wh9260
Grommet 
Member #: 123 Posts 11
Registered: 30-1-2003 Member Is Offline Mood:
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| posted on 5-3-2003 at 16:25 |
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Weston-Super-Mare - Safe?
Thinking seriously about going Kitesurfing here or at Brean. I've been told by my fanatical Greenpeace friends that it's the most
polluted water around the UK, is this true, is it safe?
I can only assume that it is as i have seem loads of kites up and windsurfers out. Any bad experiences?
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justal
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| posted on 5-3-2003 at 21:02 |
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Just get in there...its fine!!! OK, I will admit its not the cleanest water in the UK, but it probably isn't the worst either. It does
LOOK really bad, but most of that is simply the muddy sediment held in suspension in the water... Which although it looks nasty is not
as harmful as sewage or other invisible pollutants. (I'm not saying there aren't any of these more harmful pollutants either of course,
but its not as bad as it looks).
Loads of people kitesurf and windsurf all along the Bristol Channel and don't seem any worse for their efforts.
The main hazards to watch out for though are the tides...Don't stay out too long at WSM or you'll be trudging back miles through the
thickest, stickiest mud you've EVER encountered... You have been warned.
Al.
URL: Pixelwave Design - Website Design Wales
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Personal Weblog: A Simple Life of Luxury in West Wales
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Burgy
Hot shot
Member #: 28 Posts 57
Registered: 2-8-2002 Location: Coventry Member Is Offline Mood: Cheesy ;)
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| posted on 6-3-2003 at 10:36 |
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He aint joking, a few people die out on the mud flats every year. They get stuck & then the tide comes in  Not a nice way to go.
The most I've every got from Weston was a sniffle & a very dirty kite.
If your looking for somewere a little quieter & a bit cleaner head north to sand bay, it only realy works in a westerly cause of
the surrounding hills but its always empty & much nicer to look at than Weston.
Steve
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wh9260
Grommet
Member #: 123 Posts 11
Registered: 30-1-2003 Member Is Offline Mood:
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| posted on 6-3-2003 at 13:50 |
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Thanks. I've been to the beaches around Weston loads, as i live in Bristol. Trying to make this year my year of learning to kitesurf
good.
I was on Brean beach last year when that young girl died, though i did not know it at the time. I saw the rescue helocopter doing loads
of circles and buzzing around, but thought they were just doing exercises.
There have been a few reallly good days this year, but i either have not got my kit or have been ill or the tide has been totally
wrong. Can't wait for the summer.
Any regulars around Weston/Brean?
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MartinF
Pro 
Worst Wipeout Award 2003
Member #: 72 Posts 79
Registered: 28-10-2002 Member Is Offline Mood: needing time out
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| posted on 6-3-2003 at 21:43 |
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quote:
Originally posted by wh9260
Thinking seriously about going Kitesurfing here or at Brean. I've been told by my fanatical Greenpeace friends that it's the most
polluted water around the UK, is this true, is it safe?
I can only assume that it is as i have seem loads of kites up and windsurfers out. Any bad experiences?
I'm afraid your fanatical Greenpeace friends are sadly misinformed.
Going back about 10 years, Weston certainly wasn't the cleanest beach then & their idea of sewage treatment was to add huge
quantities of hypochlorite (bleach to you & I) to the sewage, so not only were you sailing amongst occasional turds, but if you got
water in your eyes, it stung like hell!
Today, there's decent sewage treatment & no trace of bleach.
As Al says, the water *looks* 'orrible - reminiscent of chocolate soup - but I don't know of anyone in recent years who's complained
about being unwell after sailing there.
Can't comment on Brean/Berrow, but I know quite a number of people who windsurf there regularly with no complaints.
As an afterthough, check out the Good Beach Guide at http://www.goodbeachguide.co.uk/
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Spencer
A Force-of-Nature * 
Member #: 250 Posts 282
Registered: 17-6-2003 Member Is Offline Mood:
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| posted on 20-6-2003 at 20:59 |
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Hi ya,old post but thouhgt id reply anyway,i sail at weston as often as i can,5 times in 1 week is my record,ive only experienced a
dodgy stomach once,and that might have been the Ginsters pie i ate before my sail? The water looks very brown but its all silt washed
down estuary i guess,it certainly tastes salty not that i purposely
drink it. Heres a pic on a breezy day,i was on a 4.5...
Spencer has attached this image:
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Pixelwave Web Design.
justal@forces-of-nature.co.uk