Canal Boat Volunteering
We subsidise and run boat trips for external groups on our two canal boats. Every trip needs a fully qualified skipper and a member of trained crew and our Canal Boating project is completely volunteer-led.
If you are interested in becoming a qualified canal boat skipper or crew member for The Pirate Castle, we ask that you initially join us as a trainee crew member.
Our in-house NCBA trainers and/or Skipper/Training Mentors will provide training on boat handling and operating a Community Boat and assess your progress. Then, once you have satisfactorily gained the skills to be a Community Crew Member you’ll be able to start crewing our boats for the trips we provide. If you are able to stay on with us and commit to enough trips, if you want to continue your training journey we can arrange in-house training for the Certificate in Community Boat Management (CCBM) which will qualify you as a NCBA Skipper.
The training is expensive and costs us over £400 per person, so we have to ensure that people will enjoy their role and are dedicated to it before accepting the commitment. Alternatively, you can simply stay with us as a volunteer crew member if you prefer – there will still be plenty of opportunities for learning about the boats and further development.
For more information about Canal Boat volunteering opportunities, please email our Boat Manager, Andrew at andrew@thepiratecastle.org or call 020 7267 6605.
