Wigrams turn marina

[Guest]

Hi, we looking for winter mooring does anyone have first hand knowledge/ opinions on wigrams turn marina, many thanks.

[Boater Sam]

Moored there on and off, have 2 friends who are there, and it seems fine, very friendly.

[Jennifer McM]

This marina is our preferred stop over. Friendly staff, it's kept very tidy, and maintenance is spot on. Also the office staff don't mind having packages delivered. 

[Dr Bob]

We are in our second year there. Great location....5 ways to go. Nice live aboard community there. Staff very good. 

[Nightwatch]

I can only agree with comments so far. A marina is only as good as the onsite staff regardless f the marina owners.

[Guest]

Thank-you for all the replies very helpful cheers

 

[Ray T]

2 hours ago, oats said:

Thank-you for all the replies very helpful cheers

 

In summer there is the added feature of watching the Black Prince boats come and go!

We moored there for a couple of months and whilst discussing this with another resident he said "That's all right until its your boat they hit."

Before any comments we started as a hire boaters and made all the usual mistakes. 

Edited August 3, 2018 by Ray T

[Dr Bob]

10 minutes ago, Ray T said:

In summer there is the added feature of watching the Black Prince boats come and go!

We moored there for a couple of months and whilst discussing this with another resident he said "That's all right until its your boat they hit."

Before any comments we started as a hire boaters and made all the usual mistakes. 

The staff usually steer the boat to the exit of the marina for new hirers....by the time the boats are returned the punters have had a few days practice. It is pleasant to sit at the entrance to the marina watching the near collisions at Napton Jnct.

[Jennifer McM]

13 minutes ago, Ray T said:

In summer there is the added feature of watching the Black Prince boats come and go!

We moored there for a couple of months and whilst discussing this with another resident he said "That's all right until its your boat they hit."

Before any comments we started as a hire boaters and made all the usual mistakes. 

We'd only had our boat a couple of months when we moored in Wigrams for a few days, watching the guys swing and manoeuvre the Black Prince boats was brilliant, we learnt a lot just by watching them. It's well orchestrated.  

[john6767]

45 minutes ago, Dr Bob said:

The staff usually steer the boat to the exit of the marina for new hirers....by the time the boats are returned the punters have had a few days practice. It is pleasant to sit at the entrance to the marina watching the near collisions at Napton Jnct.

A couple of weeks ago we were heading back to Calcutt from Braunston direction as a Calcutt hire boat bow came out from Napton Junction bridge at speed.  He then just continued straight accross and was right in the entrance to Wigrams marina before he realised straight on was not the way to go.  He ended up turning round just inside the marina.  The guys at Calcutt tell a story of one of the navy boats steered by some senior naval guy doing the same thing, but I sort of never believed it, but I do now!  I wonder how often people do go straight on there and into the marina.

[Rob VP]

I moored there years ago and more recently had another stay of a few weeks.  It is a lot more crowded there now than it used to be. In my opinion the marina has accepted too many liveaboards and are now at the point where the facilities can't cope. Three washing machines between a few hundred boats means there is often a long wait for laundry. Toilets and showers are often filthy, they are cleaned daily but with so many people using them they are back to filthy within an hour. The bins are usually full to overflowing.  The car park is always full. 

 

For me, it is no longer the pleasant place it used to be, and is on its way to being a floating shanty town.  

[roland elsdon]

The residents of napton had some opposition when it was planned but were roughshod over.  A lot of it was because of environmental and view  from the hill concerns, but also traffic and residential boat numbers.

Judging by the bits of broken car that frequently litter that bit of the road the concern was justified. Speed limits have also been adjusted nearby not that that makes a blind bit of difference, and some of the moorers blindly pull out into the traffic. ( twice to me this week)

on the plus side the village was dying in the early 2000s the shop was going and pubs struggling, now the shop is thriving, and some pubs have survived.

[Dr Bob]

1 hour ago, Rob VP said:

I moored there years ago and more recently had another stay of a few weeks.  It is a lot more crowded there now than it used to be. In my opinion the marina has accepted too many liveaboards and are now at the point where the facilities can't cope. Three washing machines between a few hundred boats means there is often a long wait for laundry. Toilets and showers are often filthy, they are cleaned daily but with so many people using them they are back to filthy within an hour. The bins are usually full to overflowing.  The car park is always full. 

