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Based at Gayton?


Dharl

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Hello all,

 

we are looking at boat share schemes and location wise (as well as a few boats in our price range!) we are looking at Gayton Marina as the location for the boat to be based.

 

Is there anyone who is based there who can give some idea on what the marina is like facilities wise, ease of getting to/from (particular the M1,) also what good suitable cruising routes are available from Gayton?

 

We would be likely to take 3 -4 weeks spread through the year with occasionally taking two weeks at same time. Are there many routes that you can do before you start repeating yourself?

 

Thanks in advance for the help!! clapping.gif

 

David

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Down the Northampton flight onto the Nene and beyond.

South to London (Thames Ring).

North 3 hours is Norton Jnc where you can go either way round the Leicester Ring or straight up to Birmingham/North.

 

it is also on a long pound if you only have a short break so can out and back to weedon/ stoke bruerne/ whilton etc without locks.

 

Good central location accessible from jnc 15a or 16 on the M1.

Edited by matty40s
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Total distance is 246 miles, 5¾ furlongs and 176 locks.

 

This will take 117 hours, 30 minutes which is 16 days, 5 hours and 30 minutes at 7 hours per day. For calculation purposes this is taken as 17 days.

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Thanks Matty40s,

 

is it possible to do the Thames ring and return in two weeks?

I don't think so. It would be very rushed.

 

You do have options of north and south on the GU and of course down to the Nene as said. That does cost extra as the Nene is EA controlled. I have never moored in the Gayton Marina but it seems quite nice and the folk friendly when we have stopped to be temporary licence for the Nene.

 

Another option accessible from the M1 is look for something in the Braunston area. There are several marinas around there on the GU and Oxford canals. The reason for that is the number of junctions close by giving you access to the Oxford north and south sections, GU including the Leicester branch plus many other options once you get further out.

  • Greenie 2
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ha ha point taken! Might have to leave the Thames Ring till get a few extra weeks off work!!

 

Know Limehouse and the River up to Putney very well, but would like to explore the Paddington Arm of GU at some time.

 

Heading North (well North West ish) from Gayton, is it easy to get to Birmingham, do some of the BNC and back in a week?


I don't think so. It would be very rushed.

 

You do have options of north and south on the GU and of course down to the Nene as said. That does cost extra as the Nene is EA controlled. I have never moored in the Gayton Marina but it seems quite nice and the folk friendly when we have stopped to be temporary licence for the Nene.

 

Another option accessible from the M1 is look for something in the Braunston area. There are several marinas around there on the GU and Oxford canals. The reason for that is the number of junctions close by giving you access to the Oxford north and south sections, GU including the Leicester branch plus many other options once you get further out.

thanks Churchward!

 

lots of good advise as always here!

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Thanks Matty40s,

 

is it possible to do the Thames ring and return in two weeks?

Yes,

 

Despite what others have said, you can easily do the Thames Ring in 2 weeks, provided you accept longish boating day, and don't want to spend a lot of time tied up.

 

We have done it twice in the Easter School holidays, one of which occasions incorporated the upper Thames to Lechlade as well. (Not only that, both included at least a day's delay in Oxford for unxpected hospial visits!)

 

Not for everybody, but with an enthusiastic fit crew, dead easy.

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ha ha point taken! Might have to leave the Thames Ring till get a few extra weeks off work!!

 

Know Limehouse and the River up to Putney very well, but would like to explore the Paddington Arm of GU at some time.

 

Heading North (well North West ish) from Gayton, is it easy to get to Birmingham, do some of the BNC and back in a week?

thanks Churchward!

 

lots of good advise as always here!

You would have two options to get to Birmingham. One would be to go up the GU and the other up the Oxford, Coventry and Birmingham & Worcester. I would say for comfort a trip to Birmingham would be a 10 day or so trip and give more time for exploring the BCN. The obvious thing would be to do the Warwick ring over a couple of weeks from Gayton.

