Friday 21 January 2022

A mooring update

 Good news.... here is the detail. 

Today 17th January we went over to Percy to check her. All was ok, batteries at 100% thanks to the solar  - no hook up and charger, we could if needed but the solar keeps the batteries sorted. Nothing in the little bilge under the stern gland, the auto greaser doing its job. 

While we were there I called in to say hello to the marina staff, Steve and Tony were busy still on the pontoon replacements and Julie was in the office. We are recognised  - the boat that came in with a distressed owner ! Plus where we are moored they know we can only get in one way due to the shallow rear of the marina. As I mentioned in my previous post I was going to chance my luck and see if I could get back onto C pontoon facing the entrance. The moorings here are IMHO the best as they are easy to get to from the entrance and you can see the main canal as well as the comings and goings of the marina - as close to being 'on line' as you can get while still in a marina. Julie advised good news one of the boats  on C pontoon had served notice and they were due out end of March and we could have their berth if we wished - excellent.

The other advantage (to us) is there are nice places to sit and watch the canal from the offside bank within the marina  close to our pontoon - even better still the marina staff have the Ok to clear some trees to make exiting the marian safer as before you had no view onto the canal northward. I've really pushed my luck and asked about fishing off the mariana bank side onto the main canal  - if that's a goer it makes marina life all the more attractive for the time being. 

So a very worthwhile visit, super friendly and accommodating staff and a new mooring for spring time. The boat is due off at the end of March but may be going sooner if they do we will get Percy round there PDQ. 

The marina layout copyright Great Haywood Marina. Click on the image to see a bigger version. 
We are on D23 now and I think our new berth will be C5 


We celebrated with a lunch at the cafe and then a walk to Tixall lock. Only one boat on the wide and another just around the corner on what I think are the better moorings. 



2 comments:

Brian and Diana on NB Harnser said...

I thought a fishing club had the waters outside the marina. There is a notice about not fishing in the entrance

Nev Wells said...

Hi Brian,

Not sure of the fishing club having the rights to the stretch of canal more than likely I'll check next time. I have always practiced the belief it's the bank you fish from that dictates the right to fish. Could be wrong but never been challenged yet (fishing on the off side) The notice about fishing opposite the entrance is due to anglers actually casting into the marina from the towpath (there are some large carp in the marina) The fish take the bait then 'run' almost always into the marina the anglers can't control the fish and get snapped leaving the fish to trail the line. Big carp will then run around the pontoon legs to try and dislodge the hooks as they do on any snag... not good for the fish hence the sign, that I understand is ignored. Also boats entering and exiting need the full canal width so anyone fishing there is going to get badly disturbed ( but the carp anglers tend to turn up to fish overnight)