Canada’s Canal Culture

Experience Maritime History First-Hand Without Leaving Home

by: Steven J, Bull, Host of Water Ways TV

Earlier this year, I was able to take my wife and 9-year-old son to The Netherlands to join me on a bareboat canal boat charter. Le Boat is the biggest name in the game and almost entirely focused on Europe and was who we partnered with to explore the Vecht River and the many waterways from manmade canals to wide lakes just south of Amsterdam.

It was an amazing experience as we followed the rivers and canals right into the heart of some fabulous communities. This was the second European canal journey I had been on, having explored the Canal du Midi last summer with my wife.

I recall remarking at the time—which made it into a Water Ways TV episode—that something like the Canal du Midi would never be built again because the need to move cargo from the seafaring ships deep inland by barge has long been replaced by trains, trucks and now planes.

CLICK HERE to read the rest of this article FREE in the digital version of Canadian Boating October 2025

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