Tourist stranded on Worms Head by the rising tide.

[45669]

Evening All,

 

On holiday on the Gower last week, I witnessed a rescue mission when some visitors got trapped on Worms Head by the rapidly rising tide.  I took some video footage which I'm editing down to three instalments. 

 

The fist of these is now on YouTube if anyone would like to have a look:

 

 

Hope it's of interest.  Parts 2 and 3 will be published in due course.

 

TTFN,

 

Ron.

 

[Enterprisingwestern]

7 hours ago, 45669 said:

Hope it's of interest.  Parts 2 and 3 will be published in due course.

 

Only if they drowned!

A semi serious comment based on my observations that social media seems to be awash with disasters/mistakes/accidents etc and very little positivity.

 

Mike.

[The Pilotman]

Did they just wait for the tide to go out again?

[rab]

2 hours ago, Enterprisingwestern said:

 

Only if they drowned!

A semi serious comment based on my observations that social media seems to be awash with disasters/mistakes/accidents etc and very little positivity.

 

Mike.

Tis the silly season :)

Edited August 23, 2023 by rab

[Michael Hodgson]

1 hour ago, The Pilotman said:

Did they just wait for the tide to go out again?

 

People who get cut off by the tide don't need rescuing, as long as they're on high ground and not in need of medical attention.

 

Speaking from experience

[Mallard60022]

Yes it must have been a bit scary, but unless they had a medical condition or some sort of emergency then they should have just sat it out. That ls unless they got caught on a very low piece that became surrounded then that must have been horrible?

P

[Hroth]

The same sort of thing frequently happens at Hilbre in the Dee estuary.  Even the smallest island in the group* is high enough to keep strandees safe, even at spring tides.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hilbre_Islands

 

Unless the weather dictates, ot next low water is after dark**, its just a waste of RNLI resources to send the D class out from West Kirby to give them a lift back to shore.

 

Its about time that reading tide tables is part of the National Curriculum...

 

* Hilbre is the biggest, with buildings and such, then Middle Eye and finally Little Eye

**  Or, as Mallard says, there is a medical reason.

 

Edited August 23, 2023 by Hroth
timescale adjustment, and removal of subsequent unwarranted space. Oh, and some more info...

[Jim Martin]

37 minutes ago, Hroth said:

The same sort of thing frequently happens at Hilbre in the Dee estuary.  Even the smallest island in the group is high enough to keep strandees safe, even at spring tides.

 

Unless the weather dictates, ot next low water is a fter dark*, its just a waste of RNLI resources to send the D class out from West Kirby to give them a lift back to shore.

 

Its about time that reading tide tables is part of the National Curriculum...

 

*  Or, as Mallard says, there is a medical reason.

 

I thought of Hlibre too. I went out there a few years back in a group of mixed physical attributes, so it was pretty much a given that we were going to get cut off by the tide. That's why we took a picnic.

[Enterprisingwestern]

1 hour ago, Hroth said:

Its about time that reading is part of the National Curriculum...

 

 

FIFY.

 

Mike.

[Hroth]

2 minutes ago, Enterprisingwestern said:

 

 

FIFY.

 

Mike.

 

Its not just reading, telling the time and applying it to any sort of timetable (bus, train, whatever) is a disappearing art too...

 

[Enterprisingwestern]

11 minutes ago, Hroth said:

 

Its not just reading, telling the time and applying it to any sort of timetable (bus, train, whatever) is a disappearing art too...

 

 

I think it's the magic word "understanding" which seems to have gone AWOL generally!

 

Mike.

[geoffers]

Happens a lot off the north Norfolk coast , ie Holkham and Wells. The tide rushes in very quickly.

Edited August 23, 2023 by geoffers

[Steamport Southport]

1 hour ago, Hroth said:

The same sort of thing frequently happens at Hilbre in the Dee estuary.  Even the smallest island in the group* is high enough to keep strandees safe, even at spring tides.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hilbre_Islands

 

Unless the weather dictates, ot next low water is after dark**, its just a waste of RNLI resources to send the D class out from West Kirby to give them a lift back to shore.

 

Its about time that reading tide tables is part of the National Curriculum...

