It’s all in the handover
ANY reputable hire boat operator knows the importance of having correct handover protocols in place. It’s important, too, that these briefings take place before the hire boat even departs the wharf.
Ideally too, handover staff should all be certified helmsmen under the auspices of the Royal Yachting Association.
One such company that adheres to and has a strict code of ethical and professional handover procedures in place is Foxhangers Canal Holidays.
A family-owned business headed up by Russell Fletcher, Foxhangers started with a single boat in 1997 and now runs a fleet of 18 bespoke narrowboats.
Foxhangers Canal Holidays is situated near Devizes, Wiltshire, on the Kennet & Avon, seven locks below the foot of the landmark Caen Hill Flight.
During the initial booking phase, the boat hirer is sent a simple canal boat-related multiple answer questionnaire to ascertain their level of experience. How long their handover takes is then dependent upon their answers to this initial administrative procedure.
When people in the hire group arrive, they check in at Foxhangers reception and then proceed to the wharf where they hand the completed and signed questionnaire to the wharf operations supervisor. He then shows the group their boat and where to park their vehicle while they unload.
While the unloading is taking place, the staff member responsible for the handover reads through the hirer’s completed questionnaire and gets an immediate idea of what level of handover instruction is required. This is inclusive of boat handling, locks and swing bridges.
Two of the most common complaints which wharf staff receive from the regular canal boating community are of boat hirers speeding and neglecting to close locks correctly after use. Obviously and for this reason, high emphasis, together with safety, is placed on the need to never go too fast and to ensuring all lock paddles are down, and gates closed after lock use.
It goes without saying that the most important individual on the boat will be whoever is on the helm. However, and because a high priority is placed on safety, it’s preferred that all of those who will be on board during the cruise listen in to the handover briefing.
When dealing with safety, hirers are reminded about not walking along the gunnels or cabin roof while the boat is under way. Falling in and inadvertently ending up under the propeller would be a sure-fire way of spoiling a boating holiday.
A lot of what is included in the handover is common sense; however, everything needs to be clearly understood by all the crew. Foxhangers Canal Holidays handover staff use a handy aidemémoire which covers all the need-to-know points pertinent to a boating holiday.
Each of these has a tick box adjacent to the point being discussed and once it’s been covered and understood, the box is ticked.
The aide-mémoire is in turn complemented by the onboard manual as applicable to the particular boat being hired. The manual covers each aide-mémoire point in far greater detail than would have been covered verbally during the handover.
The reason for this is because if too much information is dwelt on during a handover, it soon
becomes overwhelming and leads to confusion, or loss of concentration by the hirer(s).
If the crew read through the boat manual during the early stages of a cruise it certainly improves their understanding of all that narrowboating encompasses.
As well as the more important issues covered by Foxhangers Canal Holidays handover staff, lock and swing bridge operating procedures are also covered in depth, often with a hands-on lock operation being carried out under supervision.
A normal handover for an inexperienced group may take in the region of one and a half hours. At the end of which, the handover instructor will also offer to ride on the helm for a few hundred metres.
This allows for the hirer on the tiller to actually experience the importance of using reverse as the only means of stopping. In addition and with the instructor’s guidance it also teaches the tiller operator how to bring the bow in correctly at 30 degrees to the bank, and to then swing the stern into the bank in the correct manner. At that point, the instructor disembarks.
Foxhangers instructors constantly emphasise the importance of passing moored boats at tickover, and of respecting other waterway users.
To my mind, and as an active member of the Foxhangers handover team, the guiding mantra of narrowboating should always be ‘going nowhere slowly’.