Swansea Community Boat Trust (SCBT) is a registered charity proudly operating our boat, Copper Jack, entirely thanks to the commitment of our unpaid volunteers. We are also licensed by the Maritime Coastguard Agency (MCA), ensuring your safety on the water.

Discover Swansea from a unique perspective with our boat trips, available for groups as Private Charters or for individuals on our Public Sailings. We also host special events, including lively Live Music Events open to everyone.

Typically lasting 60-90 minutes, our boat trips (excluding Live Music Events) include an engaging commentary that brings Swansea’s history to life, from its Copperopolis beginnings to the present day. This commentary can be tailored to your preferences on Private Charters.

Private Charters for corporate events, organisations, charities, family occasions, parties etc can be booked for almost any day/time (crew, weather and river conditions dependent), and can be booked for almost any type of event. 

We also have the option for passengers to disembark at the new Hafod Copperworks Pontoon, your gateway to discover the rich tapestry of Swansea’s past and present (further details can be found HERE).

Booking a Private Charter for up to 40 passengers means you have exclusive access to the boat. Whereas Public Sailings mean you are potentially sharing the boat with other members of the public.

When making a booking for a Private Charter, the person/organisation making the booking is responsible for inviting their guests and ensuring only those invited board the boat (as well as paying for the sailing).

Although we can comfortably carry up to 40 passengers, as many want to bring musicians, equipment, catering etc onboard, we naturally have to reduce that number to accommodate such requests. For example, a couple of musicians with their instruments and associated equipment, would typically reduce the number of passengers to 35.

We’ve had the pleasure of hosting many fantastic private charter sailings for birthdays, anniversaries, music events, and more, and we welcome the opportunity to host yours! To ensure everyone has a smooth and enjoyable experience, we want to outline a few important considerations regarding Copper Jack.

As an enclosed vessel with limited space and facilities (including one WC), and run entirely by a dedicated team of volunteers, our capacity differs from a land-based venue. While our volunteers are fully MCA-trained for emergencies and excel at managing well-organized events, we do not have door staff to manage disruptive behavior. Additionally, due to the nature of a sailing, asking guests to leave mid-voyage is not an option.

When considering a “party” charter, we kindly ask that you ensure your guests are aware of these limitations. This includes respecting our volunteers and adhering to our onboard rules, such as our no smoking/vaping policy and the requirement that only alcohol purchased onboard may be consumed – similar to most licensed premises. By working together, we can ensure another successful and enjoyable event on Copper Jack.

Your Private Charter in 2025 – Flexible Options:

Enjoy a private sailing with prices starting from:

• £270 during school term time (Monday-Friday).
• £325 at all other times (weekends, public and school holidays).

Need More Time?

Our standard 90-minute sail (60 minutes to Hafod Copperworks Pontoon) can be extended with additional time at the pontoon, either before or after your trip. Extra time is charged in 30-minute blocks, based on a pro-rata rate of the 90-minute charter cost.

For example: A 2-hour weekend experience would be £325 (standard 90 mins) + £108 (extra 30 mins) = £433.

Booking Details:

Secure your preferred date with a non-refundable deposit of £100. The remaining balance is due 3 days before your sailing adventure.

Ready to provisionally book your Private Charter? Simply fill out our booking form by clicking HERE.

Just a friendly reminder that this is a provisional booking, as we rely on our wonderful team of volunteer crew. We’ll confirm availability as soon as possible.

To help us tailor the perfect sailing experience for you, please provide as much detail as you can on the form. This includes any flexibility you have with dates/times and any special requests, like extending your sail or arranging welcome drinks for your guests.

Copper Jack and our Boat Masters are licensed by the MCA. All sailings will have a minimum of 3 SCBT volunteers (Boat Master, outside crew and galley staff). In addition, when a narration/commentary is required, we will also have a guide onboard. Please indicate at the time of booking whether you require a live commentary.

As mentioned, everyone involved in running SCBT and Copper Jack are volunteers. As such, prior to confirming a Private Charter booking, we will have to ensure we have a full complement of crew available for your sailing. If you are flexible on the days/times that you sail, please let us know at the time of booking, as this will help to ensure we are more likely to be able to accommodate your request.

