Mercia Marina

I have kept an interest in this development as it is on my back door so to speak. (I am Derby based) After a particularly frustrating morning at work I decided to nip over and have lunch at the tea rooms there and get a proper look.

Mercia marina is a BIG development - I can imagine the investment must have been very large just based on the road alterations alone. There is little doubt in my mind the appeal is for people to use it as a 'home' as the road network is very good from this location (you can hear and see the A38 from the tea room)

Shakespeare are using it rather than Barton Turns as their base. Could this mean less shaky boats at Fradley. Its nice to see the same boats with different smiling faces on them at Fradley. They may go the other way to the Soar Trent or Erewash now?

The tea room was very nice and friendly - well worth a visit. If I was a boater there it may be a good social meeting place.

I nipped in to the Trading post to see if they had an ash can for my stove but no luck. I then ventured into the New Boat company offices on site. They have only been open since the 1st March and I recognised someone who I come into contact with in my day job. We have a lot in common (lived on the same road for one) and we had a good chat about motorbike, bikes and boats. Rod is managing the facility at the moment so we got to talking about boats and my boat - upgrades etc. Alarm bells for Rachel at this point. Boats that were in my price range (if we/I was to sell Waterlily) were identified and I looked on two. A Liverpool boat circa 49k and a Aqua Marine at circa 64K

I was not at all impressed by the Liverpool boat - the joinery inside was average - just not inspiring at all. The Aqua Marine boat was a different league and I expect would be even after a lot of use. It just felt very well build and solid....... oh dear, it was only that the saloon was far too modern that stopped me reaching for the bank managers phone number.

The electrics and joinery were very good indeed as was the engine install. However 64k for a 3 year old boat seemed a little high to me, but I am not current on boat values - I feel a night with Apollo Duck is in order....

I felt a lot better when I got back to work. The cut and canals are a fine antidote to the woes of work. (Sorry to anyone who may be worrying about their job)

Now I will be on Waterlily this weekend for sure...

Nev