Sometimes, especially when the weather is nice, we get asked about boat trips in the dock or the river.
Well between 1992 and 2013 we actually did run boat trips…but, very sadly, we had to stop them.
We ran two boats – the “Preston Puffin” from 1992 (for the Preston Guild) until around 2004, and then we got “Preston Belle” for the 2012 Guild celebrations.
The river trips were great, with history, nature and bird-watching cruises, and we also did things like childrens birthday “Pirate Parties” which involved treasure hunts around the dock.
However, the tides in the river are seldom suitable for boat trips and the weather has to be right too, so it was just not possible to schedule and operate trips regularly and reliably enough for it to be financially worthwhile or break even.
We tried very hard to carry on operating the boat trips, but despite never having had an incident or a claim, the costs of insurance, other red-tape and maintenance rose so high that we could not afford to continue – passenger boats are very expensive and complicated things to run, and getting more so all the time.
It was never a profitable venture, but we did it because we thought it added some colour and interest to the area, and gave people an opportunity to experience a different perspective of Preston from the water.
Great fun it was too!
NOTE – If anyone wants to approach us about potentially operating commercial boat trips here we are always interested in such discussions.
