62 | MAY 2015 | www.waterwaysworld.com

Steering the right course Boat handling tuition isn’t just for novices, as Sarah Henshaw discovers...

Êadvice Boat Handling tuition

Too late I realise that admitting to six years of boating experience

was a mistake. I can see RYA instructor Steve Vaughan exchange a bemused glance across the table with his colleague, Chris Stubbings. “Most people claim to be complete novices so they look like naturals when we’re out on the water,” he explains. “But it’s good to know these things. That way we can tailor the day around you. There’s always something new we can show students before 10am, even if they’ve been boating a lifetime.”

This doesn’t surprise me at all. I was uncomfortably aware of the huge gaps in my knowledge even before signing up for the Inland Waterways Helmsman’s Course at Willow Wren Training. Despite having had a narrowboat for six years, it only crossed my mind to take it cruising four years ago. Before that it was nothing more than a quirky bookshop space on a permanent mooring. Moving it came later – and was very much a trial-and-error process.

Self-taugHtYet I’m stubbornly proud of this self-schooling and the patchwork

of knowledge I’ve picked up from different people along the way, from the blissfully transformative: “You have a centre line: use it,” to the roasting I got from a boater at just my second lock, after naively closing the gate before spotting his approach. I prize this education precisely because it’s so hard-won, and not in the least like the handed-on-a-plate experience of A-Levels or tortuous driving lessons or, later, university lectures. So I have mixed feelings ahead of this

helmsman course. I’m wary that the ‘textbook’ method they’re bound to teach will somehow devalue my improv approach. And, by extension, lessen my enjoyment of being at the tiller.

I couldn’t be more wrong. One of the first myths Steve dispels is that the day is going to be a classroom chore. “All our boat handling courses are hands-on, with the theory being mostly covered on the move. We have three priorities: safety, enjoyment and training – with

the training being last. We know from experience that people are more likely to absorb new information if they’re feeling relaxed and having fun.”

grand deSignSAnd so the morning kicks off over a cup of tea and informal chat in the comfort of Willow Wren Training’s brand new HQ on the Grand Union Canal, close to the village of Stockton in Warwickshire. In fact, so fascinated am I by the history of

Steve and Sarah at the helm.

The pre-course briefing is useful to gauge a boater’s experience.

All pictures BY BoB GentrY

Perfecting the canalman’s hitch.

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Steering the right course Boat handling tuition isn’t just for novices, as Sarah Henshaw discovers...

Êadvice Boat Handling tuition

the site that I quickly forget my misgivings. Steve’s enthusiasm for the heritage of Nelson’s Wharf is infectious. Pretty soon I’m gaping at black-and-white photos of the sprawling cement works and quarry that used to sit on this 40-acre site, and carefully fingering relics of this industrial past, which Steve has saved in the hope of one day creating a small exhibition.

He took over the site in 2013, expending what sounds like a frightening amount of time and effort clearing the invasive scrub that had grown up around the demolished plant and restoring the initial part of the canal arm, which now has room for two full-length narrowboats. The training centre itself is a handsome timber-clad and solar panel-topped structure facing the canal, with on-line mooring for the company’s three training boats. It’s a far cry from Willow Wren’s previous base - an old, concrete 1970s prefab, with poor heating and insulation.

Steve is rightly thrilled by the transformation. Taking pride of place on the wall inside is a

photograph from the training centre’s official opening last September. Princess Anne was helicoptered in to cut the ribbon – and she even took a turn on the tiller. Her framed face – impassive, imperious – seems to be throwing down a personal challenge. “On the scale of godawful to great,” I mentally worry, “please can I at least be more competent on the tiller today than the 11th-in-line in her blue tartan suit.” Before that, however, I must find out how to tie a knot.

getting HitcHedI can offer no excuse but bone idleness for never having learned to securely moor a boat before now. Countless times I’ve cursed my ignorance – largely on returning to the boat after some other task (a stroll to the newsagent, preparing a lock) to find one end swinging out into the channel like a lazy flipper on a giant pinball machine. Behind it: a small queue of irate boaters, fists aloft. On two occasions both stern and bow lines have come undone together – once with me

on the boat (asleep), the other with me still on the towpath (mortified). This briefly inspired a paranoia so acute that one night I reknotted the mooring lines in my sleep. I say ‘reknotted’... The next morning I was horrified to discover I had unconsciously tried to fashion a pair of pretty bows.

