About our training
The Pirate Castle can offer you a range of unique training courses in boat handling. As a founder member of the National Community Boats Association the Pirate Club has been at the forefront of moves to create a national training and licence to operate community boats.
Our staff have between them 50 + years experience of handling a variety of boats. Please see our biographies below. So whether you intend to work on a community boat or merely to gain grounding in boating skills and canal etiquette, this is the place to come to.
Our courses are run over weekends throughout the year. You will be able to stay on our boats during the course - mixing with the other people on the course and chatting informally with the trainers is all part of the experience.
Our courses are run from the Pirate Castle in Camden Town in north London. You might want to have a look around Camden Market or slip into the West End at the end of the day.
If you want the training to be run on your own boats we can do that as well. We have two travelling trainers on our staff that would be pleased to deliver the course at your own project.
Biographies:
Andrew Carpenter is our Narrowboat Manager and Trainer. He became involved in Community Boating in 1999. He has had wide experience of both wide and narrow craft, and is a registered trainer for both the RYA and the NCBA. He also holds a Boatmasters Licence. Andrew’s other interests include Music, History and Natural History.
We run the following courses:
The Certificate in Community Boat Management (CCBM) and The Complete Crew Course (CCC)
The CCBM
The Certificate in Community Boat Management is designed for those people who work with a variety of groups on the inland waterways. It is endorsed by British Waterways and supported by the Maritime Coastguard Agency.
This course draws on current best practice as supplied by member organisations of the NCBA, operating a wide variety of craft for use by community groups, often made up of disabled and disadvantaged people. It represents the minimum recommended level of training for steerers of community boats.The aims of the course are to give steerers of community boats on non-tidal rivers and canals training in boat handling, boat maintenance and the management of group safety and welfare.
Anyone over the age of eighteen can obtain a CCBM Certificate. It is however assumed that you will have some experience of working with groups and have previous practical experience of boating. The CCBM Course itself is usually run over a weekend, typically from Saturday morning until Sunday afternoon, including an evening session on the Saturday. We also encourage our candidates to arrive on the Friday night and stay on the boat if possible, as this gives everyone a chance to get to know each other before commencing the course. Successful candidates will qualify to operate boats carrying a maximum of 12 passengers on the inland waterways of the UK.
The CCC
The Complete Crew Course is a foundation course, designed to build the levels of skills and experience needed to crew a community boat.A qualified instructor will lead the course. The duration of the course is two days, usually delivered Saturday morning to Sunday afternoon.
The course will provide you with all the skills and knowledge needed to act as crew on a community boat. You will become the extra eyes, ears and hands of the person in charge of the boat.
You can take as little or as much time as you need to complete the course depending on your previous experience and aptitude.
The cost of the training courses:
If people are training for the purpose of becoming volunteers for The Pirate Club then some or all of this may be subsidized (you will always have to at least pay the certification and paperwork costs yourself) You will also need to sign an agreement stating that you are willing to contribute a certain number of days per year to skippering trips for us on a voluntary basis.Outside groups that wish to do an NCBA training course at the Pirate Club should ring Andrew Carpenter on 0207 267 6605 to discuss their requirements and obtain a price.
