Crewing the Wey And Arun Trip Boat

Friday 5th June 2009

I am doing my first post-training crewing on the trip boat this sunday...and there are problems with one of the locks!! The public trips run by the Wey and Arun Canal Trust at weekends and bank holidays help raise much needed funds towards the many restoration activities in the pipeline. They usually involve a couple of short trips through one lock and back, and then one longer trip, using 3 locks on Saturdays (labelled the Enthusiasts Trip) and 2 of these locks on Sundays. Well the second lock has been having problems, so on Sunday we will be doing four short trips, whilst Baldwin's Knob lock is drained and investigation undertaken to try and resolve the underlying problem. What this problem is is not known to me yet - when I find out I will reveal all in a future blog.

I have now put myself forward for July's public trips, and for the first time some of the evening charters, including crewing the brand new electric boat - Wiggonholt. Apparently it is eerily quiet, and will now give some of the wildlife a surprise I suspect. The new boat has been fitted out to take some 52 passengers, with a skipper and 2 crew, and can now tap in to the coach tour market. Previously they were averse to stopping off or specifically coming to Loxwood, due to the prospect of having to split their group to have trips on the 30 seat Zachariah Keppel.

Wiggonholt has also been fitted out with a wheelchair lift to further enhance our offering.
These charters are a fantastic source of revenue for the Trust, we have 28 booked in June, 19 in July, and a few already booked for August. Themed public trips at Christmas, Easter, and "Pirates and Princesses" all help to keep the Trust's profile high, and the much needed funds flowing.