Imagine, then, my juvenile delight to finally master a canalman’s hitch. I could’ve handed over my £190 there and then and easily gone home a happy customer. To follow it in quick succession with a tee stud

hitch was reckless extravagance. By the time we were throwing mooring lines around the practice bollard outside I felt my three-strand rope accomplishment knew no bounds. Heck, I could even coil a rope the right way. Because there is a ‘right’ way, I now knew, if you loop it consistently clockwise.

training BoatRelaxed now, and more than ready to throw my pride into the drink with the man overboard dummy, I boarded Peggy, one

This summer Willow Wren Training is teaming up with the owners of steam narrowboat Adamant to launch a series of steam experience days.

Running from the company’s HQ at Nelson’s Wharf, guests will have a chance to light the boiler, before alternating between the helm and engine room for the duration of the return trip through Calcutt Locks and onto the Oxford Canal.

It’s not the first time Nelson’s Wharf has seen steam on its moorings: the cement works previously situated here had a whole fleet to bring coal from Warwickshire and distribute processed lime and cement around the country.

The Steam Experience Days start on 18th July. More details can be found on the WWT website, www.willowwrentraining.co.uk.

steam Dream

The training centre was officially opened by Princess Anne in 2014.

Tuition is tailored to an individual’s preferred learning style.

Safety, enjoyment and training are Willow

Wren’s priorities.

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Êadvice Boat Handling tuition

of Willow Wren’s specially adapted training boats. At 50ft, I was reassured to presume that manoeuvring her would be simpler than my own 60ft boat, despite the fact this was the first craft I’d steered without the luxury of bow thrusters. Peggy, Steve explained, is a perfect boat to coach on. “She handles superbly – very consistently – and the reverse layout means we’re still close to the students at the helm even when we’re making tea.”

The rear deck itself is wonderfully spacious. Measuring 9ft long, it can easily accommodate the RYA instructor and a maximum of three students. As it happens, I’m the only person on the course but Chris, who has accompanied to help with crewing, insists one-to-one tuition isn’t necessarily an advantage. “We try to persuade people against private bookings. Having a small group of people really helps the learning process as you can stand back from time to time and see where others are either going wrong or doing particularly well at an exercise. Also, think about when you’re likely to be cruising your own boat. Chances are you’ll have other people on board with you, sometimes complete novices, so knowing how to communicate what you want from them is incredibly useful as a helmsman.”

crew courSeHe’s right. Having Chris playing the role of the inexperienced crew member makes me think hard about how best to use and instruct him. I’m so accustomed to single-handed boating that,

even when I have friends and family aboard, I normally retain responsibility for most of the jobs. Not only does this make life unnecessarily laborious for me, it can also be downright dangerous as I’m forever shortcutting to get back on deck as quickly as possible to resume conversations or finish the cup of tea that’s just been poured. Interestingly, Willow Wren offers a crew course, which can run in tandem with the helmsman’s training, aimed specifically at people who only need to steer the boat occasionally but who are called upon to assist at locks and when mooring. I wholeheartedly recommend it. It’s also £10 cheaper at £180.

