Iain

I spoke to Naburn Marina this morning, I'd got pretty excited (a rare occourrence these days!) about trips up the river .... ... bad news was no liveaboards, either there or at the Cut, and the marina said they would struggle with my 1.5mtr draught ..... Oh well, nice whilst it lasted ... back to BW's waiting lists, I guess .......

They reckon 4 miles to York, and the trains are only 1/2 hr into Leeds, at times that suit the hours I do ... Facilities look OK, there's no mention of costs, but this could be a go-er. Do you know if they allow liveaboards there? I know that sometimes a "face - to - face" question gets a different answer from cold-calling, if they do, then I fancy a drive there this week to take a look. I assume that by "the cut", you mean the river by Naburn Lock? I guess it would be a bit sheltered, as most of the debris would go over the weir. Only poss drawbacks I can see there, is lack of facilities, and a bit further to travel into York. I called BW moorings about the Calder & Hebble, grpcruiserman, all seem full, I'm afraid, but very helpful, and were in agreement regarding suficient draught. They're sending an application form, and I can go on the waiting list with them. Planning to move the boat up from Plymouth at Easter, so I really appreciate all your advice.

Thanks, Alastair. I remember Naburn marina from my childhood, it seemed a long way from there, up the river, into York (In a 12ft dinghy with a Seagull engine!). I do have a car, but would like to leave that through the week. I'm going to look on the map for the distance, I know it's fairly flat over there, so might be a possibility. (I'm not one of these "super-keen" cyclists!) The Yacht is steel, 37ft, so, although I don't relish fending-off trees, I guess she'd cope a lot better than a plastic boat. That said, I still would prefer to be off the river itself. Other benefits there would be acces to the Humber, I'd probably be able to keep the mast up, good depth for the draught I have, and the chance to re-live my childhood with trips into York! Definately worth a few calls tomorrow. Thanks Iain

Thanks for so much input, Folks. I've 6ft Air Draft, Liam, so should be fine as 7'6" is the lowest I've seen. I thought about York, Alastair. What scares me there are the floods. I'd need a mooring within cycling distance of a train station (I spent a lot of happy years around Naburn / Acaster, but don't think they're well sevred by railways, and I guess York centre would be difficult to find somewhere. I like the idea of Stanley Ferry, Cruiserman, I go to the Lakes to see my kids every couple of weeks, so the motorway would be useful. I'll check with BW today about that. .... and Daniel ..... thanks, I was going to ask BW if they had tide-tables for Leeds ;-) Iain

"tongue firmly in Cheek" mode on ....... "I think I may have bird flu" "Why's that.....?" "Well,..... I'm feeling peckish ....."

Thanks, Ally. Silsden would be a great place to be as it's rural, I can get a train to Leeds for work, and I've a mate in the area with a workshop I probably can use for a few little jobs I need doing... ! I'm worried that, with 5ft draft, I won't get onto the L&L. I understand the coast, where the bottom goes up and down twice a day, but don't know how tides work on canals! When BW say 3'6" min draught, I presume that's at the edges ... what depth can I expect in the middle? Is 5ft too deep ? Should I maybe stay on the Aire & Calder? Iain.

Hi all, I've seen that the min depth on the Leeds Liverpool canal is 3ft6",but would a 5ft draught boat be able to get from the Air/Calder onto the system, and get as far as (say) Rodley or Apperley bridge? Reason is, I'm looking to put a sea-going vessel near Leeds as a liveaboard, and need to be able to get out down the Humber for the summer. The further up the canal I can get, the more options I have for finding a permanent mooring. Guess the only other question is "Does anyone know of a mooring in the area for a 32 footer?" Iain