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Widebeam hire boats on the L&L - what could possibly go wrong?

MoominPapa

By MoominPapa
in General Boating

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JessicaBOO Engager

JessicaBOO

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Some people expect way too much of hire boat company tuition, often thinking it's possible to condense several weeks or months of experience of boating into a one hour handover. This is never going to be possible.

 

Equally of course hire boaters should do their own pre holiday reading up, plenty is available after all.

We give a minimum half day hand over to experienced crews and pretty much insist novices take the RYA training as the first two days of their holiday. Leaving our base you go through a 2 rise staircase, a 3 rise staircase, a single and another 2 rise - all without lock keepers so we are very focused on correct training and safety of everyone hiring with us. All our Handovers are conducted by RYA instructors too. We are currently commissioning a widebeam for hire 2017 - RYA training will be mandatory for anyone wanting to hire this boat!

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valrene9600 Experienced

valrene9600

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Hi

We give a minimum half day hand over to experienced crews and pretty much insist novices take the RYA training as the first two days of their holiday. Leaving our base you go through a 2 rise staircase, a 3 rise staircase, a single and another 2 rise - all without lock keepers so we are very focused on correct training and safety of everyone hiring with us. All our Handovers are conducted by RYA instructors too. We are currently commissioning a widebeam for hire 2017 - RYA training will be mandatory for anyone wanting to hire this boat!

Surprised people are willing to give up 2 days of their one week holiday.

  • Greenie 1
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Dalesman Rising Star

Dalesman

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We give a minimum half day hand over to experienced crews and pretty much insist novices take the RYA training as the first two days of their holiday. Leaving our base you go through a 2 rise staircase, a 3 rise staircase, a single and another 2 rise - all without lock keepers so we are very focused on correct training and safety of everyone hiring with us. All our Handovers are conducted by RYA instructors too. We are currently commissioning a widebeam for hire 2017 - RYA training will be mandatory for anyone wanting to hire this boat!

How many boats do you turn around..?

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JessicaBOO Engager

JessicaBOO

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Sorry didn't mean to post that quote without commenting but the website threw a wobbly on me. They aren't giving up two days holiday - we get them underway and the instructor leaves them each evening at around 4 pm when they are safely moored up for the day. We always receive excellent feedback and have a high return rate from clients who have done the course with us and they always request that their original instructor do the handover and invite them for a drink - so everyone must enjoy the training!

How many boats do you turn around..?

We only have two and plan to have a maximum of 4. We want to stay small and maintain our level of service.

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Guest

Guest

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We give a minimum half day hand over to experienced crews and pretty much insist novices take the RYA training as the first two days of their holiday. Leaving our base you go through a 2 rise staircase, a 3 rise staircase, a single and another 2 rise - all without lock keepers so we are very focused on correct training and safety of everyone hiring with us. All our Handovers are conducted by RYA instructors too. We are currently commissioning a widebeam for hire 2017 - RYA training will be mandatory for anyone wanting to hire this boat!

 

The specific issue some yards have (Silsden for example) is the proximity of locks to take folk through.

 

We once hired from Snaygill at Skipton many years ago and they did an initial handover and some swing bridges with us and left us to pootle on to moor up just before Holme Bridge Lock for the night. They then arranged for us to ring them the next morning and somebody from the yard dove up to meet us and take us through the lock which we found helpful.

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David Mack Veteran II

David MackDonate to Canal World

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The specific issue some yards have (Silsden for example) is the proximity of locks to take folk through.

 

We once hired from Snaygill at Skipton many years ago and they did an initial handover and some swing bridges with us and left us to pootle on to moor up just before Holme Bridge Lock for the night. They then arranged for us to ring them the next morning and somebody from the yard dove up to meet us and take us through the lock which we found helpful.

Some years ago the then owner of Snaygill Boats told me they regularly sent hire boaters on their way on a Saturday afternoon, then met them at Gargrave on the Sunday to show them how to work the locks. Half a day for the boater, but a quck run up the Skipton Bypass for the yard staff.

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Dalesman Rising Star

Dalesman

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Sorry didn't mean to post that quote without commenting but the website threw a wobbly on me. They aren't giving up two days holiday - we get them underway and the instructor leaves them each evening at around 4 pm when they are safely moored up for the day. We always receive excellent feedback and have a high return rate from clients who have done the course with us and they always request that their original instructor do the handover and invite them for a drink - so everyone must enjoy the training!

 

We only have two and plan to have a maximum of 4. We want to stay small and maintain our level of service.

Big difference when you have six boat crews all wanting to get off on their holidays at the same time.

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JessicaBOO Engager

JessicaBOO

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Nice boats, we might give you a whirl some time.

We would love to have you. Please let us know who you are if you do decide to 'give us a whirl'

We would love to have you. Please let us know who you are if you do decide to 'give us a whirl'

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JessicaBOO Engager

JessicaBOO

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Greeno, Mr. Ross!

 

Thanks Martin. Tyler Wilson boats with luxury fit-outs? Yes, I could bear boating with them!

The wide beam shell we have on order is also a Tyler Wilson. We should have some lay outs to show on our FB page soon & hope to hold a launch weekend Easter 2017!

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Hiring a wide beam boat on a wide canal is surely no different from hiring a narrowbeam boat on a narrow canal.

 

In a way that is correct, however if you think about what defines a canal 'width' it is the locks not the actual width of the canal.

 

The L&L in lots of places is actually now not much different to a 'narrow' canal. There is therefore less margin for error with a wide beam boat.

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Midnight Influencer

MidnightDonate to Canal World

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Some years ago the then owner of Snaygill Boats told me they regularly sent hire boaters on their way on a Saturday afternoon, then met them at Gargrave on the Sunday to show them how to work the locks. Half a day for the boater, but a quck run up the Skipton Bypass for the yard staff.

 

Snaygill boats are a very good example of a diligent hire company. Unfortunately, judging from my own experience, it seems Silsden hire boat company don't seem to provide their hirers with the same level of tuition before letting them onto the system especially those who hire wide beam craft.

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