Cockerham sands

Situated at the mouth of the River Lune near Lancaster affected by tidal conditions, only sailable at high tide.

Submitted by:
Jonny
Updated:
25th Sep 2004

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Access is via a small minor road at Thurnham leading towards Cockerham Sands Caravan Park near Lancaster. The M6 motorway is only a few miles away. Make sure you pay your 20p parking fee on arrival, box located on the right hand side as you come in by the gate.

There is a small grassy area used for rigging to the right of the car park, watch out for the doggy poo though, There are usually sight-seeers and bird watchers around as well as locals walking there dogs.

The mouth of the river basically runs North to South and this spot is best suited in winds with a Westerly component. This site is tidal affected by the Irish sea and can be only really sailed in a high tide, anything below 7.4 metres and you will be bottoming out on the mud flats which extends quite a long way out. It could be possible to sail the site on a low tide however you would have a long walkout through the mudflats to the rivers shipping channel which can be busy at weekends.

The rivers shipping channel is always in regular use by both small private yatchs, big cargo ships, speed boats and jet skis travelling up and down the river Lune to the shipping port of Glason Dock. Always be on the lookout when crossing the shipping channel for other boat users and it is advisable that you can waterstart to prevent being runover.

This site is ideal for learners on a high tide with a Westerly wind as it is safe before you get to the shipping channel as the water is only a couple of metres deep on the mud flats, if anything goes wrong, you are bound to hit land before you drift out towards the Irish sea.

This site is very influenced by the tide and it is not advisable to sail here any later than an hour after high tide as the currents can be very strong.

Strong SW winds are very challenging as they provide the most chop and you need to be fairly proficient to handle these wavy conditions. Any winds North of West usually give fairly flat conditions as the site is sheltered from the land in the horizon by Morecambe Bay.

Any winds with an Easterly component are no good at this site as there is a wind shadow from the land nearby. Instead drive round the corner to the Cockerham sands holiday park and sail from there; however this can be only sailed in very high tides.

There are no rocks around, however there is always some debris that gets transported down the river especially after recent heavy rain and I've heard that the sewerage from Lancaster is pumped a few miles upstream an hour after high tide - urgghh!!

Kitesurfing would be fairly decent at this site in a high tide however there are a lack of launch and landing areas.

This is a great site which has yet to be fully discovered by most people. The local farmer owns the whole site in which the public have full access so please respect the site and behave in a responsible manner at all times. No barbecues/fires/camping allowed here. We dont want to be getting banned from such a good site.