River Canal Rescue saving the day

RCR is the national breakdown and rescue service for the canals and rivers. Before the company was on the scene boaters in trouble didn’t have so many options, as Graham Phillips of the Tia eco-boat tells us: “Before the days of mobile phones we had to walk for miles to find a working telephone - which usually smelled of wee - and phone the nearest boatyard number in the Nicolson's guide (who then charged an arm and a leg). Or we would put the word out on the mooring and about 15 males would gather round holding mugs of tea drawing air in through their teeth whilst exclaiming ‘that looks expensive’.”

Always come up trumps

Now when your boat starts making unappealing sounds or your battery is flat, you can call up RCR, who will come and find you, bring you bread, eggs and milk, contact your family, fix your boat up and get you on your way again.

Last year the company managed to get 89 per cent of its customers on the move within two hours. If the problem is more serious the company has over 400 contractors at its disposal who can help out. Graham confirms: “We have called out RCR four times now and they always come up trumps - great service (they bring out groceries for heavens sake - name any other company that offers service like that?), friendly engineers and call staff and worth every penny - I have never heard a complaint about them.”

RCR boasts 15 full time rescuers, whose knowledge of their local waterway is invaluable. As the canal and river network is so large, it can sometimes be difficult to locate the customers. Using a combination of local knowledge, state of the art software and good old fashioned paper maps, RCR engineers usually arrive on the scene in about two hours.

Stephanie Horton, RCR’s managing director tells waterscape: “It is very unusual that we can't locate someone - unless they don't know where they are - which happens occasionally."

It seems that the most common reasons for breakdowns are usually fuel problems and contamination of the fuel system, although broken cables, flat batteries and fouled props also constitute a sizable proportion of the problems encountered.

Missing engine

The company also gets its fair share of weird and wonderful call-outs. There have been a few overheating issues caused by dead fish blocking the intake pipe and one non-starter due to a complete engine being missing. These are unusual though and the company believes that in most cases boaters can take steps to avoid breaking down in the first place.

Stephanie advises us that boaters should develop a routine of regular checks before setting off on any journey. They also need to regularly service and maintain the boat, in particular its engine and drive system. If that sounds a bit daunting then boaters can always book up and attend one of RCR's engine maintenance courses, which are run in various locations throughout the year.

Understand the engine

Stephanie says: "The feedback we get from the courses is that everyone benefits - we find ladies in particular throw themselves in and really enjoy getting their hands dirty, but the biggest benefit is that it builds confidence in understanding the engine. This in turn can reduce the costs of boating by doing DIY maintenance and servicing.

"Ultimately engines end up being better maintained so if they do breakdown we have more chance of talking them though a solution on the phone, and they are better able to describe a problem to an engineer."

In addition to the technical training, RCR also offers boat handling courses on which they send all of their own staff, both engineers and office employees as they have found them to be invaluable when dealing with situations that arise when someone breaks down. Stephanie explains: "In general these courses provide boaters with the key skills which could only ever have been learnt though experience and making your own mistakes."

For more information about the many services and plans that the company offers visit www.rivercanalrescue.co.uk or call 0871 200 8021.

Last updated: 09/08/2010