For the past few months I have been trying to rectify this as I feel terrible letting people down and not being able to offer them a trip on their birthday or for their special weekend away. Due to the covid situation, my solution to the problem has taken much longer than I hoped for so it had meant me ending up working a lot more hours than I expected to on the boat with little Stanley in tow. Finally, I have now taken on a crew to help out with the overflow of trips which in turns means I have much more availability to accommodate everyone now. It’s a tough choice when it’s your own little business, to put trust in someone else and hand the reins over. What many people don’t realise is it’s not just finding someone with the right qualifications; they have to be medically fit. They need to have the right experience - to me a certificate of qualification doesn’t necessarily mean you’re right for the job, experience in my opinion counts for much more. I also need someone that’s good with people, and someone that’s willing to go the extra mile. There are very few people that fit the full criteria, thankfully I have a very qualified, exceptionally personable friend who lives in Tollesbury, many of you may know of him; Paul Frost, aka Frostie. I think of him as the male version of me, I’ve witnessed him bend over backwards to help others out for no gain of his own and that’s the sort of person I want to represent Lady Grace alongside me. With covid it took almost 3 months before we finally managed to get him an appointment with the doctor to be signed off medically fit, thankfully the council were very efficient in getting him added to my license once all the paperwork was in order and finally, he is ready to rock and roll.
I still intend on being onboard with Stanley for many of the trips, it just means that whilst Stanley is at the age where he can’t stand or sit by himself and needs to be attached to me, I no longer have to lean over the side to pick up mooring lines or jump in the dinghy to row out to Lady Grace etc, I can hand those jobs over to Paul, and Stanley and I can step aboard safely without that hassle to contend with.
Logistics wise: Lady Grace is and has always been licensed for 12 passengers and 2 crew, so I am advertising a maximum of 11 passengers on trips - this means that Stanley takes passenger 12 space, while Paul and I are skipper/crew at the helm. There will be some of you, my regulars, that will specifically want to come out with me which is why I have limited numbers to 11 passengers, but for anyone reading this that isn’t fussed either way but that does want 12 spaces on the boat - I can offer this and it just means Stanley and I will stay onshore and I’ll leave you in Paul’s capable hands.
Bookings are now starting to flood in for the Spring and Summer so please call or drop me a text, if possible, to 07791 859624 with the date, any preference on timing, for how many people and what type of trip you are after so that we can get your booking organised ready for your trip to Mersea.
