How to use it
Count the miles and the locks from your canal map or guidebook. Then say how many hours a day you want to be moving. The planner does the rest and splits the trip into days. It doesn't plan the route: for that, use a map or a route planner first.
How it is worked out
The Canal & River Trust's Boater's Handbook gives a quick rule: add the locks to the miles and divide by 3. That gives a rough idea of the hours a trip takes at the very least. So 24 miles and 18 locks is 42 ÷ 3 = 14 hours.
That rule works out the same as cruising at 3 mph and spending 20 minutes at each lock. So the planner starts there, and you can change either figure. A crew new to locks may take longer. A quiet canal and an old hand may take less. The 6 hours a day is only our starting point.
The Handbook gives 4 mph as the top speed on narrow canals, so the planner warns you if you type more.
Allow for more
The Handbook warns that a trip can take longer in shallow water or when you wait for locks. Busy flights in summer can mean a queue. Leave time for stoppages too, and check the Trust's stoppage notices before you go. For what to carry, try the fuel and water calculator, and check your boat against each canal with will my boat fit.
For clubs and hire bases
The planner is free to put on your own website, for boat clubs, hire bases, canal societies and boaters' groups. The code to copy sits just under the planner, and it shows a small link back to this page.
Sources
Canal & River Trust, The Boater's Handbook (revision Spring 2022), page 6 for the rule and page 57 for speed limits. Read on 30 October 2026.