North West England places to boat?

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GEH007

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I have bought an inflatable rib and outboard, initially for a 2 week trip to Scotland over summer.

I would likr to get used to things beforehand and would like some advice on where I can use my boat.

I live in Lancashire, only about an hour from Windermere and Coniston so I know I can use those.

Where in the Lancashire area that people know can I use the boat and outboard? Lakes, reservoirs, canals, rivers etc? Anything really to try that is safe for an inflatable and outbaord.

Im new to all this so any advice gratefully received thanks.
 
Dont think you can use it on Coniston and theres a speed limit on Windermere, also expencive if only going once or twice. Canals are 4 knots, I cant think of a suitable river.

Fleetwood is an option, but maybe not for a novice.
 
Thanks for your reply. Yes, you can definitely use Coniston with small outboards no problem and launching from Fell Foot on Windermere is fine for engines less than 5hp.

Im only pottering so canals sound a good starting point. The speed aside, are there any resxtrictions or can I just park up launch and potter away to my hearts content?
 
Ah, you said rib. I presumed, high speed.

You need a licence for nearly everywhere. Google Windermere or canals and find the appropriate authorities for costs etc. Theres the Lancaster canal I suppose, which starts at Preston.
 
when I was a kid, we used to launch an inflatable (RIBs hadn't been invented then) in the Leeds-Liverpool canal, right by the Saracen's Head pub in Ormskirk. Technically you need a canal licence I think, but we never bothered and were not stopped. (Anfd anyway, what's the worst that can happen if they do stop you? Pottering about can't be much of a crime) Speed limit was 4mph so the big outboard had to be run at idle speed only :-)

There are loads of canal places and loads of pubs to visit around there. Guides like this all over the internet

If you get good weather there is also Southport beach. I did that a few times and once submerged my mother's car in a bungled launching operation :-) Better at high tide obviously, else the sea is 90miles away

There is a lake in Crosby, turn right off the A565 as you drive south, just before Seaforth dock. You can pay by the day to use motor boats on there

Beware, my info is 20yrs out of date, from when I was a teenager in southport and around there
 
We were also a bit dafter then. I nearly got stranded, about 50 miles out at Southport. Had to push the boat most of the way back. /forums/images/graemlins/frown.gif

The Lancaster canal is as good a place as any. Theres a couple of slipways at Garstang, but owned by marinas, so might be a charge, they may also ask about licence. Theres a place about 50yds from here, where it would be able to hoik it in straight from the trailer, but not a slipway.
 
jfm..., sorry diverting from the OP's question, but I am sure most of us would like to know more!!

[ QUOTE ]
and once submerged my mother's car in a bungled launching operation

[/ QUOTE ]

Did she have a silver Ford by any chance?
car-pulled-free-550a.jpg
/forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif
 
Pah, that silver ford is nowt but a bit damp. I parked my mother's Renault 4 on southport beach, which is a huge flat million acres of sand when the tide is out, like Weston sup Mare et al. The boat launching part was fine becuase we used another car for that. I walked away from the R4 towards the sea not noticing that I was walking uphill. That can happen there. Tide came in and I didn't notice, cos I was dry. But I was by now on a large island of sand, and when I looked around the Renault was up to the hubcaps in seawater.

Now, Renault 4s are not known for their traction in slippery conditions. So my starting the engine and gunning it just dug the front wheels in deeper. I went to get the rescue guys (they still had amphibious DUKWs then) and we all drove to the car in the dukw. The tide had come in some more by now and the poor Renault was being wobbled about on its jelly suspension by modest surfing/breaking waves. I have a permanent memory video of the dukw's wake sploshing over the roof of the R4 us we drove alongside it, and of the inside seawater level just reaching the speedo. This is quite bad shiit, I thought. My mum is uber relaxed in a crisis but this might be tricky to explain. Anyway we attached the dukw's towline to those chrome loops/handles that R4s used to have just outboard of the headlights (I always wondered what they were for...) and dragged her up the beach. You know that part in movies where they open the door and the seawater gushes out? - well that really happens. Then I got a mate to tow her home, and we rinsed out with the hosepipe and changed the oil and stuff. She then ran fine. The next weekend i reupholstered her and sprayed her white, and put her in the paper and sold her as a banger. My mum was cool as, throughout. I think she took the opportunity to upgrade to a chocolate brown Allegro :-)

All very easily done. This was 1982, so no digi cameras and stuff then, alas /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif
 
jfm, I knew there was a good story behind that one liner, excellent, thanks for sharing!!

