mcp server
Canal Nav
Plan canal routes on Great Britain's waterways: lock-aware timing, live closures, boat-fit checks.
Description as published by the maintainer. Source
- version 1.0.0
- active
active — Registry entry last updated 2026-07-31.
What this server can do
6 functions, named and described by the server itself. Parameter names are shown because they say more about what a function does than its name usually does.
find_place(name)- Look up a place name on the British inland waterway network and return matching locations with coordinates (marinas, moorings, water points and other waterside facilities). Use it to disambiguate a place before calling plan_route or plan_round_trip, or to get coordinates for a known spot. Results are waterway locations only; it is not a general geocoder. Required: name.
get_closures(place, waterway, radius_km)- Live closure, stoppage and restriction notices for the inland waterways of Great Britain, covering every GB navigation authority: Canal & River Trust, Environment Agency, Scottish Canals, Broads Authority, Bridgewater, Middle Level, River Wey, Basingstoke and more, not just CRT. Search near a place (name or "lat,lon", with an optional radius) or by waterway name (e.g. "Oxford Canal"). Returns active and upcoming notices with dates, the responsible authority, whether each one blocks navigation, and links for detail. Data refreshes from the authorities' published notices, so reopen dates reflect the latest updates.
plan_round_trip(date, days, start, boat_beam, boat_length, boat_draught, lock_minutes, boat_air_draught, cruising_hours_per_day)- Plan return-to-start cruises from a point on the inland waterways of Great Britain, sized to fit a number of days. Returns several options: circular loops where the canal network offers one (canal "rings"), plus out-and-back and fewest-locks alternatives, each with distance, lock count, day-by-day plan and suggested overnight moorings. Timing is lock-aware and closures from every GB navigation authority are flagged on each option. Give boat dimensions to get fit warnings, and routes touching tidal water carry a tidal safety warning. The start can be a place name or "lat,lon" coordinates. Required: start, days.
plan_route(to, date, from, boat_beam, boat_length, boat_draught, lock_minutes, boat_air_draught, cruising_hours_per_day)- Plan a boat journey between two points on the inland waterways of Great Britain (canals and navigable rivers). The route follows the water itself, not roads. It counts every lock and estimates cruising time from realistic boat speed plus time per lock. Live closures and stoppages from every GB navigation authority (Canal & River Trust, Environment Agency, Scottish Canals, Broads Authority and others) are routed around automatically, and when a dated closure blocks the natural line the result compares waiting for it to reopen against taking the detour. Give boat dimensions to get per-waterway fit warnings (too long, too wide, too deep, too tall for a waterway on the route). Routes that cross tidal water carry a tidal safety warning. Places can be names (resolved on the waterway network) or "lat,lon" coordinates. If a name matches several distinct locations the tool returns the candidates instead of guessing; call again with the chosen one. Required: from, to.
search_directory(near, query, category)- Search Canal Nav's directory of waterside businesses on the British inland waterways: marinas, chandleries, boat hire, boatyards, pump-out and services, fuel, moorings, surveyors, brokerage, and canalside food and pubs. Filter by free text, category, or proximity to a place. Listings marked unclaimed can be claimed for free by the business owner at https://canalnav.com/.
will_my_boat_fit(waterway, boat_beam, boat_length, boat_draught, boat_air_draught)- Check boat dimensions against the published maximum craft dimensions for a named British waterway (length, beam, draught and air draught, from Canal & River Trust published figures covering the full CRT network). Returns a per-dimension verdict quoting the limit. Draught and headroom vary with water level and silting, so treat the answer as advisory. For a whole journey, use plan_route with boat dimensions instead: it checks every waterway along the route. Required: waterway.
Last successful function declaration observed on . Source: https://mcp.canalnav.com/mcp. We list what the server declared; we do not call any of these functions.
Endpoint status observed on . Source: https://mcp.canalnav.com/mcp.
Signals
These are separate measurements of different things. They are deliberately not combined into one score, because a popularity number that mixes website traffic with saves and stars cannot be checked or acted on.
| Signal | Value | What it measures | Window | Observed | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Latest published version | 1.0.0 | Latest version string the maintainer published to the registry. | as of fetch | Model Context Protocol | |
| Registry record last updated | 2026-07-31 | When the registry record was last updated by its maintainer. | point in time | Model Context Protocol | |
| First listed in the MCP Registry | 2026-07-31 | Date this server was first published to the official MCP Registry. Not a usage or quality measure. | point in time | Model Context Protocol | |
| mcp tools declared | 6 tools | Number of functions the server itself declared when asked to list them. This is what the server offers an agent, not a measure of how well any of them work. | as of probe | mcp.canalnav.com | |
| mcp endpoint status | ok | The server listed 6 functions when asked. | as of probe | mcp.canalnav.com |
Where to get it
This record as data
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