Davyred
Well-known member
Thats just it though, I NEVER put my life at risk.
I've only ever once been hit by a wave, and that was at Balcary, because I didn't know the way the sea/weather worked there. Thats the key for me, if you don't know what you're doing, you're going to get in trouble. As far as Roker is concerned, I know what I'm doing.
The issue that scares me is the people in charge of the keys to the gate. They know nothing of sea/weather conditions (see last week). Imagine if that had happened on a similar day in August/September with the pier packed with people out for a walk. It doesn't bare thinking about.
What people seem to forget is that the whole length of Roker was only opened to the public in the early 80's, as it wasn't fenced after the barrier. Before that, it was common practice to climb round the gates, a lot more than it is now.
You'll never stop people going on when the gates are shut, and the people at risk are the ones who don't spend the time in finding out just what the conditions are going to be like.
As Mick65 said, there were 2 occasions I can think of when conditions turned for the worst. The first was during a club competition where the club opened the pier and the Easterly wind which was forecast 2-3 actually blew at 5-6. We got off sharpish. The second time, we got on at low water as normal, and within an hour, we knew something wasn't right so we came off. When we went back to look an hour before the top of the tide, waves were travelling half the length of the pier. Thats 2 occasions in god knows how many trips on there, and never once did I consider my life was at risk.
