Canal Boat Volunteers

Any canal boat volunteer will tell you that nothing is more fun than working a canal boat. The park’s primary interpretive program is the operation of two full-sized canal boats for the public. One is located in Georgetown and the other is at Great Falls. The boats are a fun and educational way for the park visitors to learn about the resources of the canal. Volunteers are trained by park staff in the various jobs needed to run the boat. They are also provided with period clothing that is worn while working on the boats. Volunteers are needed for any combination of the following: Working with and caring for the park’s mules, general preperation of the boats, steering the boats, working the lift locks, giving programs, playing music, and routine maintenance.

We are currently seeking new volunteers for the Charles F. Mercer at Great Falls and The Georgetown in Georgetown for the operating season.Volunteers will work alongside park staff as living history interpreters on the two canal boats in the park.

Join the park’s Volunteers-In-Parks Program as costumed members of the boat crew. This is an excellent opportunity to work outdoors and share a love of history while educating the public on life during the canal era. Volunteers work with park rangers to give visitors a glimpse of the past when mule power moved goods and people along the canal from Georgetown to Cumberland. Volunteers may choose to serve out of the newly-renovated Georgetown Visitor Center or at the Great Falls Visitor Center. The Charles F. Mercer was built to replace the Canal Clipper, which carried visitors for thirty years.

Volunteering as a boat crew member is a very rewarding, enriching experience, as well as a way to serve the community.

Park Ranger Warren Kasper had these thoughts about being on the boat crew:

“Working the canal boats is a challenge with a unique set of rewards. It is an opportunity not to read about the past, but to live it. The experiences of leading mules, piloting a boat, or operating a lock gives me the opportunity to peel away the years and share an experience with someone from the past. It is a chance to live at the speed a mule walks, a refreshing change of pace in a world that gets faster every day. “

Often the best way to connect people to the past is to live it! Step back in time and help others experience the 19th century by operating a mule-drawn canal boat on the C&O Canal. Work alongside the park’s mules! They would love for you to join them! Work the lines or the tiller. Work the lead mule or the back mule. Stay onboard and tell a story or play a song. The C&O Canal tells many stories – westward expansion, labor history, immigration, transportation and technology, and the American Industrial Revolution. Play a part in this epic tale while “decked out” in period clothing. You will enjoy hands-on training in the practical art of working a replica boat through historic lock structures.
The operating season begins in April and ends in October. Boats run 2-3 times per day. We have flexible schedules and are looking for a regular commitment from our volunteers. The National Park Service honored the C&O Canal’s Volunteers-In-Parks Program as Outstanding Park Volunteer Program in 2005 due to the dedication of it’s volunteers.