Planning on paper beats planning on hope

A canal holiday rewards a bit of preparation more than almost any other kind of break. The waterway itself rarely changes, but the distance between one water point and the next, or the fact that the pub you had your heart set on stops serving food at half past two, will shape your day completely. A decent canal map and a good guidebook, used properly, turn a vague hope of "ten miles and a few locks" into a realistic plan you can actually cruise.

Start by being honest about your daily limit. A crew of two on a narrowboat will usually manage three to four hours of steady cruising, which on a typical canal means roughly ten to twelve miles and a handful of locks. That figure drops sharply on a lock flight or a narrow, twisting cut. Write your plan in pencil, not stone.

Marking up your map before you set off

The single most useful thing you can do is annotate the map the evening before you leave the marina. Sit down with your guidebook, a pencil and a mug of tea, and work through the first two days in detail. Mark:

• Lock flights, with the number of locks and a note of any staircase locks, which take far longer than the count suggests.
• Water points and service blocks, including elsan disposal, rubbish points and pump-out facilities. Note the gaps — if the next water point is fourteen miles away, you want to know that before everyone has a shower.
• Pubs that serve food, with rough serving hours, and whether the walk from the towpath is five minutes or fifteen up a hill.
• Winding holes, in case you need to turn, and visitor moorings with time limits.
• Bridges and junctions that make handy meeting points if you are cruising in convoy or welcoming friends aboard.

Use pencil rather than pen. Ink smudges and bleeds and becomes unreadable after a damp morning; pencil survives, and it rubs out when plans change.

Getting the best out of the guidebook

A guidebook tells you what the map cannot: where the nearest shop is, which lock has a fierce bywash that will push your bow sideways, which bridge is low enough to take your chimney off, and whether a mooring is a peaceful backwater or a lay-by beside a busy road. Read it one hour ahead of where you are, not one day ahead. That way the information is fresh when it matters and you are not trying to recall lock twenty-three while steering through lock four.

Pay particular attention to the notes on lock gear and paddle types. A lock that needs a windlass on a stiff paddle can take twice as long as the guidebook's time suggests, and knowing that in advance stops the day running away from you.

Keep the guidebook dry and to hand

Water and paper do not mix, and a canal boat is a damp environment even in July. Invest in a roll-top dry bag of five to ten litres and keep the guidebook, your phone, a pencil and a bit of cash inside it. The map belongs in a clip-seal A4 wallet or, better still, laminated so you can write on it with a chinagraph pencil and wipe it clean at the end of the trip.

Store both where you can reach them without leaving the helm — tucked under the rear hatch or in the cratch beneath the cover. A bulldog clip and a short lanyard stop the map taking flight on a gusty day. Never leave either on the roof; they will blow in, and a soaked guidebook is a useless one.

Updating the route as the day unfolds

A plan is a starting point, not a contract. Tick off each lock as you pass it and jot the time beside it. Bridge numbers are the simplest way to fix your position, and once you know you covered four miles in the first hour rather than the five you assumed, recalculate rather than press on grimly.

If you are running an hour behind by lunchtime, drop the furthest stretch and moor earlier. Cruising in failing light, with a tired crew and a lock flight ahead, is the fastest way to turn a lovely holiday into a chore. The canal will still be there next year.

Tell your crew when the plan changes. A short announcement — "we're stopping at the next village instead of pushing on" — keeps everyone relaxed and prevents mutiny at the tiller.

Small habits that make the whole thing easier

• Split the roles: one steers, one navigates. The navigator calls the next bridge, the upcoming bend and the lock beyond it, so the helm is never surprised.
• Keep a tally of locks and miles on a scrap of paper inside the hatch, along with the pub's phone number.
• Ring ahead if you are relying on a pub kitchen — a quick call confirms they are still serving and saves a disappointing walk.
• Photograph the day's guidebook pages on your phone as a backup, or copy the key facts onto a card taped inside the hatch.

None of this takes long. Half an hour with a pencil the night before, and a few seconds at each lock, will give you a holiday that runs at the pace you actually want.