Bill & Lyme

 

Portland lighthouse and the tidal race ahead

On Thursday we finally headed off around Portland Bill at a relatively civilised 9am. We met up with Moonshine, a Centaur, by arrangement and escorted each other around Portland Bill, with a number of Westerlys and others also close by. It really wasn't too bad and we were almost as close in as recommended (150m off the shore). Then it was off for the long slog across Lyme Bay, 45 miles motorsailing straight into wind. It was a very long day and although we got some sunshine early on, by mid-afternoon it was just crash, crash, crash and very boring and unpleasant. Anne very wisely slept below, Sam dozed uncomfortably, and Ben and I played "who am I" until we'd used up all the people we could both think of.

Fellow ship Southern Storm in a quieter moment early on

Still, even bad things come to an end and we reached Dartmouth to our assigned berth on the town jetty and a welcome from John Alker, the Westerly rep in Dartmouth. The sun came out and it was almost worth the effort. This is really the West Country and it felt quite different from anywhere we had been before, with the narrow rocky entrance and steep hills on either side. Ben and Anne got a brief chance to explore on Thursday evening, and on Friday morning John Alker very kindly took them to Totnes to catch their train.

View from Kalessin, Thursday evening 

View of Kalessin, Friday morning 

With a day of ok weather I got a bit of a chance to explore Dartmouth, walking down to the castle, which was obviously the aim of everyone else in the town, and then up the steep hill to Gallants Bower, once a Civil War fort, where there was no-one at all.

I was back on the boat in time to clean up a bit and greet Lucilla and Mark as they arrived with Mark's brother and his wife and dog - they live on the Tamar in Cornwall and Lucilla and Mark had been staying there. A rapid settling in was followed by getting Sam off the boat, up the ramp into the town and immediately down the ramp to the other end of the same jetty to catch the ferry to Kingswear. (There's a wheelchair- and Covid-proof barrier in between the two ends of the jetty). We dined at the Royal Dart YC, with lovely drinks on the terrace with the rest of the WOA crews and then a very very slow meal, downstairs in the bar because the stairs had no rail on one side, with Lucilla and Mark plus Hillary and Kim from Moonshine. We learned a lot about Hillary and a little about Kim, who is a jeweller and was on the first two episodes of All That Glitters (Bake-Off for jewellers). Sam got very tetchy and tired, which was a shame, but on balance it was a good evening.