Chris & Sara × Le Boat × Destination Ontario
We spent a week in Ontario captaining our own boat down the Rideau Canal with no boating experience between us. It turned into one of the best trips we've taken. Now we want to send one of you.
The prize
Four nights on quiet water, on a boat that's entirely yours. No license. No experience. No schedule. Tie up in whatever town looks good, cook dinner, open a bottle, sleep with the windows open.
Drop your email and you're in. Follow us, Le Boat and Destination Ontario on Instagram, join the Le Boat Vacations subreddit, or come back daily for extra entries.
No purchase necessary. Open worldwide to entrants 21 and over. Prize provided by Le Boat. Travel dates subject to availability. Fuel is not included and is paid by the winner. No cash alternative. Full rules below. Winner announced by email.
See what you could win
No phones ringing. No rushing. Just you, the canal, and whoever you bring along. Here's what four days on the Rideau actually looks like.
The full film is on our YouTube channel.
How to enter
Do these and you're in. Do the bonus ones and you're in more than once.
Scroll up to the form. That's your entry. Takes ten seconds.
Eighteen places to start
The Rideau is the trip we took and the one we'd send you on. But if you'd rather point at something else on the map, Le Boat runs eighteen destinations across nine countries. Take your pick.
Ontario, Canada
The one in the video. A UNESCO World Heritage site running from Ottawa down to Kingston, with small towns to tie up in the whole way.
Southern France
Plane trees, wine country, and the medieval citadel at Carcassonne. Probably the most photographed canal in Europe, and it earns it.
Scottish Highlands
Cut straight through the Highlands, mountains on both sides. Yes, you cruise the length of Loch Ness. No, we can't promise anything.
Veneto, Italy
The quiet side of the lagoon. Work your way out to Murano and Burano, where the houses are painted like this, and sleep on the water instead of paying Venice hotel prices.
These are four of eighteen. Full list at leboat.com. Winner coordinates dates and destination directly with Le Boat, subject to availability.
The fine print
The key Le Boat terms. Tap any section to expand.
Win a four-night boating vacation on the Rideau Canal in Ontario, Canada, courtesy of Le Boat, departing from the Smiths Falls base.
The prize must be taken during the 2027 season and is restricted to shoulder season dates. Peak July and August departures and long weekends are excluded. All dates are subject to availability and confirmed by Le Boat.
Fuel is not included and is paid by the winner. There is no cash alternative and the prize is not transferable.
The winner may take the prize on the Rideau Canal, or may instead choose from Le Boat's other destinations across Canada and Europe, subject to availability at the time of booking.
Le Boat will work with the winner to confirm a destination and departure date based on the winner's preferred travel dates. The winner should be prepared to offer more than one option.
Some destinations carry local requirements. In parts of Germany a temporary permit is issued following the pre-departure briefing.
The prize includes hire of the boat and its equipment: a fully equipped kitchen with fridge, oven, hob, dishes and utensils; bathroom facilities with hot showers, toilets and towels; sleeping facilities with pillows, duvets and bed linen; heating; safety equipment including life jackets; a pre-departure briefing and boat handling demonstration; daily technical support from the local Le Boat team; and parking at the base.
Excluded: fuel, travel to and from the base, groceries and meals, travel insurance, optional extras, and any refundable damage deposit collected at the base on arrival.
No boat license is required at most Le Boat destinations and no previous boating experience is needed.
Before you leave the base, the Le Boat team runs a mandatory briefing and boat handling demonstration covering the boat, the equipment and the locks. You will practise with a member of staff until you are confident operating the boat yourself. Expect this to take around ninety minutes.
No purchase necessary to enter. Open worldwide. Entrants and the winner must be 21 years of age or older.
The winner is responsible for their own travel to and from the base, for valid travel documents including any visa required for entry to Canada or the destination country, and for their own travel insurance.
The prize is subject to Le Boat's standard rental terms and conditions, which apply in full to the winner's booking.
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Entering the giveaway adds you to the Chris & Sara email list. You can unsubscribe at any time using the link in any email.
The full Official Rules for this sweepstakes (eligibility, entry period, winner selection, governing law, and release of liability) are posted on the KingSumo giveaway page and are binding on all entrants.
Questions about the prize itself? Contact Le Boat directly. Questions about the giveaway? Email us at hello@chrisandsara.com.
Questions
If your question isn't here, email us at hello@chrisandsara.com.
No, and you don't need a boat license either. Before you leave the base the Le Boat team runs you through all of it. Driving, docking, working the locks. You practise with a staff member until you've got it, which takes about ninety minutes.
Every Canadian boat has bow and stern thrusters, which is the thing that makes docking far less terrifying than it sounds. We had never captained anything before this trip.
Yes. Open worldwide, 21 and over. There are no residency restrictions on entering.
The winner covers their own travel to the base and is responsible for their own passport, visa or travel authorisation for wherever they end up going.
No. The Rideau is the trip we took and it's what we'd pick, but Le Boat runs eighteen destinations across nine countries. If France or Italy or Scotland makes more sense from where you live, take it there instead.
Le Boat confirms the final destination and dates based on availability, so come with a couple of options rather than one fixed plan.
Up to six people total. A couple, a family, a few friends, two couples splitting the trip. Your call who you bring.
During the 2027 season, on shoulder season dates. That means outside peak July and August, and not on a long weekend. Le Boat's season runs April through October, so there's still a wide window to work with.
All dates are subject to availability and confirmed by Le Boat.
Yes. Dogs are welcome on every Le Boat, up to two per boat, and there's no size or breed restriction. This was genuinely one of our favourite things about the trip.
A pet supplement applies per booking and is paid by the winner. Bring a dog life jacket for the locks, and a leash for the towns.
Getting yourself to the base, fuel, groceries and meals off the boat, mooring fees, water and fuel refills, travel insurance, any optional extras, the pet supplement if you bring a dog, and the refundable damage deposit collected when you pick up the boat.
The boat itself, all its equipment, linen and towels, and the pre-departure briefing are covered.
Random draw at the end of the entry period. We verify the winner completed the required steps and any bonus actions they claimed. If something doesn't check out, we redraw.
The winner gets an email from us within a few days of entries closing. We'll also announce on Instagram and in Field Notes.
There's no cash alternative and the prize isn't transferable. But between the 2027 season and eighteen destinations to choose from, there's a lot of room to make it work before you give it up.
If you truly can't take it, let us know and we'll redraw.
One more thing
You made it to the bottom. The form's right up there. Takes less time than it took you to read this page.
Enter the giveaway Entries close September 7