Clock icon Take advantage of our low deposits and secure your boating vacation today with just a 25% deposit. 2nd payment (up to 50%) is due by December 31st, 2024. Balance due 90 days before departure. Gold Trusted Service Award Awarded by Feefo, which independently collects reviews from our customers, the award recognizes businesses that consistently deliver a world-class customer experience. Rosette With over 50 years of experience and expertise, we're passionate about providing unbeatable vacations on the water. Boat We have more river and canal boats available than any other operator, available to hire between April and October. Our wide range of boats sleeps between 2-12 people. Life buoy That's right! You can rent and captain your own boat for a short break (3 nights minimum), a week or longer. We'll show you everything you need to know before you set off.
Crown Blue Line on the Canal du Midi

Over 50 years of Le Boat

Celebrating over 50 years of memories on the water

Founded in 1969, in 2019 we celebrated 50 years of helping our customers making unforgettable memories on the waterways of Europe and Canada. So whether you are new to boating, or have been exploring the waterways even longer than we have, check out a little bit about our past, discover some of the fantastic images we have gathered over the years and get in touch to share your own vacation memories!

Our past…

We have been boating along French waterways since the late 60’s, and our customers have been making unforgettable memories ever since. We are proud to have come a long way from humble beginnings. Our history can be traced back to the entrepreneur, Michael Streat, who founded ‘Blue Line’ with just eight boats on the Canal du Midi, France in 1969.

Blue Line (later know as Crown Blue Line) would eventually be one of three historic boating companies, the others being Connoisseur and Emerald Star, that brought together their combined decades of boating experience to form Le Boat in 2007.

So, keep your eyes peeled as we’ve got some exciting events lined up over the next few months to celebrate our big five-O! Or, get in touch and share your own memories of vacations with Le Boat.

Where we’re going

At Le Boat we never stand still. We innovate and always strive to provide the best vacation adventures. In recent year we have changed what traditional vacation cruisers look-like, releasing our state-of-the-art Vision and Horizon boats. These boats have re-defined comfort and ease-of-use, and offer the ultimate boating holiday experience.

When we’re not challenging the way things have always been done, we are pushing boundaries. In 2018 this reached its pinnacle with the release of our first North-American destination – the Rideau Canal in Canada. We took our decades of waterways experience in Europe and applied it to a whole new continent! Launching to rave reviews our Canada destination, has opened up a well-kept local secret to a global audience.

We can’t wait to see where we go next!

Our timeline

Viewing on mobile? Download a PDF version here

Le Boat timeline
Crown Blue Line base on a historic barge at Saint Jean de Losne
Crown Blue Line base on a historic barge at Saint Jean de Losne
Crown Blue Line Riviera model
Crown Blue Line Riviera model
Classic Emerald Star boat
Classic Emerald Star boat
Crown Blue Line boat
Crown Blue Line boat
Emerald Star launch in 1970
Emerald Star launch in 1970
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Share your memories

If you have your own memories of vacations with Le Boat, Emerald Star, Crown Blue Line or Connoisseur that you would like to share, why not get in touch?

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