NigelatNWPC

Thank you Pluto, that's an interesting suggestion.

Apologies, I took this to mean he hadn't run courses for paying delegates on a boat >>When I did my research I concluded taking persons who would be paying for a course that involved being on a boat was too complicated and with too many regulations to make it worth while.<<

I accept that your expertise is in boat electrics rather than running courses for the public. That's what we do and the specialist underwriters who have examined the way we approach risk are happy to insure us to the tune of several million. I'll leave others to judge who has the better grasp on our approach to risk. Best wishes.

"I am not altogether sure..... I am not even sure that....makes me suspect that.... If it turns out...it should be fine... I think it is..." Our approach to robust risk assessment is quite different to yours.

Thanks for all the replies (well, the constructive ones, anyway....) A discussion with a day boat operator has been very productive and that looks favourite.

Thanks Ray T and Liam. Useful info.

Thank you Tidal. If an arrangement with a private owner turns out to be the more practical route these are exactly the points that we would expect to include in an agreement and would I'm sure be a condition of the public liability insurance anyway. We work with a specialist insurer in this field.

I have to confess Dean that toilet types hadn't featured high on my list of things to consider... I look forward to being educated on this by some of your more forthright members!

Hi Steve, yes we're aware of that but it wouldn't disrupt our plans to any great extent as winter months are poor for photography so we don't run many courses then. Thanks.

Thanks Kevin that is an option we are looking into as well. I feel I need to add that any arrangement with a commercial operator would be with their full understanding...I wouldn't want to add any more to the list of accusations being levelled at me!

Hello John, as per my first posting, we will be speaking to them too. Just looking other options too.

To Tony and others, please rest assured that a careful examination of the risks, guidelines, restrictions and licenses would form part of our plan. We run courses for the public in the engine sheds of the East Lancashire Railway where there are open pits, noisy machinery and moving locomotives and we do so because we have designed them to be safe and we run them so that they are.

True, but the Bridgewater site is a bit thin on this kind of info and I'm assuming, at this early stage or research at least, that broadly similar conditions of operation/licensing would apply. The further links to other organisations are probably more useful still so thanks again.

Thanks for the link.

See #3, above

Delta 9, I have no idea where you get the idea that we would even think about, let alone suggested an arrangement that was in some way illegal. This is unhelpful.

Thank you for the reply. I perhaps should have made it more clear that we would of course go into any agreement with these issues in place.

Hello, I am looking to make contact with boat owners based at Boothstown/Worsley or Castlefield to discuss hiring your boat to run day courses for photographers, making the return journey between the two locations. We are an established photography courses business www.northwestphotographycourses.com and we are interested in adding this type of course to our portfolio. We will be making contact with one or two of the companies that offer day hire, but we are also keen to speak to responsible private owners who own boats suitable to accommodate small groups (6 to 8 people) . We would take care of all public liability insurance. Please message me here or via the contact us page on our site for an informal discussion. Thanks in advance Nigel