A DAY IN THE LIFE… …of a Dartmouth Riverboat Company Skipper,
Steve Sherwin
Explorer, takes us through a typical summer day for a skipper of the Dartmouth Steam Railway and Riverboat Company. 8am: “This is when most of us start – it can depend on the tides of course – we get down to the river, go out to the company pontoon in the middle of the river and get on our boats. There are lots of engine checks to do, oil levels and similar things, and then we have to make sure the boats are clean and ready for the passengers. Sometimes there will have been a late finish the night
S
D’art Gallery Donald Maclean
teve Sherwin, boat skipper on or around the Dart for the past 25 years, and now skipper of the Dart
before so you have to do any cleaning that needs doing and the bar needs to get stocked up too.
If there is time we will also do some
staff training in the morning. It’s my responsibility as skipper to ensure everyone gets training regularly. In terms of safety and being able to handle any eventuality it’s important to make sure all the crew are trained properly. And we have coffee – that’s very important for all of us! A crew will do 5-6 days together as a routine and we all get on well, and sitting down having a coffee and a chat can help that. As we are all so well practised and know our roles, sometimes you can just get on with your job – and not find time to chat. So it’s nice now and again to catch up with what each other are doing.
4 Lower Street Dartmouth TQ6 9RL tel: 01803 834923
www.dart-gallery.com
10.30am: On a normal day we come alongside the pontoon or Embankment wall ready to pick up passengers for the 11.30am cruise. We welcome people on board, check their tickets and get ready for the trip. Our average number of passengers is about 100, but we can carry a lot more on the bigger boats. I’m on the Harbour cruise at the moment which means that we go down to Dittisham and then back up to the Castles at the mouth of the river. If the weather is right we go out of the
‘spring table’
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80 |
Page 81 |
Page 82 |
Page 83 |
Page 84 |
Page 85 |
Page 86 |
Page 87 |
Page 88 |
Page 89 |
Page 90 |
Page 91 |
Page 92 |
Page 93 |
Page 94 |
Page 95 |
Page 96 |
Page 97 |
Page 98 |
Page 99 |
Page 100 |
Page 101 |
Page 102 |
Page 103 |
Page 104 |
Page 105 |
Page 106 |
Page 107 |
Page 108 |
Page 109 |
Page 110 |
Page 111 |
Page 112 |
Page 113 |
Page 114 |
Page 115 |
Page 116 |
Page 117 |
Page 118 |
Page 119 |
Page 120 |
Page 121 |
Page 122 |
Page 123 |
Page 124 |
Page 125 |
Page 126 |
Page 127 |
Page 128