May God bless her and all who train in her... Simon Banks, general manager of Banks Boats at the Selby Boat Centre, says goodbye to his long boat, Pegasus, for the summer.

Aboard are, from left, John Fussey, Bob Watson and Marcia Haigh, who are operating a Selby community project to give boating skills to up to 300 people over the next two years.

Called Shorewaters, it is part of the Sobriety project which operates from the Waterways Museum in Goole.

The project is being funded over two years by the European Leader Plus scheme to help single parents.

By 2005 about 300 people will have been given boating skills and, with it, the confidence needed to cope at job interviews and launch their own new lives. It is the second long boat hired by the project from Mr Banks, with whom the Waterways Museum negotiated preferential rates, the first being Andromeda. It means that Mr Banks has already leased out his fleet, although he has commissioned another 50ft narrow boat, which should be ready for launching on July 1.

It will be the first of four new Banks Hire boats which should be seen sailing on Selby Canal over the next two years - an investment of up to £150,000.

The family business has been going for 15 years. Six years ago it opened Selby Boat Centre in Bawtry Road, a 2.5 acre site where 26 boats are moored.

Updated: 09:40 Thursday, April 01, 2004