...although a bit disappointed no pictures, I thought everyone had a Polaroid camera in 1982! /forums/images/graemlins/tongue.gif
 
The Saracens Head - used to canoe along the Leeds Liverpool from Lydiate as far as the Saracens Head. Always remember there being larger and smarter boats around that way, compared to the usual canal boats around at that time. Also learnt to sail in the Crosby lake you refer to and spent quite a bit of time on Southport beach in my youth. Similar stomping grounds in our youth.
 
Ah, small world. I only used the Crosby lake now and again. I lived in Ainsdale, 4 miles form Southport's marine lake, so I did most of my teenage sailing there. First Mirrors, then Lasers, most days after school. We also had outboard boats and used to ski at the top end of Southport's lake, in the ski area north of the concrete breakwater thing. I had a Delta skiboat at one point, bit of an enthusiast's machine that, with the 3 litre Ford Essex V6, bright yellow gelcoat, and I overturned it in a high speed turn on that lake and it sank. We recovered it and dried it out and it was fine, despite being in the oggin all night. I also used to take the motorboats to the Crosby lake now and again just for a bit of fun

Yep, similar stomping grounds. Happy days!
 
The easiest and cheapest option in the lakes is Ullswater, free launching and no need to register or pay for numbers. Suitable launching site on East side of lake. Windermere is great for a day out, 5 or 6 public jetties and a few lake side pubs make it a great day out. Only downsides are the costs, these include launching and car parking charges and registration.

You can also launch into the River Dee at Chester from Sandy Lane car park. You are supposed to have a river licence available from the council. Theres a pub a bit further up the river, and very little boat traffic.

When I was teaching the kids to use the tender I used a couple of canals (never registered though) including Ormskirk and Stockton Heath in Warrington.

Where are you based ?
 
It is a small world, both my self and Nautorious learned to ski on Southport Marine Lake, I could stand up even in the middle !

Mum and Dad would close the pub after sunday lunch and we would spend the afternoon going round and round and round ........ /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

Spent most of the early 80's doing this or trying to get the engine started (You've got to love 1970's Mercury's), we spent more on Easy Start than we did on petrol !
 
We must have been there at the same time. I sailed Mirrors at SSC 1979-1979, then lasers till 1983. I ran powerboats at top end of lake (the Delta, plus a dory with martini colours, a bright red Ring, and a yellow Dateline) at various times 1978 to 1986. I first leaned to ski at the ski school there, about 1976, there was a flash guy there who ran it from a portacabin, forgot his name, Tristan or something, (or was that the Canary wharf ski guy witht he mastercraft in the 1980s?) with a white inboard skiboat, might have been a Delta come to think of it :-)
 
I'm sure I remember the Dory, but there were loads of Delta's. We had a small orange and white Broom at the time. We stopped using it when we bought a caravan on Windermere.

Despite the lakes tiny size I even had a go at jumping there once.

I went for a look at the place a couple of weeks ago, the whole place looks very sad and unloved. With the loss of Windermere as a ski venue I cant help but think that a revival of the place might work.
 
Some great suggestions here so far, thank you all.

Im based in Preston so the Lancaster canal looks a winner for starters. Already plotting a run from Preston up towards Glasson Dock, stopping at Owd Nells on the way of course!
 
Didn't manage any skiing at Southport, but did do some sailing between 76 and 78. Had a weekend there once when I was around 15 and several of us stayed overnight in the boat house. Supposed to be a sailing weekend but the main reason was to go to the nightclub on the pier (or at least try and get in) on the Saturday night. As usual at that age, bit of a disaster - not everyone would get in, girls not interested in spotty teenagers, beer too expensive at night club prices, so we'd end up back at the boathouse drinking far too much beer from cheap party cans /forums/images/graemlins/tongue.gif

Still occasionally go back to the area to visit family and friends and agree about the sorry state of the lake. It also seems a lot smaller particularly for what used to be crammed into the lake at any one time. Fun days indeed.
 
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