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Overwater Marina to Llangollen


robtheplod

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Hi All, well our first outing is next week and I've done as much research as I can..... everything looks ok on CRT site with no stoppages/issues that i can see. Apart from it being August (not ideal!) is anyone aware of issues along this route I need to keep in mind for next week?  I notice it doesn't have many water points so I hope they all work!

 

thanks in anticipation.

rob

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Be afraid, be very afraid..

 

As you say, not the ideal time to be doing this stretch, there will be hire boats everywhere, many of them with inexperienced crews.  

 

People make a lot of fuss about the bywashes on the Llangollen locks which can make entering the bottom gates a bit of a challenge.   

 

Trevor to Llangollen will take ages. As you probably know it's very shallow and passing other boats is in places impossible.  OTOH when you get to the town itself there's very good moorings now, though you have to pay.    

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1 hour ago, David Mack said:

 

How many water points do you need? You ought to be able to do Overwater to Llangollen and back on a tankful.

First time on our boat so everything is unknown, but that sounds re-assuring!!!

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1 hour ago, David Mack said:

 

How many water points do you need? You ought to be able to do Overwater to Llangollen and back on a tankful.

I suspect the OP is like me and doesn't fancy drinking the water in the tank.  

 

The taps are well spaced out IIRC so you do need to do a bit of advance planning. 

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hi you have done all you can on your side to prepare .just go for it . most narrowboat people will tell you its all trial and error.. .well it was  in my case ..put safety first at all times rob  .and keep a straight face and you are laffing ...the doom and gloom people will tell you dont do this dont do that ,the more you listen to them the more daunting it will seem ..enjoy. i have like most done the llan ..more times then i can remember .i am sure you will be fine let me now how its goes 

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I have been to Llangollen and back from various boatyards/marinas loads of times in shareboats over the last 25 years and once in my own boat. 

 

All shareboats have large water tanks, after all they are designed to carry 6 people who will shower and consume water everyday,  unlike many private boats.

 

A good strategy is to top up at each vacant water point, simply because filling a huge tank from empty can take hours. 

 

When you get to Llangollen, there are two mooring optons,  towpath or the more recent "marina" at the end. Both cost £6 per 24 hours (payable at the trip bost shed with a maximum stay of 48 hours) and come with complimentary water and electricity (providing you have a hose and shoreline aboard ?).

 

The main thing about the Llangollen Canal is is popularity with hire boats, and thus it has a larger than average number of inexperienced steelers,  who have a tenancy of speed. Best to adopt a cautious approach to any bend or bridge that you cannot clearly see beyond and be prepared to stop if necessary.

 

Grindley Brook locks have the potential to cause serious holdups, particularly if there is no lockie on duty, because the staircase locks need to be turned around every 3 or 6 boats to allow traffic going each way a fair chance. Having been held up there once for several hours because of this, I now moor there overnight, and go up or down first thing the next morning - most hirers tend not to start before about 08:00 ?

 

Other than that enjoy your first trip on Aurora, she is a lovely boat that handles well.

Edited by cuthound
To add the bit about Grindley Brook
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I don't know how it will be on the Llangollen,  but we've just cruised from Manchester to Droitwich at a time when we normally leave the canal to avoid the school summer holiday mayhem.  We saw very few hire boats and the majority of those we saw were being cruised by careful and considerate Scandinavian crews (the weak pound, I guess).  The hire boat yards we passed appeared to be quite full of idle boats.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Just back - had a lovely trip and the weather was perfect. Its a very scenic canal especially both viaducts. As we had to do this trip this Summer in case boat moves next year we put in long days but it was very pleasant! Not toooo busy although some tight spots where boats were moored on corners....

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Some friends have just got back and said how quiet the Llangollen was. Some other friends said the same last August too. They said there were quite a few hire boats but not many private ones. I reckon private owners and particularly retirees usually wait till next month after the schools go back. I fall into the latter category and I'm expecting it to be busy, 

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On 10/08/2018 at 08:59, robtheplod said:

Just back - had a lovely trip and the weather was perfect. Its a very scenic canal especially both viaducts. As we had to do this trip this Summer in case boat moves next year we put in long days but it was very pleasant! Not toooo busy although some tight spots where boats were moored on corners....

Glad to hear you enjoyed your first outing, Rob.  I hope the boat met your expectations, although I suspect you'll now have a longer "to do" list than you set off with!

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7 hours ago, Grassman said:

 

Some friends have just got back and said how quiet the Llangollen was. Some other friends said the same last August too. They said there were quite a few hire boats but not many private ones. I reckon private owners and particularly retirees usually wait till next month after the schools go back. I fall into the latter category and I'm expecting it to be busy, 

That's an interesting observation, the first time we did the canal many years ago was in September because we assumed it would be quieter after the school hols - and it was bedlam.  We revisited last year again in Sept and had the same experience.  It seems counter intuitive that there would be less traffic in July/August but I see the reasoning.  

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We just came off the LLangollen today  (IWA volunteers worked all the Hurleston locks for us) ... there are absolutely nothing to worry about, The most scenic canal we have done todate , plenty of good moorings , there was never more than one boat in front of us waiting at locks  but we were in a convoy of 5 going over the aqueduct to Trevor. There are a lot of hire boats but they were never a problem.  Second time we have done this canal and can't wait to do it again.

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