On Saturday 11th we once again filled up with diesel in Dartmouth and headed out across Lyme Bay. On Guy's advice we reversed for some distance, then went forward to try to clear any remaining weed off the prop. It seemed to work, as we kept up with other boats leaving Dartmouth at the same time.
I'd slept very badly trying to work out timings for Portland Bill: the perfect time would have meant late twilight and almost no possibility of seeing the many fishing pots in the inshore route around the Bill. So very reluctantly I opted for the longer offshore route. We were lucky enough to be followed by a pod of dolphins for 20 minutes, seeing them again on and off throughout the day. I'll post the video when I'm on wifi! Goosewinging with a W4 behind us we made terrific time, which was a bad thing of course as we then had a foul tide south of the Bill. In addition by sheer carelessness on my part we managed to get a wrap in the foresail which proved impossible to release, so as we crashed slowly through the unpleasant chop, with the engine on from about 5.30pm, the sail flapped every 10 seconds.
Around the outside of the Shambles rocks, the tide finally turned as it got dark. I was quite keen to press on and maybe anchor in Studland Bay but Alex and David voted firmly for an alongside mooring, so we crept into Portland Harbour and into the marina, dodging buoys (which are apparently speed limit marks) and very nearly being blown off our berth by the flapping remains of our jib - thank goodness for the help of a passing strong man who hauled us in.
After 10 hours alongside and no chance to pay we headed out again at 7.30am. The wind had dropped and it was a lovely morning – so lovely that Sam made it up into the cockpit for the first time since the short hop to Malpas. By 9am the tide turned and we hurtled past Lulworth, Swanage and Poole and into the Needles Channel. Our plan had been to go to Yarmouth but with two hours of fair tide still available I phoned a couple of Cowes marinas to see if they might have space for us. Boo hiss to Cowes Haven who were unhelpful, but Shepards Marina said they had plenty of space and by 2.30pm we were tied up in a visitor's berth in England's sailing capital.
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| Passing the Needles |
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| View from the berth in Shepards Marina - a bit of a culture shock, only two days from Dartmouth |
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| The slightly boring boat show |
The plan was to sit out Monday's easterlies and for me to go to the Southampton Boat Show. It couldn't have been more convenient, as the RedJet terminal in West Cowes is less than 10 minutes walk away and at the other end the Southampton terminal is pretty much next to the Boat Show site. It all worked beautifully, it's a pity that the show wasn't more exciting, but I made it and saw my colleagues which was the main point really.
Tuesday dawned with rain and more easterlies and we decided on a rest day - which is why I'm catching up on the blog. Wednesday should see a bit of west in the wind and we're hoping for some long hops: Cowes to Eastbourne, Eastbourne to Ramsgate, and then home to the Orwell. Watch this space.
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