Last night I was sat on the prom at Fleetwood with one of my daughters having a Mac's, and moaning that we hadn't got Mayfair in our Monopoly Millions give away, when my daughter pointed out to me a person walking out towards low water mark, two miles out on "Fairways"...the run in to Heysham and River Lune.
They were making a deliberate intention to get out to the low water mark, and so I picked up my bins.
Usually the fishermen who fish out that area are well aware of the tides, have their high viz's on and equipment for either worming or fishing.......AND DON'T GO OUT as the tide has just turned and is beginning to flood.
We watched for a little while and as the person approached the water they went onto a sandbank and waited for the tide to flood around and leave them stranded.
They then sat down in the water, and it was at this point that my fingers went to my phone and pressed 999, asking for the coastguard.
They took the details asked us to stay where we were and put Knott End Coast guard on full alert.
The Coasties came through to me, and it was an old friend of mine who I took up my first teaching post with in 1973..we chatted as they readied their Argocat and off they went.............
They had a devil's own job trying to get the person to come in with them as when ever they got close, the person moved away, waste deep into the freezing water, but the lads won in the end, and finally got the casualty into the argocat and beat a very hasty retreat back to shore at Knott End.
So, guys...never think you are a burden to the Emergency services...........better a false alarm or a call with good intent, than going home, having done nothing.
I would never have forgiven myself today if I had opened the evening paper tonight and read that some distressed person took the sad step of wading into the water and not coming back out because their troubles were too much to bare
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