Visiting the seaside

[Tony1]

1 minute ago, Alan de Enfield said:

 

A lot less than you think, and probably half-the-price of a 'reasonable' narrowboat.

(Add an "S" to engine - don't venture offshore with only one)

 

Apollo duck here we come, for the second time in a week- even if only for a theoretical 'window shop'. 

I was tempted years ago by the offshore power boats with two big engines, but if I were to go that way, I would want to do a lot of it with wind power, and I dont know of many craft that sail, but that also have two powerful engines. They sailing and power vessels seem to be two distinct species.

But maybe you cant have Spring to Autumn safe offshore capability unless you go the power boat route...

 

Oddly enough I've been watching a youtube channel recently by a chap who sometimes sails around Anglesey. It looks like it can be pretty hair raising stuff at times. 

 

 

 

[LadyG]

39 minutes ago, Tony1 said:

 

What I dont get is- why aren't more people already doing that? 

Is all of that really possible around the UK coasts? Are there enough anchorages to do that safely, given how the weather can change so quickly?

And in winter, I would imagine things are just too wet and wild for small craft to anchor safely in bays etc, surely?

Every time I see yachts in winter, they are either in a marina, or heading for one. 

There has to be a reason for that? 

Yes indeed, sailing is a summer sport, the smaller boats won't cope with anything like the weather today as an example,   when most fishing boats are tied up in harbour. It's not fun being blasted with ice spray at forty knots. I've done a winter racing series, the races lasted about two hours, then to pub for recovery.

Edited January 31 by LadyG

[MartynG]

10 minutes ago, LadyG said:

Yes indeed, sailing is a summer sport, the smaller boats won't cope with anything like the weather today as an example,   when most fishing boats are tied up in harbour. It's not fun being blasted with ice spray at forty knots. I've done a winter racing series, the races lasted about two hours, then to pub for recovery.

I don't know about 40 knots but icy rain on the Humber can be quite painful at 20 knots. Like little knives on the face . And that's in the Summer !

 

 

That fella in the motor sailor has no lifejacket !!

.

[LadyG]

12 minutes ago, MartynG said:

I don't know about 40 knots but icy rain on the Humber can be quite painful at 20 knots. Like little knives on the face . And that's in the Summer !

 

 

That fella in the motor sailor has no lifejacket !!

.

No worries, the water is so cold he won't last twenty minutes. He's a bit of an optimist going out without proper oilskins. His best decision would be to go back home! Anyone with any experience would have a bit of sail up to steady the boat, and  relying on an engine is absolute no no for anyone with any experience.

It's difficult to tell, but I suspect it's nowhere near a gale. 

He's even got those ridiculous doors open, so a big wave over the stern will be straight in to the saloon, gurgle gurgle!

Edited January 31 by LadyG

[Tony1]

4 minutes ago, MartynG said:

 

 icy rain on the Humber can be quite painful at 20 knots. Like little knives on the face .

.

 

I've just decided that when I finally form a rock band and become word famous, we will be called the Little Knives.

 

 

[BilgePump]

7 hours ago, Hudds Lad said:

The Rochdale canal  

 

Hear me out. You moor in Littleborough and then its a brisk walk up the road to Hollingworth Lake. There’s a nice walk round the lake with a few “beaches” and “coves”, a Watersports centre for paddleboards/kayaks, a pub called “The Beach” which does food carvery style, and just across the road from the lake are a chippy, cafés, diners and even an amusement arcade with grabbers and penny pushers!! You can probably even get harassed by gulls for your food, just like at the seaside!

Like an upmarket Blackpool?

 

Do have a soft spot for Hollingworth Lake. Many times sailed my Mirror on there when I  was much younger. 

 

eta: just gone back and realised that DM said the same thing much earlier. Sorry for the echo

Edited January 31 by BilgePump

[LadyG]

I'm on the Rochdale, I'm on my own, and as if that's not scary enough, the wind is battering the boat intermittently. Cupboard doors are rattling and an owl has just started screeching. It's January so I expected to hear the foxes screaming (the joys of living in the country). Adjacent to some mysterious factory which runs noisy machinery twenty-four seven. Sleet horizontal across the roof. No sign of Jupiter.

Edited January 31 by LadyG

[Ray T]

2 hours ago, MartynG said:

I don't know about 40 knots but icy rain on the Humber can be quite painful at 20 knots. Like little knives on the face . And that's in the Summer !

 

 

That fella in the motor sailor has no lifejacket !!

.

 

In the commentary he mentioned he was wearing a life jacket inside his coat.

Maybe that would stop the jacket from inflating. Also, it may have been a life jacket with built in safety harness?

But he never did "clip on."

 

As mentioned above a full set of offshore clothing may have been more appropriate than what he was wearing!

 

I would not want to sail with him.

 

Edited January 31 by Ray T

[LadyG]

10 minutes ago, Ray T said:

 

In the commentary he mentioned he was wearing a life jacket inside his coat.

Maybe that would stop the jacket from inflating. Also, it may have been a life jacket with built in safety harness?

But he never did "clip on."

 

As mentioned above a full set of offshore clothing may have been more appropriate than what he was wearing!

 

I would not want to sail with him.

 

Not to mention his accent, sounds an unreliable northerner, from Lancs maybe?

[M_JG]

13 minutes ago, LadyG said:

Not to mention his accent, sounds an unreliable northerner, from Lancs maybe?

 

WTF has is accent got to do with the price of fish?

[Tony1]

7 minutes ago, LadyG said:

Not to mention his accent, sounds an unreliable northerner, from Lancs maybe?