  • Greenie 2
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Yes,

 

Despite what others have said, you can easily do the Thames Ring in 2 weeks, provided you accept longish boating day, and don't want to spend a lot of time tied up.

 

We have done it twice in the Easter School holidays, one of which occasions incorporated the upper Thames to Lechlade as well. (Not only that, both included at least a day's delay in Oxford for unxpected hospial visits!)

 

Not for everybody, but with an enthusiastic fit crew, dead easy.

Agreed I should have said it was possible but not for everyone.

 

It would take 10 hour days or thereabouts on average and you have to take into account 2 weeks for a share boat due to change-overs is more like 12 days or just a bit over.

 

It depends on what someone likes to do. If getting as far as possible and using the boat to move along is the key most enjoyable thing then it is doable. If folk like to stop and visit things along the way then doing that many hours a day is less important.

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Access to M1 - that's why there are several very large distribution centres nearby!

 

Down the Northampton flight onto the Nene and beyond.
South to London (Thames Ring).
North 3 hours is Norton Jnc where you can go either way round the Leicester Ring or straight up to Birmingham/North.

it is also on a long pound if you only have a short break so can out and back to weedon/ stoke bruerne/ whilton etc without locks.

Good central location accessible from jnc 15a or 16 on the M1.

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If you want to do the London ring from Gayton in two weeks at a leisurely pace, just move the boat the previous weekend. The railway follows the line of the GU so its easy getting too and fro. Then do the same thing at the end of the two weeks. That way your 14 day cruise becomes an 18 day cruise.

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Is there anyone who is based there who can give some idea on what the marina is like facilities wise, ease of getting to/from (particular the M1,) also what good suitable cruising routes are available from Gayton?

 

We would be likely to take 3 -4 weeks spread through the year with occasionally taking two weeks at same time. Are there many routes that you can do before you start repeating yourself?

 

 

We are part owners in a shared ownership boat and were based at Gayton 2 yrs ago. Marina staff very helpful with full facilities. Trips done by ourselves and other owners:

  • Leicester Ring
  • Birmingham
  • Stratford on Avon
  • The South Oxford
  • The Nene and Gt Ooze (2 weeks to get to Bedford, then do a remote changeover with another owner to return the boat)
  • Short cruises to Welford, Rugby

Length of time depends on how many hours a day you want to cruise

 

Chris

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A share boat doesnt have to return to a marina every time. There are shareboats where a general cruising plan is agreed for the year and changeover takes place along the route.

You could also agree with the share before or after your two weeks to do half a ring each.

It is still very do-able in 2 weeks, whatever they say.!!!

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If you want to do the London ring from Gayton in two weeks at a leisurely pace, just move the boat the previous weekend. The railway follows the line of the GU so its easy getting too and fro. Then do the same thing at the end of the two weeks. That way your 14 day cruise becomes an 18 day cruise.

That's true but the OP said he was looking at a share boat so doing that may not be possible.

I wouldnt recommend Braunston as there are so many boats and hire companies in the same pound ( with Onley still to come), that going anywhere in high Summer will entail queues at the locks

I agree it can be busy in the summer but I have found it is never quite as bad as folk like to say (perhaps they are trying to scare some off) . It is of course popular for a reason and that is the choice of routes available within a week or two week cruise.

 

You don't actually have to be at Braunston itself but one of the other marinas around about.

 

It is just an alternative.

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We are part owners in a shared ownership boat and were based at Gayton 2 yrs ago. Marina staff very helpful with full facilities. Trips done by ourselves and other owners:

  • Leicester Ring
  • Birmingham
  • Stratford on Avon
  • The South Oxford
  • The Nene and Gt Ooze (2 weeks to get to Bedford, then do a remote changeover with another owner to return the boat)
  • Short cruises to Welford, Rugby

Length of time depends on how many hours a day you want to cruise

 

Chris

 

Many thanks Chris.