 

* Hilbre is the biggest, with buildings and such, then Middle Eye and finally Little Eye

**  Or, as Mallard says, there is a medical reason.

 

 

Exactly where I thought of.

 

The main problem with Hilbre is the quicksand when they all decide to wander off the route!

 

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-merseyside-65753450

[Hroth]

7 minutes ago, Steamport Southport said:

 

Exactly where I thought of.

 

The main problem with Hilbre is the quicksand when they all decide to wander off the route!

 

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-merseyside-65753450

 

At least Hoylake has the hovercraft!

 

 

[Hibelroad]

I’ve been to Hilbre many times, and worms head. The key is to check the tide tables which are available online. I’m a great believer in learning from your mistakes ( you should see some of my kit building efforts) so I think that those marooned should be left to wait for low tide, unless life was at risk. 

[Hroth]

1 minute ago, Hibelroad said:

I’ve been to Hilbre many times, and worms head. The key is to check the tide tables which are available online. I’m a great believer in learning from your mistakes ( you should see some of my kit building efforts) so I think that those marooned should be left to wait for low tide, unless life was at risk. 

 

Last time I went to Hilbre, there was a current tide table and a map with the route to follow, in a notice case on the slipway at the bottom of Dee Lane, despite which, people get stranded.

 

A couple of years ago, I heard that the RNLI lifeguards had been watching one hapless bunch through binoculars and had been taking bets on how long it would take for them to realise that the tide had come in while they were on the islands and started making panicked phone calls...

 

Its a good thing that Hilbre is within cell phone range!

 

[kevinlms]

2 hours ago, Hroth said:

 

Its not just reading, telling the time and applying it to any sort of timetable (bus, train, whatever) is a disappearing art too...

 

That was the problem that caused the Staplehurst derailment in 1865, that Charles Dickens was a passenger of (it adversely affected his life and probably died because of the stress).

Apparently the foreman misread the timetable (of ironically a tidal boat train) and removed a rail on a bridge at the wrong time. With the flagman far too close to warn a train driver, the inevitable happened.

[The Johnster]

16 hours ago, Mallard60022 said:

Yes it must have been a bit scary, but unless they had a medical condition or some sort of emergency then they should have just sat it out

 

To a point, but if the weather is inclement and the strandees are not equipped for it there will be a medical condition and some sort of emergency for sure. 

 

14 hours ago, Hroth said:

Its not just reading, telling the time and applying it to any sort of timetable (bus, train, whatever) is a disappearing art too...

 

 

I know what you mean, and sympathise, but for as long as I can remember (about 65 years) people have been getting cut off on Sully Island, between Penarth and Barry, so it isn't something that's a disappearing art, it was never fully there.  The causeway at Sully is particularly lethal, because it's far enough up the Bristol Channel for even neap tides to build a level of water on the seaward side of an incoming tide about a foot higher than on the 'upstream' side, as water is pushed in to the bay on one side and simultaneously sucked out of the bay on the other side.  A foot of water doesn't sound like much, anyone can wade easily through that, can't they, but when it's got the weight of the entire North Atlantic behind it and dropping a foot or so, you have no chance of maintaining your footing on the smooth slippery rock and are out to sea within a minute, that current is fast...  The corpses turn up about fifteen miles down the coast at Colhuw, Llantwit Major, in about six weeks, what's left of them.  Spent some time in my teens messing around on the pilot boats, and did searches on two occasions invovling these tragedies.

 

Sully is in some ways a perfect storm, as the nearby caravan park is much frequented by people from the Midlands for whom it is the nearest seaside.  Despite the impression that some of them seem to be at pains to create, these people are no more or less stupid on average than anyone else,  but living so far inland is not usually a good preparation for dealing with maritime issues such as tides or assessing how fast they rise (which in the Bristol Channel is 'very').  It is not always easy to explain to a visitor that the causeway that they can see in front of them which is perhaps 8 to 10 metres above the water will be submerged 5 or 6 metres under it in six and a half hours or so, and small coasters will sail across it; they can't visualise this sort of thing.  It sounds like a gentle, gradual, rise of level, but down on the actual shoreline it's not.  The advice on Sully is of course to stay put and there are plenty of warning notices advising this, but tragically not everyone does; you can at least get out of the wind on the island and away from the spray, which would be a big ask on a windy day on the Worm; there are clear notices there as well.  Waving to the shore twenty yards away will usually produce a boat at Sully, but there are fewer handy at Rhosilli.

