Sunday 20 August 2017

Sawley


IMG_5747We have so far had a look around three marinas and now it’s the turn of Sawley marina as we continue our search for a possible Winter mooring.

IMG_5757 Entering the marina we were greeted by this boat which is called Kyla II freedom of Scotland. It’s an impressive boat for more reasons than simple good looks. It is a complete one-off finished in 1973 at cost no object on Clydeside by a company called McGruer. They built wooden boats for more than two hundred years. A boat in the water needs a certain amount of depth called draught, around here there is never more than about four feet, this boat needs six feet.So what’s it doing here? Well it’s here for a lot of work during a complete (cost no object again) refit as it’s a Heritage boat maintained and preserved just the way a Listed building is, original as possible. It has Mahogany planking over naturally shaped Oak frames. And with a revolutionary (in it’s day) fin keel, the only one seen on a wooden yacht, common enough now on moulded boats but a brave idea then. All done, they say, by hand, involving no machinery. Altogether this yacht is unique so take a long look, from here she goes back to the Clyde for more work then on a tour of European boat shows and into the Mediterranean, Monaco, Malta, Greece. No strain at all since she’s done the Caribbean a few times. 

IMG_5756First impressions of the marina were very good and we had a walk around the Chandlery to start with . As well as a well stocked Chandlery they also stocked a few basic provisions such as Bread ,Milk etc. etc. which is ideal if you live a board and run out of anything .

IMG_5755After having a very friendly chat with the Lady in the office we were given a security key which we signed for and it allowed us to go anywhere we wanted to in the marina.

IMG_5752This is yet again another well kept marina and it is a lot cheaper than any of the other ones we have visited . Although it’s one of the biggest inland marinas in the country we got a feeling that it would be a good place to over Winter . It has a bus stop right outside the gate which takes you in to the centre of Nottingham and with coal and Tesco deliveries it seems perfect. as with the other marinas the livaboard boaters here were very friendly. We were told roughly were we would be mooring and we checked to see that it had good Internet and phone signal which it did.

There were a couple of things that were mentioned to us and that was that it’s on the flight path to East Midlands Airport and you can also hear the never ending drone of the M1 Motorway in the distance. There was also a clay shoot just out the back that operated on Sunday mornings. To be honest I think you would soon get used to all of those so I cant see it being a big problem.

One thing I was surprised at was that all the pontoons are fixed and not floating . Being on a river where levels can go up and down you would expect them to be floating .

IMG_5754All was going well and it was fast becoming top of our list for a Winter mooring until Carolyn saw this sign in the marina. We went back to the office and Carolyn asked about the risk of flooding in the marina. The Lady explained that the marina hasn't flooded for many years and that if it did the staff would be on duty 24 hours a day .She also said that if and when the pontoons went under water they would come out with small boats and pick people up. I just wished I had taken a picture of Carolyn’s face as this marina went from top of our list for Winter moorings to the bottom. Even though there are flood gates outside of  the marina between the River and the lock it seems that the mighty river Trent comes up through the fields opposite the marina. I would be more than happy to over Winter here and if it did flood I think it would be a good bit of fun , but at the end of the day if Carolyn is uncomfortable with it we will have to look at mooring somewhere else.


                                                                                                         Happy Days

7 comments:

  1. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3KEGkqreMAw

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  2. You may have already examined - but if not try bartonmarina.co.uk . They have pontoon moorings , shops , restaurants , a pub , even a cinema : All close to Burton on Trent where I believe you have already visited at some time .
    Great site - great Marina !

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    1. We did go in to Barton and I must admit I liked the look of it . They have told us to ring them at the end of September to see if they have any available moorings which we will do . ..many thanks for your comment.

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  3. Thanks for that Kevin . Just showed it to Carolyn and she said " no way are we mooring there " . Hopefully we can get in to Mercia which is now top of the list or Great Haywood which is a close second.

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  4. Thanks for the head's up Gary, we won't be looking at Sawley as a future mooring either! We'll have to put our thinking caps on again.

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  5. We had about 5 months at Sawley over 2014/15 and it was a good place to be. The showers are great, very powerful and never ran out of hot water. We were told that the flooding was caused by excess water being released in to the Derwent which is near by. They have been stopped from doing this and it's not been a problem since. They have also done more flood defence work. When the river was on red boards and nearly on the towpath, the water level in the marina was barely any different.
    Barton is, like many marinas, a problem getting in and out when windy.
    We had our name down for a permanent berth at Mercia but it was well over a year before they had a space by which time we had left the area. Don't know if it's a similar problem just for Winter moorings.
    We managed to get one of the last 2 places at Overwater on the Shropshire. That was booked in early July though.

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    1. Hi Steve , Many thanks for your comment . I must admit that Sawley looked very good and I will let Carolyn know what you have said . For us I think it would be the best location ,but as soon as the words on a river and flooding were mentioned it was a big fat no from Carolyn . I will try and convince her that there's no need to worry .. Kind regards Gary

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