|
West Kirby is on the North West corner of the Wirral offering sailing at any time due to the presence of the Marine Lake, formed by a wall built out from the promenade and famous for having extremely flat water, great for blasting on slalom boards. Tidal sailing can also be good on spring tides around Hilbre Island. West Kirby works best with the wind coming from the West - The wind is 'clear' from Northerly to Southerly through the West. If there is even a hint of East in the wind forecast then it's not so good and can even ba a complete nightmare, not to mention dangerous on the tide. Launch sites: The most popular launch site by far is the north end car park of the Marine Lake, which is run by the local council offering the only LEGAL access to the lake (for most of us) and also to the tide, changing rooms and a small shop. Use of the lake is charged either by the day or by summer or annual licence ..... 2006/7 £12 Day licence £65 Summer licence £126 Annual Sailboard licence ....use of the tide is free !! Technically if you're using the tide or want to visit the shop and don't want to use the changing rooms this car park is free. If the car park fills up there's a pay and display 20feet further away which is preferable on big spring tides when the main car park can disappear under water ! Some people park on the promenade if they can find a space. The south end car park of the lake is reserved for use by the sailing club and disabled association but there is a public slipway which provides good access to the tide, especially on neap tides or early access to the tide. Most locals would get on the tide early by sailing down the lake to the south west corner and hopping over the wall. The only other launch site, used by very few, is at the end of Stanley Road (technically in Hoylake) to get to the waves coming in from the Liverpool bay at 90 degrees to those near the lake - great in any form of westerly as they're cross shore. Tidal Sailing: On the tide the favourite sailing spots are Tanskeys rocks, the Spit, Little Eye and near Red Rocks. Tanskeys rocks are a continuation of the sandstone which forms the islands and can be found about 600 metres offshore from the marine lake in a line with the three islands. Little Eye is the smallest island, waves can be found on the far side of it. The Spit is marked by a round red bouy and is between Tanskeys and Little Eye but quite a bit further out - take care ! Red rocks are right up on the very corner of the Wirral at the end of Stanley Road (mentioned above) and offer great jumping in a westerly, but seem somewhat unknown as its a good way from the car park. There is a restricted sailing area now in force at West Kirby during bird migration periods - more information is available at the wardens hut and on the noticeboard at the lake. Sailing near Little Eye and close to the golf course is now prohibited. There is a channel between the two restricted areas allowing sailing toward Red Rocks.
 Currents: As the estuary is deeper at the south end of the lake (sailing club end) the tide comes in there first then floods up past the lake - so if you are in the water just off the lake on an out going tide it will take you up the estuary ! but not for long - it will take you out into the middle, then out into the sea !! This isn't the case all the way to Hoylake/red rocks, at some point there is a line where the tide goes straight out that way but I think you'll find it's a long way towards Hoylake. as for places you should go and avoid I'd say stay inshore of the islands and North of the lake or just off the lake and you'll be OK. Just watch out for shallow water ! South of the lake near the sailing club moorings it gets deep quick ! A couple of hundred metres from the main lake wall, running parallel to it is a set of rocks called Tanskeys Rocks - they're like a fourth link in the chain of islands - Hilbre, Middle eye, Little eye, Tanskeys but they've worn down so much they stay below the water. They're fairly safe and even produce some nice waves in good conditions - the main point about them is that once you're past them you're heading into the main channel where tides are quite strong and take you out to sea.
 |
Venues 
Subscribe to this comment's feed
Show/Hide comments
Show/Hide comment form
That doesn't mean you can't use the lake at other times just that the changing rooms are locked and there's no safety cover - but I'm not sure there's any safety cover at all nowadays...
Bert