Overwater Marina

A long drive yesterday, up to Overwater Marina at Audlem for a boat test, then back again.  It's a lovely marina which we've boated past many times, but never been in.  An indication of how good it is, is that it's very nearly full.

Between April and October, there's a weekend water taxi service from this landing at the marina, to the bottom lock at Audlem, so people can take advantage of the village's pubs and shops.  The fare is a donation to the RNLI, and I'm told that last year the marina raised over £6000.

Like all marinas, though, this one is in a pretty exposed spot, so getting the test boat back into its berth with a stiff crosswind blowing proved rather tricky.

IWA Calendar Competition

This photo of Briar Rose on the Northampton Arm in July last year has been shortlisted in the IWA Calendar Competition.  It's in the summer category -- and if you'd like to vote for it you can do so here.

A couple of other bloggers also have photos in the shortlist:  Kathryn from Leo No2 and Emma from Marpessa2 have photos in the autumn section.  You can vote for them here.  Unfortunately you get just one vote per category, so you'll have to choose between them!

All the categories -- the four seasons and the cover -- can be found here.

Stoke Boats on test

The March issue of Canal Boat is out, and includes my boat test of a spec boat by Stoke Boats.