We have over 30 years of expertise in boat handling and community boat management and our training team run a variety of courses over the year:
- Basic Boat Handling
- Online Learning with Practical Support
- Advanced Practical Training and Certification
Basic boat handling: If you do not have an experienced skipper within your group, we will need to organise training for you. This is to ensure that your group are safe and competent during your hire. The best option for training is to attend one of our training courses. These take place on our boats from Great Bedwyn, at regular intervals throughout the season, usually at a weekend.
Our 2-day boat handling course for holiday hire skippers or crew costs just £175 per person and includes catering and accommodation on the boat.
‘The training weekend was intense, thorough, professionally done and great fun. The trainers were demanding, patient, inspired confidence and were open to discussion and questions. The hands-on practical focus on helming and emergency drills were invaluable – we would never have left Bedwyn Wharf without it!
– Annie Whitcher
It’s essential learning for skippering the barge and keeping additional crew/passengers safe. Without it we wouldn’t have briefed our ‘crew’ as thoroughly, been aware of the dangers and felt competent to deal with them, confidently got through locks, negotiated low water levels and got ‘ungrounded’!
We were provided during the training and on board with clear structures and procedures – great to be able to refer to.
. . . And the food was yummy and plentiful!’
We understand that some of our groups may live a long way away or have other reasons that prevent their skipper from attending a 2-day training course. So with this in mind, we have developed our online learning package. This involves some online learning beforehand and then having one of our trainers with you for the first day and a half of your hire. The cost of this is £125 per group.
We undertook the online training as we were unable to attend any of the training weekends in person. The videos were engaging and informative, and the key points and associated reading were thorough. There was a lot to learn and the questions were challenging, making us feel we had covered and digested all the key detail. Overall we felt it provided a great foundation to build on when we subsequently took out a boat with further guidance from the trainer on our first day.
– Caroline Ball
For more advanced training we also offer the National Community Boats Association Certificate in Community Boat Management (CCBM) course to both organisations involved in community boating and private individuals seeking this qualification. We can also offer single crew training days tailored to your needs.
Please contact our booking team to discuss your needs, availability and pricing.
