Madam,

This summer has been marred by tragic fatal accidents in the sea.

One thing that I have not seen mentioned is the need for close attendance to the change of tide times.

Casual swimmers like me assume that bathing in an incoming tide is safer than on an outgoing tide. When the tide changes in Barmouth, so too does the direction of drift, from north to south.

The change of tide time is very precisely given in the tide timetables. They are, however, only best predictions. Assessing the tide to have turned when it hasn’t or to be coming in still when it isn’t, can, for a ‘Sunday sea swimmer’ like me, make the difference between a safe dip and one which I assume is safe, but for which the tide is dragging me out and the drift deceiving me.

If tide and drift miscalculation from predictive tide tables are indeed a problem, may I suggest electronic display boards telling us the current drift and the state of the tide, these estimates to be made not just by consulting the tables but by a local recognised expert, lifeboat people, fishing boat sailors, harbour officials etc.

This service would be properly funded and employ people on a rota. With so much money coming in to the council from parking fees in the season, where the ‘proper funding’ should come from is not hard to decide.

Such a proposal may save lives and holiday makers and even locals from unnecessary distress. Without such a scheme or something similar, a half an hour miscalculation could be catastrophic.

Yours etc,

Ian MacIntyre, Arthog Terrace, Arthog.

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