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Being a transported


foxxy

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Hi everyone I'm loving reading through all the blog posts I'm a bit of a magpie when it comes to things like this and I'm getting all the knowledge I can. I'm just wondering if someone was to become a transporter and move boats along the canal other then finding business how would you go about doing it ? What licence is needed etc. The CRT don't seem to fast in responding to emails so thought I'd come to the grape vine. I've moved 3 boats for friends in the last couple weeks and have thoroughly enjoyed it and think this could be a great starting point for me to be on the cut 24/7 

 

Thank you Foxxy 🦊

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It's the boat that needs a licence, not the person operating it, so that part isn't a problem.

Insurance is probably the biggest issue, standard boat insurance taken out by the owner won't cover the boat when it is being moved by someone else on a commercial basis. You will need a policy that covers you and the boats you move.

Edited by Barneyp
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1 hour ago, foxxy said:

Hi everyone I'm loving reading through all the blog posts I'm a bit of a magpie when it comes to things like this and I'm getting all the knowledge I can. I'm just wondering if someone was to become a transporter and move boats along the canal other then finding business how would you go about doing it ? What licence is needed etc. The CRT don't seem to fast in responding to emails so thought I'd come to the grape vine. I've moved 3 boats for friends in the last couple weeks and have thoroughly enjoyed it and think this could be a great starting point for me to be on the cut 24/7 

 

Thank you Foxxy 🦊

 

Were you paid to move the boats for friends or was it done for free as a favour? If you were paid, the boats weren't insured, so you might want to not do that again until you have suitable insurance as a boatmover... 😉

 

(this does exist, there have been posts on the forum about it, but you have to pay for a policy which IIRC costs several hundred pounds)

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1 minute ago, foxxy said:

Ohhhh 100% was free just to help out I'd not charge a penny until I knew all the rules and regs, no Interest in getting in trouble  

 

Well done -- so may people jump in first and ask questions later 🙂

 

Perhaps somebody on the forum can suggest a suitable insurance policy for a boatmover, there certainly used to be at least one member who did this...

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I'm a carpenter and done a lot of work with boats but canal boats is new to me I've done a few jobs lately and have a few to do, but I've just been asked would I move the boats to gain experience so done about 9 boats for free just to gain experience, but once you have the experience it's silly to not use it so I'm just looking in to the options, if it's just insurance I can do that I didn't know if I needed a commercial licence with crt it's not all to clear. But I'll keep plodding away and find it out lol 

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10 hours ago, foxxy said:

Ohhhh 100% was free just to help out I'd not charge a penny until I knew all the rules and regs, no Interest in getting in trouble  

I doubt anyone would employ you till you'd a few years experience, and you'd not get insurance cover just by paying some company.

A bit like having a few driving lessons in a Skoda then applying for a job driving a sixteen axle transporter.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited by LadyG
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11 hours ago, LadyG said:

I doubt anyone would employ you till you'd a few years experience, and you'd not get insurance cover just by paying some company.

A bit like having a few driving lessons in a Skoda then applying for a job driving a sixteen axle transporter.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

So all the people doing it were doing it for years before they started doing it

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9 minutes ago, ditchcrawler said:

So all the people doing it were doing it for years before they started doing it

They had years of boating experience yes. Would you hand over your boat to someone who had made six canal journeys, pay him £100  a day and expect the boat to be in one piece ten days later, having travelled twenty five miles a day?

As far as skipper insurance is concerned he would not qualify but your insurance is invalid because you paid him.

 

 

 

Edited by LadyG
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1 minute ago, LadyG said:

They had years of boating experience yes. Would you hand over your boat to someone who had made six canal journeys, pay him £100  a day and expect the boat to be in one piece ten days later, having travelled twenty five miles a day?

 

So how did they get these years of experience? At some point they must have done their first job.

In the OP's case he/she could get ten testimonials from the friends boats that they have already moved.. 

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I once had a boat master licence, and professional indemnity insurance. I was required to prove professional level competance in order to get indemnity insurance. A few testimonials don't cut it.

I got experience over years offshore racing and  cruising, plus RYA Certified courses. 

Nine canal journeys in company is an introduction to boating, very basic stuff.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited by LadyG
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I understand where @LadyG is coming from.

 

If you want to offer a service that involves taking control of someone's six figure costing pride and joy you need to be realistic about their expectations. That's the sort of thing that you need to work out and set for yourself if you are to be successful in any business.

 

The thread referenced above is probably the one where a forum member asserted that they couldn't find suitable insurance for a proposed boat moving operation. Unfortunately, that poster also asserted that since they couldn't obtain such insurance then it follows that no other boat mover has such insurance. That is categorically not true.

 

It may or may not however reflect the point that insurers won't just insure anybody. Anything involving the cover of watercraft is seen as a high risk and is a specialist market.

 

The OP needs to engage CRT Business Boating who in my experience are very responsive. I can't directly comment on a purely boat moving proposal because that is only a part of my own approval. However, I would expect they will have requirements to protect their interests. The OP will have to work out how to protect themselves and their customer's interests.

 

There's also a lot more to being a paid boat mover than just steering boats down the canal.

 

Lastly, the canal works by word of mouth. You get opportunities by knowing people, and by knowing people who know people.

 

 

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1 hour ago, Captain Pegg said:

 There's also a lot more to being a paid boat mover than just steering boats down the canal.

 

Lastly, the canal works by word of mouth. You get opportunities by knowing people, and by knowing people who know people.

 

 

You mean like where they fall to bits on you, the boat has stood for a year with shitty diesel and knackered batteries or starts to over heat as soon as you get a stretch were the locks are more than a mile apart

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7 minutes ago, ditchcrawler said:

You mean like where they fall to bits on you, the boat has stood for a year with shitty diesel and knackered batteries or starts to over heat as soon as you get a stretch were the locks are more than a mile apart


Yeah, that sort of thing.

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I have a lot of experience on the water but at sea not canal, I've been a carpenter for several years but also transported yachts from A to B for private clients, about 400+ now. I'm just relatively new to warning to do it on the canal network, but have a lot of experience with boats, engines and the workings of them. I just love working with wood so do that full time and skipper yachts for clients when I have a few weeks holiday and get a free holiday moving a boat. 

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