Page published 17 May 2023
Day 4 Part 2 - Tuesday 15 July 2003
To learn a little more about this cruise read the Background page. Alternatively, either go to the Day One report and start at the beginning of my cruise with the Tuesday Night Club or go to Part One of Today's Report to start at the beginning of the traverse of the Ribble Link.
Savick Brook
It was 12:21 as we passed through the sea lock on the Savick Brook. From there it's more than half a mile before reach its mouth where it joins the River Ribble as a tributary. Thanks to later boats than us mooring up to us on the pontoon before the sea lock we were now the last boat to leave the brook and in a queue that was proceeding down that last half mile.
There was a distinct change once we'd passed through the sea lock. Now there were shelves to either side of us inside raised embankments that were covered with the growth you expect on salt flats.
We're through the sea lock and a queue of boats stretches out ahead of us.
There's salt flat vegetation all around us as we make our way down the brook.
It takes us ten minutes to work our way down the mouth of the brook.
The River Ribble
It was 12:30 when we reached the mouth of the tributary. I was standing to port beside Neil, who was on the tiller, so naturally I was taking photos in the upstream direction. That was a bit of a shame given Neil's recollection of the scene that he saw.
It was interesting to watch the other boats come out of Savick Brook, into the full force of the flood tide coming up the Ribble. All of the other boats seemed to struggle getting stuck into the flood and swung round and went backwards for a while before getting stuck [making way in] the flood. We managed a somewhat sharper turn (but still missing the sand banks at entrance to Savick Brook) and soon dispatched the other boats going down the Tidal Ribble.
It's 12:30 and we join the River Ribble. It's unfortunate that I don't capture images of the boats ahead of us making the turn.
Looking back at the mouth of the brook. You can see the waves in the main river caused by the wind against the tide, which is still flooding.
nb Earnest's wake cuts through the waves on the river.
Three minutes after tuning onto the Ribble and we are catching the boats that made the turn before us.
It's now 35 minutes after leaving Savick Brook. Ahead the belt of trees on the north bank indicate the location of the Freckleton Pool.
Three minutes later we draw level with Freckleton Pool and the lamp that guides navigators on the location of the channel.
The River Douglas
By 13:13 a further eight minutes after passing Freckleton Pool and we've reached the Asland Lamp and made the turn up the River Douglas. Behind us is a distinctive white painted farm house.
We make the turn on what is still quite a strong flood tide.
I'm not an expert at local geography, but those buildings on the horizon may be as far away as Blackpool.
A boat speeds past us up the Douglas. It reminds me a bit of a Hardy, popular fishing vessel with some on the Broads southern rivers.
There still appears to be a long way to go and the Douglas is an impressively big river some someone only used to the Norfolk Broads.
The first of two yachts that we overtake on our way up the Douglas.
Another yacht that we encountered, both taking advantage of of the flood tide and a following wind.
When you look back towards the Asland Lamp after we make the turn onto the Douglas you can see how our wash appears to pass through the lamp supports. We weren't that close at all! That's the effect of the flood tide taking our wash upstream.
Without the restrictions of a narrow canal we don't have to worry about our wash disturbing those aboard moored boats or damaging the banks and are able to motor up the Douglas at the same kind of speed we had come down the Ribble.
However, we are certainly not the fastest on the river and are soon overtaken by a considerably faster boat. There are also yachts out on the river taking advantage of both a tail wind and the flood tide but we overtake both with ease.
I love sailing on the Broads. The efficiency you must demonstrate in constantly tacking in narrow rivers, the handling the challenge of trees taking your wind and balancing that with where you should place your boat to take best advantage of current or tide all means you must really know your boat and be highly proficient in handling her. All that appears lacking when sailing in these waters and I wonder exactly what the appeal is. It's strange too that so many people dismiss Norfolk as flat. Most of Norfolk is not as flat as the land I see here.
Hesketh Bank
Half an hour after entering the Douglas and we are approaching the moorings at Hesketh Bank.
You may not realise when first glancing at the nearest boats but these are pontoon moorings stretching some 300m down stream and sited almost halfway across the river.
Above the pontoon moorings there are a further 300m of bankside moorings.
An interesting motor yacht
The River Douglas curves gently after it leaves the Ribble. Initially, you travel south-westerly but it takes a gentle curve, eventually passing through due south. After half an hour we see ahead that the river takes a sharp turn to the right. Across the marshes we see a string of moored boats.
Once we make the turn it is to discover that they are not all moored against the bank as I had assumed. Rather, most are moored to each side of a pontoon running for almost 300m along what is almost the centre line of the river.
The pontoon terminates by the sheds of a boatyard.where there is a bridge that allows you to reach the bank. Beyond that there is a further 300m of bank-side moorings. A high proportion of all the craft moored are yachts. There is no mistaking this for a inland marina serving a canal.
One of the yachts I spot on a bank-side mooring looks very like a Westerly 22 to me. It's a boat I remember seeing at the 1963 London Boat Show and thinking that it looked very much like a lifeboat of the period and trying to persuade my father that he ought to buy one.
It's just occurred to me for the first time since I started this site, and I don't know why it didn't occur to me earlier, that that boat show may have been where my father booked the family's Llangollen Canal Holiday that we took later that year.
After leaving the moorings at Hesketh Bank behind, it's another mile to Tarleton Lock.
Tarleton
We reached the lock that forms the entrance to the Rufford Branch of the Leeds and Liverpool Canal at 13:59. As we were sufficiently ahead of the other boats were locked up alone.
We reached Tarleton Lock at 13:59.
Entering the lock you see to two sets of gates facing in opposite directions.
It's not until you are entering the lock that you notice the double gates at the river end. They face in opposite directions and allow the lock to be used at any state of tide.
The story continues with Part Three of my report for Tuesday 15 July 2003. It covers our progress through Tarleton Lock and onwards to Parbold on the main line of the Leeds and Liverpool Canal where we stopped for the night.