Copper Jack has a small, fully licensed bar serving alcoholic and nonalcoholic beverages, tea, coffee and other hot and cold drinks.

We also carry a small number of snacks such as biscuits, crisps, flapjacks, and occasionally other treats (such as Welsh cakes!).

Click HERE to see our current Bar Tariff.

All beverages and snacks consumed onboard must be purchased onboard.

Exceptions will be made for medically necessary items and infant food and formula.

For Private Charters, if you have any specific requests, we will endeavour to meet these provided we are given advanced notice (ideally at the time of booking).

Examples of previous requests include;

• Provide guests with a welcome drink on arrival (e.g. Prosecco or soft drink). If we normally stock the beverage(s) requested, these will be charged at our normal Bar Tariff rate. Payment can either be included in the Private Charter booking charge (payable in advance), or the account settled at the end of the sailing.
• An “Open Bar”.  We can provide an open bar service where guests are served drinks, with payment being made at the end of the sailing. This can only be requested by the organisers of the Private Charter event. 
• Supply of beverages that we do not normally stock. As indicated, Copper Jack is restricted in space, and thus we are limited to the variety of stock we can carry. Where customers have a request for a specific beverage (e.g. a bottle of brandy), we can acquire these as a one-off purchase. We will provide details of costs to the organizer prior to the event, and if agreed, will include these costs in the Private Charter booking charge. At the end of the sailing, any remaining stock will be given to the organizer to take away with them.

Private Charter bookings may bring their own food / catering (excluding drinks) onboard by prior arrangement. Otherwise, all drinks / snacks consumed on board must be purchased onboard.

Being classed as a commercial vessel by the MCA, as well as holding licences for Copper Jack, our Boat Masters, Music and Alcohol, we are fully insured (including £5m for Public Liability insurance). We also have Risk Assessments that can be made available if required.

Onboard AV / PA Equipment

Copper Jack has the following audio visual (AV) equipment that can be made available to Private Charters by prior arrangement (at no additional cost):

• 3x monitors that can be used to display material (connected via HDMI). 
• Ceiling-mounted speakers powered by a small amplifier (Bluetooth, RCA and USB)
• Windows laptop connected to the amplifier/speakers and 3x monitors (for example to display PowerPoint material).
• A “karaoke” soundbar (Bluetooth, Auxiliary, Optical)
• Hand-held microphones (x2) and microphone headset 

Please note:

• The ceiling-mounted speakers and small amplifier (max power 2x 160w) are primarily intended for the delivery of guided talks and presentations, and not designed for high-volume sound reproduction.
• The “karaoke” soundbar (located at the bow of Copper Jack), also has limited power output (60W RMS, 600W Peak).
• If planning on using CJ AV equipment, it is strongly recommended that a pre-inspection visit is arranged to ensure the equipment is suitable for your requirements, and that any media you plan on using on the day is compatible with and able to connect to our equipment.

Customer-supplied AV / PA Equipment

When customers on Private Charters require more substantial AV / PA systems for their events, they often opt to bring their own equipment onboard.

Copper Jack is equipped with 230v power delivered by a 14KVA onboard generator. This has been proven to be more than sufficient to power the audio equipment of a number of music events.

As with our live music events, consideration needs to be had for the additional space requirements of customer-supplied AV/PA equipment. A typical DJ deck, amplifier(s) and speakers may reduce the capacity by 3-4 passengers. Thus the smaller footprint the equipment takes, the better!

Copper Jack’s cabin contains 40x chairs. These are normally laid out in theatre style in 8x rows of 3 + 2 with a walkway down the centre of the boat.

For Private Charters, given advanced notification, we can rearrange and even remove seats to meet your requirements.

A common configuration is to place chairs under the windows on both port (left) and starboard (right) sides, facing inwards. This then provides a large open space for guests to stand, and if so inclined to dance!

Hopefully the above information answers many of your questions about hiring Copper Jack for a Private Charter.

Should you have any further questions, you may find answers to many commonly asked questions (such as where are the nearest car parks, how do passengers in wheelchairs get on board Copper Jack, can I bring my well-behaved dog on board) can be found on our FAQ page (https://www.scbt.org.uk/faq-menu/), or by contacting us.

Otherwise, we look forward to welcoming you aboard.