by Antony Sluce

16th/17th May, 1987 — THURSTASTON

The Saturday was a day of gentle winds, and eight members met up at some time during the day. Two members I had not met before were there: David Braddock in a Tideway and Frank Xxxxx in a GP14. Gerald Harrison had launched at Heswall with Phil Davis and Dennis Rushton as crew. The slip has been dug out of the mud which is accumulating rapidly at Heswall. A few years ago you could walk on firm sand in the bottom of the channel, but now it seems to be all mud. The end of the slip is marked with a withy and is about 2’ below the level of the mud, so must get covered again quite quickly.

The Thurstaston moorings are keeping clear and the beach is firm sand. I was able to recover my boat by letting it dry out on the trolley on the beach. The wheels got a bit dug-in by the action of the waves as it dried out, but I had a spade with me and it proved easy to get the trolley onto the trailer. Getting the trailer and boat up the ramp to the road was another story, as I was by myself and the car was not heavy enough to get a grip until I persuaded some people to sit in it with me.

Returning to the rally, everyone had a sail around on the tide and Gerald finished up at Hilbre for the night. On Sunday the rains came and Gerald sailed back through the race at the end of Hilbre and met up with Dave at the moorings.

13th/14th June, 1987 — ROA ISLAND

Peter Filshie and I launched his Coaster at the Roa Island Boating Club, with whom we had made contact, and who are happy to let members of RYA affiliated clubs use their slip.

Being springs, the tide was running hard through the moorings, so we decided to motor out to have a look at the anchorage at Piel Island before Joan arrived. As we got out into the tide we noticed a rubber dinghy clinging to the bows of a moored boat. It was apparent they were in trouble and so we went to the rescue. Their outboard had failed and they could not row against the tide. In the 8’ boat were 2 adults and 3 children without lifejackets, and one child with both legs in plaster. There was nothing on the boat to which we could attach a towing rope, so we came alongside them and tried to tow them abreast. At first we could not get them to move, and then realised they had got their oar trapped between the mooring chain and the hull of the boat. In the end we had to rev up and pull them round the bows of the moored boat, narrowly missing getting the bumkin caught on the bows as the tide swept us down. We were then able to collect ourselves and motor them ashore. It was a classic nautical epic; with their oar caught as it was, they could not have freed themselves until the tide stopped running. After dropping them off we motored round to the island, and then back in time to meet Joan.

If we had set off when we first arrived we could have sailed round Walney Island, but after we had helped Joan rig Hronrad, and met up with Albert and Joyce Hattersley, the tide had turned, so we made a slow passage out to sea, going over the bar when the ebb was at its fastest. The wind was light, but the sea was breaking with the wind against tide. We sailed out about 2 miles so that we could see down the coast and admire the wonderful panorama of the Lakeland fells, the Isle of Man and Blackpool Tower.

By the time we had returned the tide had eased off and we were able to sail right up to the anchorage. Joan had met up with Ron Newton who was just leaving on the ferry when we arrived. We had supper on board and then repaired to the pub, which was packed with locals and visiting yachtsmen.

The next day dawned hot and still. We rowed against the tide to the end of Piel Island, and then sailed into Bass Pool as the tide rose, with the eider ducks and oyster catchers everywhere. We followed the swatchways we had spotted the evening before and eventually joined the main channel up tide of the club so that we were able to sail back comfortably.

I was most taken with the area and can see why it is such a popular destination for the clubs in the NW. I have also noticed that the magazine, Motor Boat and Yachting has a good guide to the Morecambe Bay area in the July issue. It is illustrated with aerial photographs taken at high water, which is not all that useful to dinghy cruisers.