Just happened upon this. "Canal Mania" is a board game that came out last year. There's a review at this link:
http://www.chrisbrooks.org/2006/10/03/CanalMania.aspx (I think the review is more informative than the manufacturer's website.) Apparently the 1st edition is already sold out, but a 2nd edition is on the way with some fixes. See: http://ragnarbrothers.co.uk/html/2nd_edition_canal_mania.html One of the improvements will be terminology -- the game will use "narrowboats", not "barges", thank goodness. (I have no connection of any kind with the game. Just passing it along because it's not something you see every day.) - george www.canals.com
