Boat Coaching, Instruction and Experience days

This page last updated: 14 October 2021

I love moving boats on the UK's canals and rivers, It's why I became a boat mover. I take my craft very seriously, and I take great pride in manoeuvring boats with accuracy and skill. I'm a firm believer in continuously improving my skills and abilities too. I'm in the process of becoming and Inland Waterways Helmsmanship Certificate Instructor, and have recently acquire my VHF short range radio certificate so that I can navigate waterways where a VHF radio is required. My business is moving your boat, but it's also my passion. I hope I can help wou with a truly professional move for your boat. If you use my trip planning page it will produce a quick estimate of the days needed to move your boat. I charge per day so each boat move is calculated on that basis. You can find other boat movers. But in my experience I doubt you'll find one as well reviewed, committed and professional as I am. Thank you for reading this. I look forward to hearing from you soon.
Steerage is the technical term for Boat Moving. The person who does it is the helm or the steerer, on a canal boat this person is also usually the skipper who is in charge of the boat and responsible for everyone aboard.
The skipper therefore has a duty of care to the boat and any passengers and is responsible for everyone's health and safety.
Giles was the true professional from start to finish. All stages were well planned and explained meticulously. Contact was above and beyond expectation and any problem that occurred was dealt with in a similar fashion. Very reasonable rates given the responsibility involved. I would thoroughly recommend ‘ Your Helmsman ‘ for any boat move. Thank you Giles from a very satisfied and happy customer.
Giles moved my narrowboat for me when I was laid up and couldn't reach it. His professional move was very, very much appreciated.

It’s been a strange and difficult year for everybody. But Your Helmsman has achieved a few goals, even given the treacherous shoals we’ve been navigating.

The raw numbers show that I’ve only navigated about 700 lock miles, which is a long way down from last year. But that includes completing a few navigations this year that have been on my bucket list for a while, particularly the Gloucester and Sharpness canal, the whole of the non-tidal River Severn, the River Avon, sections of the tidal Thames and all the Worcester and Birmingham canal.
In addition I’ve gained my VHF short-range radio operator certificate (and made my first calls), and added the Inland Waterways Helmsman Instructor qualification to my resumé.
I won’t be offering RYA certified courses just yet, but it has enhanced and informed my coaching skills and I expect to be doing more of this in the future.

Now we’re entering the quiet time of the Winter closures. I hope to see more of you next year as we enter a vaccinated, R-value controlled New Year.

Happy Holidays to everyone celebrating them!

An extremely professional and pleasant service from my first enquiry up to the arrival of the boat at the final destination.

Giles moved our 45 foot narrowboat from the river Wey to North of Banbury over a 10 day period. All aspects of the journey were well planned in advance and detailed route itinerary provided.

I took the opportunity to travel with him in order to assist (where I could), become fully familiar with my new purchase and benefit from his tuition. I ended the trip with enhanced confidence in boat handling, operating various styles of lock, rope work and other aspects of operating a narrowboat.

I highly recommend Giles / Your Helmsman for any boat moves or training you may have.

-- Dan E.