Rub-A-Dub-Dub – HotTug UK

HotTug UK is the first ever wood-fired HotTug company to open up here in England, London.  Tommo and Jack the owners of HotTug UK saw them in Holland and fell in love with them and so with that in mind they had to bring them to London. Each HotTug is hand made in Holland by Frank de Bruijn who is the inventor of the HotTugs.

This has only just popped up and opened a few weeks ago (July 2017) at The Islington Boat Club (Angel the closest tube station). 

HotTug UK

The HotTug’s 1800 litres of water is kept warm by the wood-fire at 38 degrees so no matter what time of the month it is you will never feel cold and has a quiet electric motor attached giving you a speed of 3 miles per hour. So you can sail comfortably along the Regent’s Canal in Old Street without getting cold and without an annoying loud engine sound. The whole experience lasts 90 minutes (15 minutes tutorial and 75 minutes bathing/sailing).  Each HotTug you can have up to 7 people.  So you can float down the canal and sip on a cold drink or two whilst relaxing in the steaming hot water. There are also toilets, changing rooms and showers on site.

Before we set off

Firstly when me and some of my friends of the Love Pop Ups London community arrived we were firstly briefed on the rules and regulations then it was time for us to get ready and changed for the experience of very unique experience.  Tommo placed all our Fentimans and Umbrella Brewing drinks into the side holding boxes along the side of the HotTug in ice making them a perfect accomplishment to our journey.

Our journey 

The HotTugs water is very warm indeed so the British weather did not matter even if was raining (but thankfully was not). The driver gets to wear a captain’s sailor hat but you can alternate drivers throughout the journey as long as they have not been drinking.  The driving is quite simple to steer as it is just a long pole with left meaning right and right meaning left.

The fiery spicy Umbrella Brewing ginger beer and the lovely bubbly Fentimans drinks certainly helped though keep us cool on our journey from time to time.  To keep us entertained on our 75 minute journey I bought along a plastic duck which I got from one of my stays with Apex Hotel many years back. We also encountered though some real life ducks along the way, some geese and a swan.

We also passed many people’s homes, dog walkers, barges etc which made me feel a bit exposed in a swim costume. I especially felt a bit like a celeb and even more awkward when people started taking photos of us. However my friend Steve the only male amongst us six ladies must of felt even more awkward or perhaps lucky.  This was a great laugh though and most certainly a unique way to sail down the canals of London I won’t be forgetting this trip in a hurry. I hopefully one day will return though as I would like to experience what it would be like in winter for a laugh and to see if the water can really keep us warm in a very cold winters morning or night.

Verdict

So if you are looking for a great unique experience on the canals of London with friends/family, a special date or for a special event such as a hen party then this is most certainly the best way to do it.

For further information on HotTug UK and prices plus any FAQ’s you might have go to their website via clicking here.

Thank you to HotTug UK for the most unique experience in sailing down the waters of London. All views are my own honest opinion.

Plus a thank you to FujiFilm for lending us the Finepix XP120 waterproof camera so we could take the amazing shots and video footage of our boating journey. The camera is smart looking, colourful (bright yellow) and very easy to use so we all ended up taking photos and videos of each other with no issues.  The only downside though for me was that I found the photos sometimes did not always come out well but I think that is due to light and hand shakiness not the camera itself. Read more about my experience with using FujiFilm via here.

Thanks to Tommo for letting me and others from Love Pop Ups London community come down for a hottug of an experience down the canals of Islington. The tour was complimentary but all views are my own honest opinion.

Click below to read the blogs and / or reviews from the other community members of Love Pop Ups London whom joint me during the day. All their views are of their own honest opinion.

HotTug UK

See where this is located at via Days Out Now

Plus with Days Out Now you can discover other amazing places from all over the UK.

Photos in my blog are taken by me and various bloggers of the community of Love Pop Ups London