YOUR CREW
& HOSTS:
This page is a bit embarrassing for us, with the photos, but we are told this kind of page is required to allow potential guests to see who will be looking after them whilst aboard Willow.
This page is a bit embarrassing for us, with the photos, but we are told this kind of page is required to allow potential guests to see who will be looking after them whilst aboard Willow.
In 1995 (when in their early
40's) Nick & Irene moved aboard their first
narrowboat - a desire for a change in lifestyle - and they haven't
looked back since. From 1999 to 2001
they managed Gourmet Cruises (a Restaurant & Trip narrowboat
business), on the Basingstoke Canal in Surrey. The 72ft restaurant boat
was licensed to seat 47 diners, requiring skippers to be qualified with
a Maritime & Coastguard Agency Boatmaster's
Licence. A legal requirement now, even for hotelboat skippers. As the
principal 'Boatmaster'
at Gourmet Cruises, Nick was involved with staff training to Boatmaster
level as well as, of course, spending many many hours at the helm.
Irene, coming
from a hotel background, undertook the catering and hosting aspect of
Gourmet Cruises. Before living aboard Nick was a police sergeant,
having specialized in
police training - skills now applied to narrowboat training, which is a
secondary business we still operate. If you are thinking of moving
aboard your own narrowboat to continuously cruise the canal network,
click on this link... training
& consultancy.
Nick and Irene's own boat,
Willow, was converted to a
Hotel narrowboat during the winter of 2001/2 and they left 'Gourmet
Cruises' to operate their own hotelboat as a full time business.
Spending three seasons operating the Gourmet Cruises business on the
Basingstoke
had been very lucrative
(and quite enjoyable) but the operational cruising area lacked variety
(90 mins cruising each way).
Hotelboating on Willow offered almost nationwide cruising on the main
UK canal network, which does provide that variety.
So, Nick and Irene’s
current lifestyles now combine catering, boat handling and
training skills, with their love of narrowboating. Irene is also an
accomplished boater but prefers the hosting and catering aspects of the
business (trust me you would not want Nick to do the cooking). In
addition to preparing our home cooked cuisine, Irene can also operate a
narrow lock 'pretty sharpish' (I wouldn't like to get in her way).
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