WINDERMERE Lake Cruises has made an extra 15 self-drive motorboats available to hire from this Saturday and Sunday (June 27 & 28), following high demand last weekend which saw more than 200 families get out onto the lake.
Helping people to experience the beauty of England’s longest lake for the first time since lockdown measures were introduced at the end of March, 21 boats were back on the water at the weekend – which, from this Saturday, will rise to 36.
Available to hire from Bowness Pier and from this weekend, Bowness Dock, it gives even more people the chance to explore the lake at their own pace – and in their own space.
The addition of the 15 extra self-drive motorboats is part of Windermere Lake Cruises’ ongoing, phased re-opening plans, and as with last weekend, each boat must be booked in advance. Available for both one and two hour sessions, the attraction says the two hour sessions sold-out particularly quickly, so the advice is to book as soon as possible to ensure families avoid disappointment.
Windermere Lake Cruises’ Operations Manager, Nick Thompson, says, “After three long, hard months, it was absolutely brilliant to see people coming back to Windermere to experience the lake once again. It was particularly nice to see many regular visitors and local families try our self-drives for the first time, with many telling us they wanted to come back this weekend too, which is a tremendous boost for us – and a great day-out for them.
“We’re also pleased to report that all our customers adhered to the social distancing measures we had put in place, and our staff worked within our new health and safety regulations including staggered arrival times to avoid queues, with bookings and payments taken online in advance. We strongly urge people to book in advance, but for those who don’t, subject to availability, bookings can still be made there and then, thanks to signage on-site, which includes a QR code so bookings can be made using smartphones.”
As with last weekend, all buoyancy aids will be cleaned after each session and only reissued after a 48 hour period, while each boat will be cleaned between each session.
Nick continues, “As with all businesses in the area, we continue to work very hard behind the scenes on thorough risk assessments to ensure that we operate our self-drive boats in a safe, Covid-19 secure manner, with our staff trained to ensure they are fully compliant with all up to date UK government advice. For those who did not take a trip in one of our self-drives since reopening , it’s safe to say there hundreds of happy families out there who would wholeheartedly recommend they do-so this weekend!”
