Tunnels are another of those things that are on many boater's 'to do' lists, but whilst I've cruised most of them I must admit I fail to see the fascination. For a start the view is awful, sometimes you can see light at both ends, but often you can't, these tunnels were dug by hand remember, so straight they're not. Then you need to consider most hire boats have a single car headlight at the front, which as you may recall is somewhere between 40 and 70 feet away from you, (a good tip is to put all the lights on inside the boat which illuminates the tunnel sides so that you at least have some idea of where you are), and on top of that most of your view is obscured by the boat itself. Then regardless of the weather outside tunnels always drip on you, even if it's been dry for a week and all the water companies have got hose pipe bans on, it's going to drip on you, so get the waterproofs on early.

There are some very long tunnels on the network and there is some speculation about which is the longest, but courtesy of Nigel Nicholson who recently spent many hours studying the excellent guide books with a name very similar to his I think the following is about right.

Standedge at 5,698 yards is the longest.

Second at 3,057 yards is Blisworth

Third at 3,027 yards is Netherton

Fourth at 2,926 yards the Harecastle

If you know different please feel free to start a site of your own dedicated to the subject !

SAFETY

Take note of the warnings at tunnel entrances, a tunnel is a confined space so fumes can build up to dangerous levels if you ignore the advice given (the Harecastle even has an extractor fan system to cope with it's large, concentrated traffic flows). If you do have to stop, turn the engine off or you will end up suffocating. Beware that as you go through tunnels the roof height may change, don't get so carried away with trying to avoid not hitting the sides with the boat that you hit the roof with your head !

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