 

Where you with ABC Boat Management? that's who we are considering.

 

Know there is lots of pros and cons of using a Management company or not for Boat Share Schemes!

 

David

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Many thanks Chris.

 

Where you with ABC Boat Management? that's who we are considering.

 

Know there is lots of pros and cons of using a Management company or not for Boat Share Schemes!

 

David

We were and are. Currently based at Anderton but moving to Alvechurch in March/April (we tend to move around every year to two to give different cruising opportunities). There are currently 2 shares for sale in Rodbaston (not ours) if you are interested rolleyes.gif

 

Chris

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Heading North (well North West ish) from Gayton, is it easy to get to Birmingham, do some of the BNC and back in a week?

At the risk of someone coming along and say that it is easy in a week, I would say that just to get to the centre of Birmingham and back is going to take a week for most people, and leave no time for exploring. As has been said if you did the Warwickshire ring (sort of) with a side trip on the BCN that would be a nice 2 week trip.

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lots of great advise here...

 

Yes Rodbaston is one of boats considering...though I don't think we will buy a share until later in the year at moment.

 

 

smiley_offtopic.gif Liked the layout on Rodbaston with a fwd Saloon as well as an aft one with the master 'cabin' amidships. Looks like a good layout for families!

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A share boat doesnt have to return to a marina every time. There are shareboats where a general cruising plan is agreed for the year and changeover takes place along the route.

You could also agree with the share before or after your two weeks to do half a ring each.

It is still very do-able in 2 weeks, whatever they say.!!!

That is true but it rather depends on the share scheme I think. When we had a share the boat used a management company and whilst it was possible to do a remote handover from time to time (with agreement of both parties) it was not the norm as the management company wanted the boat back at base to do the servicing etc. If it is a private share arrangement without a management company where you do you own maintenance and all then you can do whatever the owners want.

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When we had a shared boat we often did our change overs quite remote from our home moorings. We were based at Braunston and did a change on the G&S, K&A Bugsworth Basin just to name a few.


That is true but it rather depends on the share scheme I think. When we had a share the boat used a management company and whilst it was possible to do a remote handover from time to time (with agreement of both parties) it was not the norm as the management company wanted the boat back at base to do the servicing etc. If it is a private share arrangement without a management company where you do you own maintenance and all then you can do whatever the owners want.

I thought the management company worked for the syndicate unless they owned the boat making it timeshare.

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When we had a shared boat we often did our change overs quite remote from our home moorings. We were based at Braunston and did a change on the G&S, K&A Bugsworth Basin just to name a few.

I thought the management company worked for the syndicate unless they owned the boat making it timeshare.

That should be the case, Ditchcrawler but I know of one company who insisted on the boat coming back to their base at every turn round and the owners were not allowed to base the boat anywhere else. Sounded to me like the owners couldn't do what they wanted with THEIR boat. Don't know if the company is still in existence but their shared boats all had either "eight" or "twelve" in the name depending how many shares there were.

 

haggis

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I can back up what others have said about Gayton. The staff there are very friendly and offer excellent service. We are enjoying our time there. I hope we'll stay for a couple more years yet.

 

One thing you may have overlooked with regards to shared ownership is the fact that your chosen boat will move location. You might be disappointed when you buy in to a boat currently at Gayton and next Autumn the owners vote to move it somewhere else. Democracy rules!

 

With regard to routes from Gayton I would say the location is probably as good as it will get. Their are lots of places within striking distance. However, doing the same route more than once is no hardship. It gives you an opportunity to see it in a different season and the chance to stop at some of the places you missed out previously.

 

While it is possible to do the Thames ring in two weeks you aren't going to have much opportunity to explore and any kind of hold up will leave you trying to play catch up. Expect much abuse if you go past moored boats on anything other than tickover.

 

We will be doing the Thames Ring this year but over three weeks. I don't want to spend the whole time tied to the tiller

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