Terms of Use

Last updated: 6 July 2026

These terms govern your use of Canal Nav (this website, the map app at maps.canalnav.com, and the account dashboard). By creating an account or using the service you agree to them. If you do not agree, do not use Canal Nav.

1. Who we are

Canal Nav is an independent project operated by Apexl Studios (“we”, “us”). You can reach us at [email protected]. Canal Nav is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sanctioned by the Canal & River Trust, the Environment Agency or any navigation authority.

2. Using the service

Canal Nav is currently free to use. We may introduce optional paid plans in future; core route planning and navigation will remain free. You must be old enough to form a binding contract in your country to hold an account. You are responsible for keeping your login details secure and for activity under your account.

3. Aid to navigation – not a safety or official tool

This is the most important part of these terms. By using Canal Nav you understand and agree that:

• Canal Nav is provided for general planning and convenience only. It is compiled from public data, community contributions and automated routing, and is provided without any warranty of accuracy, completeness, currency, availability or fitness for any purpose.
• Everything in it – routes and journey times, lock, bridge and tunnel information, depths and passability, closures and stoppages, moorings, facilities, points of interest, community reports, the base map and any data cached for offline use – may be incomplete, inaccurate, out of date or unavailable, including when you have no signal or are offline. Live information (such as closures) depends on third-party sources and may be delayed, missing or wrong.
• You must independently verify, before and during any journey, that the waterway is open and navigable for your craft – using the official notices of the relevant navigation authority (for example the Canal & River Trust or the Environment Agency), on-the-water signage, the physical conditions in front of you, and your own judgement and local knowledge.
• Canal Nav must not be used for safety-critical or emergency decisions. It does not reflect real-time conditions such as water levels, flow, currents, tides on tidal waters, weather, ice or debris, and it does not know your craft’s dimensions (length, beam, draught, air draught) or your crew’s experience.
• You remain solely responsible at all times for the safe operation of your craft, for the safety of yourself, your crew and others, and for complying with all navigation-authority rules, byelaws, licences and local restrictions.

4. Assumption of risk

Boating on inland and tidal waterways carries inherent risks. By using Canal Nav you acknowledge that it is a supplementary aid only, and that you use it, and rely on any information in it, entirely at your own risk.

5. Community-contributed content

Some content – reports, points of interest, moorings, hazards and notes – is submitted by other users and is not verified by us. It may be inaccurate, incomplete, out of date or wrong. Treat it as informal, unconfirmed information and apply your own judgement.

6. Your content

When you submit reports, points of interest or other content, you grant us a licence to host, display and use it to operate and improve the service. You must not submit content that is unlawful, infringing, misleading or that could mislead others about safety. We may remove or moderate any content at our discretion.

7. Acceptable use

• Don’t misuse, disrupt or attempt to gain unauthorised access to the service.
• Don’t scrape, overload or resell the service or its data.
• Don’t submit false safety information or impersonate others.

8. Availability & changes

The service is provided on an “as is” and “as available” basis and may be interrupted, limited or withdrawn at any time without notice. We may change, suspend or withdraw features, and these terms, from time to time. We’ll post the current version here with an updated date; continued use means you accept the changes.

9. Liability

Canal Nav is provided free of charge, “as is” and “as available”, without warranties of any kind, whether express or implied, including as to accuracy, completeness, fitness for a particular purpose or availability.

To the fullest extent permitted by law, we are not liable for any loss, damage, injury, delay or cost arising out of or in connection with your use of, or reliance on, Canal Nav or any information in it – including, without limitation, navigation errors, closures or hazards that were not shown or were shown incorrectly, grounding or damage to your craft, missed or blocked passages, or being unable to complete a route.

Nothing in these terms limits or excludes our liability for death or personal injury caused by our negligence, for fraud or fraudulent misrepresentation, or for anything else that cannot be limited or excluded under the law of England and Wales.

10. Governing law

These terms are governed by the law of England and Wales, and the courts of England and Wales have exclusive jurisdiction, unless mandatory local law in your country of residence requires otherwise.

11. Contact

Questions about these terms? Email [email protected].