 

Best practice is to make your way over to such islands as the tide falls away from the causeway, and note the time it turns, which is when you should start packing up and making your way back.  Better to be an hour early than the main attraction at a memorial service. 

 

Islands like Hilbre are a bit different, as they are not high above the general land/seascape and on the flat monocoloured ground distances are hard to assess and the incoming tide moves fast and, naturally seeking out the minor dips and hollows in the sand, so it can easily encircle you before you are particularly aware that it is even getting close, especially on hot days when heat shimmer compounds the problem.  Tricksy places, out to get you, start for home when the tide turns even if it's a couple of miles away, not when you are aware of it coming for you, and Molly will come to no harm...  Sands shift as well, so the route and timings that were perfectly safe last time you visited might catch you out this time.

[ColinK]

My dad was on a coach trip recently to Lindisfarne which is reached by a tidal causeway.  The driver told everyone to be back on the coach by 1545 so they could get off the island before the tide came it.  One of the passengers didn’t appear until 1615, the coach just got off before it was too late as the driver had sensibly given the earlier time to allow for someone being late. 

[Hroth]

To be honest, I've bu@@ered up tide tables once or twice, including the Lindisfarne causeway, when we splashed through the incoming tide at the causeways lowest dip as the water brimmed the road when  we were arriving...

 

More interesting was the queue of vehicles waiting to leave as the tide went out, creeping after the retreating water!

 

Other tide time blips were more of the "turning up to launch a dinghy and finding that the tide wasn't due for a while" class of thing...   At least that gives more time to get things sorted and have some coffee. Or to look at the weather and think "perhaps sailing today is contra-indicated". Tide clock✔️ , still got one.  Tide tables, look them up on t'internet, though I don't do that sort of thing nowadays!

 

 

Edited August 24, 2023 by Hroth
Extra

[DaveF]

I live just over 10 minutes walk from the beach here in Northumberland which is about 3 miles of sand.  At high tide you will not be cut off unless you can't climb a sand dune.  Even so visitors are sometime surprised when they have to move their wndbreaks and chairs as the tide comes in.  

 

To the south there are cliffs, it is not uncommon for people to have to be rescued.

 

At home I have a tide clock which gives me an idea of what the tide is doing, I also have a printed set of tide tables open on my desk for days when I need more accuracy - for example if I want to walk across the causeway to St Mary's lighthouse at Whitley Bay which is covered from about half tide.

 

When I visit Lindisfarne I always check the safe crossing times before I set out and leave the island some time before the last time for the crossing.  A lot depends on the weather, the safe crossing times give some margin for strong winds but I prefer to be safe than sorry.

 

I learnt about tides and currents at about 8 years of age when I learnt to sail in the Solent.

 

David

[Hroth]

And if anyone wants to go to Hilbre today

Tides for Hilbre Island

 As the information is supplied by the UK Hydrographic Office, its likely to be more accurate than the weather guesses supplied by the BBCs wet string prognosticators...

 

 

 

 

[Fat Controller]

I spent my formative years within sight of Worm's Head. The area has  a fast tide, with a range of more than 30 feet. Even experienced mariners can be taken by surprise, as the number of wrecks shows. I would certainly be very wary of going out on the head without some provisions; you might be stranded for some time.

[Hibelroad]

I think much of this is down to the rules don’t apply to me mentally which some people have. There will be signs at all the popular tidal crossings advising of the safe times, at Hilbre life guards go round in the summer advising visitor to leave. There is also plenty of online info which can be accessed when planning a trip, however some will choose to ignore it, after all there is always the coast guard, mountain rescue and other ‘free’ services  just waiting to give you a ride home, all of which makes for exciting social media posts. 

[Steven B]

I'm convinced life-boat crews would much rather a short rescue of someone who's fit and healthy just after they've been cut off. The alternative could be a having a hypothermia case to deal with (and potentially much worse weather). If in doubt, call the coastguard and let them make the decision!

 

 

Steven B.