Because you know you cannot make it on one tide you need not leave Morecambe until after HW, by which time the tide will sweep you on your way past the historic (8^th Century) chapel of St Patrick, at Heysham.

I left at around HW ( 11:00 ) and headed out onto a deserted bay. With the wind WSW 2, I found it was offsetting the tide and wondered if I could make it out into the deep-water channel at Heysham. I had told my wife to wait at Morecambe with the car and trailer for at least a couple of hours before she left for the rendezvous point at Glasson. This hopefully would give me time to get back if I decided to abort the trip.

By 13:00 hrs I was off Heysham and had to steer clear of a large tug and tow coming out of this quite busy commercial harbour. The buoys in Heysham lake are more or less in a straight line all the way to Fleetwood and only about a mile apart, so as one fades away into the distance you can just make out the next. Of course on a day like today I could see all the way to the Blackpool Tower.

Once I had got to Heysham and turned down Heysham Lake the wind came more over the beam and I had a glorious sail straight to the Lune river buoy arriving 3 hrs after leaving Morecambe.

I tried a bit of fishing here as the tide had now started to flow out of the Lune and there is no way I could get near Glasson. After a few fruitless tows with the shrimp trawl ( I blamed the excessive tide ) I decided to see how far I could sail into the Lune estuary against the tide.

At 15:40 the water left the estuary and I was high and dry near the red can No.4, so nothing more could be done only tidy up the boat, get the tea on and then go for a walk on the sands. Although it is said you should never walk on the sand in Morecambe Bay, that usually applies to areas nearer the shore where the sand changes to mud near rivers and dykes. Out here 5 mile from the shoreline it is usually hard and safe. However I am always wary of it, and always take an oar with me, and retrace my steps where I can.

The tide, in its ceaseless movement, came back and floated me at 20:40. Unfortunately there was no wind so I just let the tide bump me along towards the river mouth. When it got deeper I used the oars, then, although it was a beautiful evening with every sort of wading bird you could think of flying around, and as the time was getting on ( my wife had to wait for me remember), I started the outboard to get a little nearer.

At 21:15 I had to anchor at the hamlet of Sunderland Point as the water was not quite deep enough to continue. At 21:50 I up anchored and motored the final couple of miles to the Glasson S C where I arrived exactly 11 hrs after leaving Morecambe.

My wife never saw me arrive as she had been looking UP the river in the DIRECTION of Morecambe. A car driver’s sense of direction or women’s logic?