Dear Aqueduct customer

With the winter weather finally abating and boating activity restarting, I thought I would take the chance to update you on the news from Aqueduct Marina, We have some exciting new items that should help your enjoyment of Aqueduct Marina. My apologies for the long letter, but plenty is happening.

Cruise Moor,

A new shared mooring Scheme between ourselves Overwater, Dunchurch Pools, White Mills, and Droitwich Marinas. If you are a 12-month moorer at Aqueduct, you will get a discount on the short-term weekly mooring fee when staying at one of the other marinas.
We launched this at Boatlife earlier this year and plan to grow the group to include other similar independent marinas. If you haven’t already, please call reception and get your Cruise Moor card.

 ANPR

There is no more button pressing and remembering the access code; ANPR is here. Have you given reception your car registration numbers for your vehicles and those of any visiting friends and family?

Greener boating has become less expensive.

We have been selling Hydrotreated Vegetable Oil (HVO) as a low-carbon alternative fuel for nearly 2 years now, and we do have some loyal customers using it. Until now, we have been selling white HVO diesel with no self-declaration split allowed. This has been costing over 50p/ltr extra, so I am delighted to say we can now supply Red HVO diesel with the self-declaration allowed in the same way as standard red Diesel, which will only cost around an extra 25p/ltr.

We, as a marina, have now converted all our diesel yard equipment, tractors, and cars to HVO, reducing our carbon footprint by around 50%. The other 50% is mainly in the electricity we use.

I would encourage you, as a boat owner, to seriously consider switching to HVO. We all need to do our bit for the environment, but it also has the not-insignificant benefit of a much longer shelf life, reducing the likelihood of getting diesel bug, something that standard diesel is increasingly prone to. There is no need to run your tank down; the two diesels will mix in your fuel tank.

Free Slip Way

Have you booked in for your free 2 hours on the slipway trailer out of the water, available to 12-month moorers? Take the opportunity to check your anodes, blacking and rudder.

It is boat show season

After a successful stand at Boatlife in February, we will be at the Crick Boat show over the weekend of 25th-27th May. The local Darnhall show 7th July  and Nantwich show on July 31^st

We have our very own boat show for canal boaters, about canal boating here at Aqueduct Marina on Saturday 13th July. Several exhibitors are joining us, boats to view and our workshops will be open. This is a free event, so please put it in your diary and join us on the day.
Then why not buy a ticket for our Boater Bash in the evening when the local band Beardsmith will be providing the entertainment? Tickets £15 moorers, £20 non moorers, Theprice includes entry and food Tickets £15 moorers, £20 non moorers, the price includes entry and food

Whats New?

Over the early May Bank holiday, we welcomed several tents to our Pop-up camping and motorhome field. However, the wet ground conditions in early May meant we had to cancel the motorhome bookings!

We will be doing this again over the Whit bank holiday (24/05 -2/06) while also offering Bell Tents. There will be some extra toilets and showers available in the area.  We will then close the area reopening again between 24th July – 1st September. This is available to book from our website. If you have friends and family who would like to use this, please go to the website or contact reception with your dates. We are building up a moorers benefits package, so watch out for future messages.

With the new camping and Bell tents provision we will be extending the café opening hours and food offering.  Between 24/05-02/06 and 24/07-01/09, the café will be open from 9 am-7 pm Mon-Thrs and 9 am-8:30 pm Fri and Sat. We have been upgrading the kitchen to offer a Full English breakfast, chips and a wider early evening menu choice.

Another new venture we are about to start is day boat hire, with the ability to hire a small electric boat for 1-3 hour, with room for up to 6 people, so you can silently enjoy the canal. Please contact reception; this will be available very soon.

Other Areas Of Business

Other areas of the marina remain very active, with Tom and Denise in the chandlery ready to supply those boating bits and pieces as well as the HVO.

Gareth is very busy with the brokerage, with boats coming onto the market and selling at sensible prices for both vendors and buyers. We are out of the post-COVID bubble, but things have found a sensible level, in my opinion, with Glen Knight’s new builds also in demand.

The boat yard team, under Richard and Alex, are busy blacking, blasting narrow boats and building new work boats for C&RT. Please, as much as possible, plan your maintenance ahead; why not use your free slipways and 2 hrs as part of getting your boat blacked?
Again, contact reception, who will pass any enquiry on to Richard.

Other general news,

Our Staff

Congratulations to Hannah Peel (Marketing), who is currently on Maternity Leave; she had a baby daughter, Elsie, a couple of weeks ago, and mother and baby are both very well.

Sallie Lee has taken semi-retirement recently to be able to spend more time with her growing family, she became a grandmother last year. She was also seen recently looking at boats, so she may appear back on the canal network very soon.

Nick Beech has moved across to take over Sallie’s former role. Looking after the moorings, brokerage and leisure activities.

Fund Britain Waterways campaign

The Fund Britain Waterways campaign is continuing. Please go to their website and sign the petition. I recently participated in the campaign cruise outside Westminster. With elections due, any pressure we can bring to remind politicians of the huge economic and well-being benefits of a vibrant canal network can only help our case.

Heath & Safety

Lithium batteries are a growing fire risk on boats, mainly around the charging of items such as electric bikes or battery packs for power tools. The insurance companies are starting to add clauses to policies. As a starter, please do not leave items charging while you are away from your boat, and when charging items, please do it in a ventilated area, away from flammable items.

Thank you for reading this letter to the end. if you have any questions, want to send us your car number plates, want to book a stay, collect your Cruise moor card, book a boater bash ticket or  book in your free slipway, please, in the first instance, contact Jasmin or Naomi on reception, on reception@aquedutmarina.co.uk 01270525040, and they will deal with your enquiry.

Thanks you for your support in using Aqueduct Marina as your boating base.

Robert Parton

Managing Director.