As we make our way towards Calcutt Locks the sun finally makes an appearance. I can understand why Steve tries to avoid winter bookings. Good weather – or at least a clement temperature – makes the course not just useful but thoroughly enjoyable too. As well as covering the syllabus, there’s ample time to spot wildlife (Chris saw a kingfisher by Ventnor Farm Marina the week before), exchange pleasantries with walkers or other boaters, and talk about general canal culture and etiquette. “This is so important,” Steve stresses. “Of course, a lot of our conversations cover things that physically can’t be included on the course, like lift-bridges and tunnel navigation, but we’re also here to answer any questions people may have about anything related to boating. Sometimes people want advice on which toilet will

suit their new boat or maybe an idea of best cruising routes from their marina mooring.”

cuStomer range I’m curious to know if Willow Wren has a typical customer. “Far from it,” Steve insists. “we cater for everyone from the novice up. A lot of people need the formal RYA certification for their job or for insurance reasons and have been boating for years. Others have concerns about current skills or want to practise before a hire-boat holiday. Gender-wise, there’s about a

50/50 split. We do see a lot of women who are less confident and are used to letting their husbands hog the helm. In one case the husband booked his wife on the course, accompanied her, but maintained he didn’t need any of the tuition himself. He was forced to eat his words though when we headed out of the marina. I asked him to take the tiller and follow my instructions. It was a tricky exit onto a river, and once we’d finished the manoeuvre he was genuinely gobsmacked and admitted it was the first time he’d done it in

Training boat Peggy was launched in 2011 and is the very last shell to be made by Dave Thomas at Braunston before he retired.

Steve and Chris give a general overview of canal etiquette while on the move.

It’s not just boat handling that’s covered by the syllabus – routine

maintenance is also included.

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Êadvice Boat Handling tuition

one movement, without having to put the boat in reverse.”

Steve also recalls another booking from a married couple, which proved rather awkward when the wife passed but the husband didn’t!

Usually Steve and Chris can tell by lunchtime whether a student is going to pass or will need to come back for a second day. I daren’t ask, and instead play nervously with the rudimentary model of a narrowboat lying on the table inside. It’s just another example of the lengths Willow Wren goes to in order to tailor learning styles to its students. “Some people will pick a manoeuvre up by trying it themselves at the tiller, but for others we need to find different ways to make it explicit, whether that’s with model boats or diagrams or repeating it over and over. There’s a science behind all our training, but we try to disguise it in banter and making sure our customers are having a good time,” says Steve.

a wHole new experienceIn fact, the emphasis on having

fun has seen Willow Wren diversify this year to offer a range of lighter ‘experience days’. One of these is the ‘Boating Tuition and Picnic Day’ for up to seven people. For £210 the party can either enjoy a skippered outing on the inland waterways or take advantage of the onboard expert to pick up some steering hints at the helm themselves.

Personally, I found the helmsman’s course ticked both the ‘useful tips’ and ‘great trip out’ boxes in its own right. Having winded in the pound above Calcutt Bottom Lock, Steve used the return trip to show me ways I can tackle boating on windy days, something I’ve always struggled with, especially solo. ‘Springing off’ a mooring, when the wind is blowing you back against the towpath, for example, is as easy as untying the bow line and loosening the stern line from the cleat to reverse about 10ft to 15ft. Reattaching the line and holding it firmly in my hand, I then engaged reverse gear again until the bow started swinging clear of the bank. When the

bow was about 45 degrees from the bank, I switched to neutral, pulled in the stern line and then motored away. Simple but incredibly effective.

Steve was kind enough to save the dreary business of engine maintenance until the very end of the day. Even stern gland chat becomes surprisingly sufferable, however, when the dangers of skipping these checks is relayed in no uncertain terms. It’s blindingly obvious that my next Willow Wren course should be the RYA Diesel Engine Maintenance one. Here’s some horse power even equestrian Princess Anne will surely allow me to outperform on.

xxxxx

Based on the Trent & Mersey Canal at Mercia Marina, the Tillerettes is a group of female boaters who ‘buddy’ with less-experienced women wanting to improve their boat handling skills.

The group officially began last year and already boasts four mentors. Over a dozen women (plus one man) have benefited from their expertise during short trips to the service wharf and on the canal. The Tillerettes have also held an ‘Explore Your Boat’ evening,

demonstrating how to refuel, look after batteries and change gas cylinders.

the tillerettes

A free copy of the RYA Inland Waterways Handbook is included in the course.