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The Seagull Trust continues to go from strength to strength and, as there seems to be an unending request for our cruises, we expect to be in a position to provide canal cruising for disabled people for a long time to come.
Our philosophy has always been to provide this cruising free to our passengers and, for our day and part day cruises, this will continue to be the case. However, as detailed below, we are now offering a residential canal boat for holiday cruises and for this we are requesting a suggested donation from the hirer to assist us with the operating costs.
The most exciting aspect has been the revitalisation of the Union and Forth & Clyde Canals and the building of the Millennium Link to join these two Canals again after a break of nearly seventy years. This allows the Falkirk Branch to extend it’s cruising both within the Union Canal and passing down into the Forth & Clyde Canal by the Falkirk Wheel and cruising there, either East and through the locks into Falkirk or West towards Bonnybridge and Glasgow.
As far as the Seagull Trust is concerned the reopening of the Canals has allowed the Ratho, Falkirk and Kirkintilloch Branches to reassess their cruise routes and they are able to conduct longer one-way cruises, picking up a new group of passengers at the turning point.
We have recently brought into service a residential canal boat suitable for overnight cruising for a period of two to six nights. This boat is called the “Marion Seagull” and has come about by a very generous gift to the Trust specifically for the provision of a boat suitable for use by a family with either a disabled parent or child, which will allow them to spend time cruising the canals at their own pace. Considerable local investigation has established that such a boat would be welcomed by many families. This would involve the canal boat being owned and managed by the Seagull Trust, maintained by a local boatyard, manned by the party hiring it, and it would be available to cruise on both the Union and Forth & Clyde Canals. Training, in the operation and handling of the boat and canal etiquette, will be given to the hirers before they set off on their adventure. Or, if required, we will be able to provide a skipper to look after the driving of the Marion Seagull. Full details can be found in our Holiday Cruising page.
And finally, our older canal boats are being refurbished to ensure that they remain at the high standard expected of the Seagull Trust by our customers and other canal users.
As in all walks of life qualifications and certification of ability are becoming more and more a requirement of operation and insurance and to this end the Seagull Trust has instituted a training and certification scheme for our boat skippers, under the auspices of the Royal Yachting Association. Some of our skippers are professional ship captains and seamen, many of them holding recognised Master Mariner Certificates of Competency, however the majority are volunteers and it is to these people that we will give a formal training. Captain Gordon Daly, one of our Trustees, has completed the RYA Inland Waterways Helmsmans Instructors Course and he will run courses for the Seagull Trust volunteers. The RYA have reviewed our facilities, and our Falkirk, Ratho and Kirkintilloch Branches are now R.Y.A. Recognised Teaching Establishments, where Capt. Daly will be able to conduct the courses with the skippers using their own canal boats on their own stretches of canal. The course covers all aspects of cruising on inland waterways including boat handling, mooring, using locks, bridges etc., all of which is applicable to our operations. Whilst this is not a requirement of our operation it will signal to our clients, and canal users in general, that we are “professional” in our outlook and aim to provide a safe and secure environment for passengers. These courses can only be conducted with volunteers of the Seagull Trust, they are not available to outside individuals.
The Seagull Trust is always looking for volunteers, so if you live in, or adjacent to, the area of any of our Branches and feel you can give some of your free time to help disabled people, please contact one of the Local Committee Members detailed on the Branch pages, or the Headquarters address for more information.
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