family of five.
The boat is very clean and has everything you need on board, perfect for a break without worrying about social distancing as everything is self contained.
The information provided, and organisation from Southern Narrowboats was spot on, so many thanks.
Highly recommended.
We had a amazing family weekend on Little Egret. The boat is modern, super clean, comfortable and fully equipped, perfect for our family of 5. Louise and Richard are wonderful hosts, explained everything thoroughly and on hand if we needed. We had a perfect hassle free weekend, the kids enjoyed something different and enjoyed the unique experience. Looking forward to returning for a longer break next time.
We had a super mid week break on Little Egret travelling up the Grand Union in mostly lovely weather. Little Egret is a lovely boat with really comfortable beds- especially the king size double! The boat handles well and was 100% reliable. Our route took us though some beautiful peaceful countryside, all within the M25 ring. Thank you. We’ll be back!
Had a lovely midweek break on Cassiopeia. very comfortable boat, most home like boat we have hired..
and we’ve hired a fair few.
Everything we needed on board. Richard and Louise were really helpful and easy to contact throughout. Blankets provided for our dog.
We had a great time. Highly recommend.
We had a fabulous time and the staff were all very caring and helped us have a wonderful holiday.
We had a wonderful time on Cassiopeia it’s a beautiful boat fully equipped with everything you could need three lovely double beds we slept very comfortably and thoroughly enjoyed the whole experience. In our five days we took the boat from Uxbridge into London Camden Lock then back up North to Cassiobury Park in Watford before heading back to the boat yard. We saw lots of birds including Herons and Cormorants and wildlife. The dog had lots of walks along the towpath. It was particularly pretty in Autumn with the trees along Little Venice and Cassiobury Park. It was lovely sailing through Harefield where my grandmother used to live along the canal. Remembering also when I was younger going to Cassiobury Park.
. Thanks Louise and Richard x