Although there are opportunities to hire both electric and steam powered boats all other hire craft use diesel engines as their means of propulsion.

Some private owners take great pride in the engines on their boats and keep them immaculate, paintwork shiny, copper and brass gleaming, in their own separate room. Older engines were built sometimes with a tick over so slow you can actually see them working. Many an enthusiast can tell you what engine is in a boat purely by it's sound, but I did come across one chap who had a modern quiet diesel fitted coupled to an electronic sound effect system to make it sound older !

Respected names in the canal engine scene include Bolinder, Lister, Gardener, National, Russel Newberry and Ruston Hornsby. Many diesels from small cars and vans are now converted for use on narrowboats and when you lift the engine hatch and look at how small they tend to be it makes you wonder how they push the boat along at all.

Modern diesel engines run quite quickly and are very smooth if well looked after. They are cooled either by a separate water tank welded to the side of the underwater part of the hull (keel cooled), or by sucking in water from the canal, using it, then returning it, normally via the exhaust. Those using a keel cooling system just need the header tank checking as you start each day, those with canal water cooling need the filter checked occasionally, but if there's water coming out of the exhaust when the engine is running everything is OK.

Whichever engine you end up with it is coupled to a gearbox to provide forward and reverse, which in turn couples to the propshaft, on the end of which is the propeller. The propshaft goes through a sealed bearing which is packed with grease to prevent water seeping back in, and a manual greaser which requires either one or two turns a day to keep things watertight.

On our last cruise, the Leicester Ring, we did about 200 miles (including a few detours) over 100 locks and still didn't need to refuel. Boats are currently allowed to use 'Red' diesel, which does not have road fuel tax imposed on it, subsequently it is around 50p per litre. From time to time the treasury set their beady eyes on this and whilst they may consider it a loop-hole I consider that as it is not being used as a road fuel it would be unfair to levy it with that tax. Latest news is that the EEC have now insisted that we be charged full duty - How on earth they intend to police this one is a mystery to us all.