 

For me, it is no longer the pleasant place it used to be, and is on its way to being a floating shanty town.  

I wasnt going to post on here 'selling' Wigrams Turn but I just cant accept that.

Yes, the washing machines are always busy but we have one on the boat. The toilets were re-fitted last year and are in good condition. We only use them infrequently but NEVER found them dirty or unusable in the last year. Since being there from May last year, I have only found the bins overflowing once and bags were then placed neatly in front - and it was picked up/emptied later that day. They often get full but only that once overflowing. They are also often empty. The car park is not always full. I have NEVER not found a spot in the main car park (summer or winter). There is an overflow car park up which has taken pressure off the main car park.

[Rob VP]

45 minutes ago, roland elsdon said:

The residents of napton had some opposition when it was planned but were roughshod over.  A lot of it was because of environmental and view  from the hill concerns, but also traffic and residential boat numbers.

Judging by the bits of broken car that frequently litter that bit of the road the concern was justified. Speed limits have also been adjusted nearby not that that makes a blind bit of difference, and some of the moorers blindly pull out into the traffic. ( twice to me this week)

on the plus side the village was dying in the early 2000s the shop was going and pubs struggling, now the shop is thriving, and some pubs have survived.

As a marina that isn't officially residential I think it is only a matter of time before they start to attract negative attention from the locals.   They used to discreetly turn a blind eye to liveaboards, now they are very open about accepting liveaboards. In my opinion, the type of people it seems to attract will not help.  The amount of people there that actually use their boats for anything other than living on is low, and it has a strange caravan park/council estate vibe to it.

[Dr Bob]

51 minutes ago, Rob VP said:

  The amount of people there that actually use their boats for anything other than living on is low, and it has a strange caravan park/council estate vibe to it.

Wow, you must have had a bad couple of weeks there! Someone upset you?

Text in red.....utter rubbish? Can you substantiate that with facts? No ...I didnt think so.

I havent got the full facts but I know on the 3 pontoons near us, there are 24 boats. 4 have full time liveaboards. 3 of them never move. There are then 2 empty boats which never move. There are 4 or 5 which only go out a few times a year and empty the rest of the time. That leaves over half that go out more regularly. We are out probably 75% of the year. It looks to me that those numbers are pretty typical of the whole marina. Today at least 50% of the boats are out. No way does it have a council estate vibe to it. If it did, we wouldnt be there.

Exactly which 2 weeks did you stop there?

[roland elsdon]

Judging by the fat boats be grateful they dont use them. However it is not the eyesore it threatened when planned. 

[b0atman]

time these NIMBYS got out of boating

[RLWP]

3 hours ago, Dr Bob said:

The toilets were re-fitted last year and are in good condition.

 

They are indeed, and much appreciated by itinerant engineers

 

My only worry is messing them up

 

Richard

[pearley]

Long and narrow pontoons. 

[Dr Bob]

57 minutes ago, pearley said:

Long and narrow pontoons. 

Blue sky and lots of ducks!

[RLWP]

1 hour ago, pearley said:

Long and narrow pontoons. 

 

With electrical posts to restrict the width, so when you are pushing a trolley full of tools you  have to get right near the edge....

[ditchcrawler]

19 minutes ago, RLWP said:

 

With electrical posts to restrict the width, so when you are pushing a trolley full of tools you  have to get right near the edge....

I take it you have not been up to where we moor then, Parkfarm Marina T&M

[RLWP]

4 minutes ago, ditchcrawler said:

I take it you have not been up to where we moor then, Parkfarm Marina T&M

Tightrope walking?

[Jennifer McM]

9 hours ago, Dr Bob said:

Blue sky and lots of ducks!

and starlings.... we spent a few hours one evening last autumn watching 100s of starlings whirling about over Wigrams, it was a proper 'murmuration' it was! Fascinating stuff 

Edited August 4, 2018 by Jennifer McM

[rusty69]

10 minutes ago, Jennifer McM said:

and starlings.... we spent a few hours one evening last autumn watching 100s of starlings whirling about over Wigrams, it was a proper 'murmuration' it was! Fascinating stuff 

I saw an Eagle flying over a wigwam once (ok, it's really a teepee) :