 

You're joking right? What he has sounds very much like a Liverpool or Birkenhead accent of some sort (and you might consider me to be something of a subject matter expert in this regard).

One might question his wisdom- in terms of his safety garments anyway- but it seems rather a stretch to deduce that he sounds like an 'unreliable northerner'. 

That sounds like a line of dialogue from a Sherlock Holmes story 😂 

 

 

 

[LadyG]

14 minutes ago, Tony1 said:

 

You're joking right? What he has sounds very much like a Liverpool or Birkenhead accent of some sort (and you might consider me to be something of a subject matter expert in this regard).

One might question his wisdom- in terms of his safety garments anyway- but it seems rather a stretch to deduce that he sounds like an 'unreliable northerner'. 

That sounds like a line of dialogue from a Sherlock Holmes story 😂  

 

 

 

I love Sherlock Holmes radio, the real stuff.

You took the bait, ty, Birkenhead it is then

Edited January 31 by LadyG

[MartynG]

8 hours ago, Ray T said:

 

In the commentary he mentioned he was wearing a life jacket inside his coat.

 

 

 The life jacket definitely should be worn on the outside.

[howardang]

46 minutes ago, MartynG said:

 The life jacket definitely should be worn on the outside.

Absolutely agree. Wearing a lifejacket underneath a coat is potentially lethal.

 

Howard

[magnetman]

Maybe it was a buoyancy aid rather than a self inflating lifejacket. 

When we were kids we had buoyancy aids for the dinghy and kayaks and we called them lifejackets. 

[howardang]

13 minutes ago, magnetman said:

Maybe it was a buoyancy aid rather than a self inflating lifejacket. 

When we were kids we had buoyancy aids for the dinghy and kayaks and we called them lifejackets. 

It makes no difference. For clarity any lifejacket and bouncy aid should always be worn over any other clothing. There may be an occasion where it is imperative to remove it for safety reasons.  

 

Howard

[Alan de Enfield]

46 minutes ago, magnetman said:

Maybe it was a buoyancy aid rather than a self inflating lifejacket. 

When we were kids we had buoyancy aids for the dinghy and kayaks and we called them lifejackets. 

 

The difference being that a buoyancy aid places you face down in the water, whilst a life jacket turns you face up.

 

A life jacket will support an unconcious person, a buoyancy aid is only an aid to buoyancy (hence the name) for someone able to swim / float.

[Mike Todd]

20 hours ago, SandyD said:

Hi All,

 

My partner and I were discussing, if we were to become continuous crusers, where could we go to visit the seaside from the canal network. It looks to me the best place would be Lancaster - have I missed anywhere closer (we are at Napton at present) and can you walk to the beach if you did moor at somwhere like Hest Bank?

Not quite what I'd call a beach at Hest Bank . . . 

[TheBiscuits]

Lancaster Canal

Glasson Dock - it's not much beach, but it certainly is one.

Hest Bank - I only make it as far as the beach when the alehouse is closed

 

Trains to beaches? Short trips from Preston to Lytham & Blackpool, Lancaster to Morecambe.

 

 

On 31/01/2023 at 13:43, Hudds Lad said:

The Rochdale canal  

 

Hear me out. You moor in Littleborough and then its a brisk walk up the road to Hollingworth Lake.

 

What about Tod Beach?  Again it's not technically the seaside but it's popular enough with those who know it ...

[matty40s]

2 hours ago, TheBiscuits said:

 

 

What about Tod Beach?  Again it's not technically the seaside but it's popular enough with those who know it ...

Most boats get beached on the Rochdale when some idiot doesnt shut the gates and paddles.

[Ianws]

I live in the North West and find most of the "seaside" disappointing. It depends what you mean. Most of the coastline is muds flats or sand (with or without water depending on the time of day). There aren't pretty little harbours, many coves or cliffs, or waves breaking on rocks. There are likely seaside towns (ok Blackpool) and great views and sunsets across Morecambe Bay to the Lake District. It all depends what you want from the seaside. 

 

Re. Glasson Dock. Great place with a couple of great walks but I wouldn't want to be there permanently, and it's always windy there. It's also a little used arm off the Lancaster canal with locks and was very overgrown with weeds the last time I visited last year.

[matty40s]

9 hours ago, Ianws said:

 Most of the coastline is muds flats or sand (with or without water depending on the time of day). There aren't pretty little harbours, many coves or cliffs, or waves breaking on rocks. 

I'm from Blackpool, but also love the area with rocks, coves and pretty villages around Arnside Knott and Silverdale, wonderful views and not completely spoilt like the Lakes.

[Hudds Lad]

12 hours ago, TheBiscuits said:

What about Tod Beach?  Again it's not technically the seaside but it's popular enough with those who know it ...

I must plead ignorance of Tod Beach, having had a teenage tryst with a girl from Tod it put me off ever visiting 😬

[Ianws]

13 hours ago, matty40s said:

I'm from Blackpool, but also love the area with rocks, coves and pretty villages around Arnside Knott and Silverdale, wonderful views and not completely spoilt like the Lakes.

Arnside and Silverdale are good.Heysham village near St Patrick's  chapel and the ancient graves  are also interesting. The coast off Ulverston is also good with great views back to the  Cumbria fells. Nowhere near a canal though. 

 

Picture of the graves

 

 

[TheBiscuits]

17 minutes ago, Ianws said:

The coast off Ulverston is also good with great views back to the  Cumbria fells. Nowhere near a canal though. 

 

You've not been to the Ulverston Canal then?