Day 2, 3 and 4 Lymington – Weymouth
As ever tide dictated departure time. We were aiming to catch the turn of the tide in the Needles Channel and with 40nm to travel we hoped to reach Weymouth in a single tide. We prepared to leave at 0915 with some hesitation. The forecast was for benign winds to blow from NW backing to SW but in Yarmouth they were blowing hard at 18kts. Having had difficulty berthing with the wind blowing us off, when it came to departure we had the easy task of just letting go of the lines and allowed the wind to keep us clear of the pontoon as we reversed back and did a u-turn to exit the harbour.
We were amongst a number of boats planning to do the same – some setting course to cross the Channel, others to pass outside of Portland and head West, some to Poole and ourselves to Weymouth. There were two additional factors beside tide that we had to take into account – St Alban’s Ledge and the Lulworth Firing Ranges which would be active a when we were transiting the area. Despite the windy condidtions in the harbour as soon as we were in the Needles Channel it calmed down significantly to the extent that we motor sailed passed the Fairway Buoy. I took a calculated risk and decided that in these conditions St Albans Ledge would not be too bad. But as we went further West so the wind increased and by the time we got to the Ledge it was blowing 18kts. However the seas had not built up too much and whilst a little rough was easily manageable. Despite my calculations we were still too far North and were just inside the range danger area resulting in the Guard Boat politely asking us to go further south along with around another 5 boats. This meant we were parallel to the Ledge on the West side where the turbulance was worst. There was an advantage to going South as it gave us a close to broad reach into Weymouth Bay.
Having left at 0915 we were berthed alongside Weymouth at 1700 in time for supper. Cobb came out and we had Isle of Wight Farmer Burghers wrapped in smooky bacon!
Day 3 and 4 – Weymouth
On Wednesday we hosted Barry and Hazel aboard Purrfect Tale – parents of Danny. Gillian created a wonderful lunch of salad, new potatoes, a variety of different meats with raspberries and strawberries with cream for dessert.
After a leisurely and late lunch we walked off the meal by strolling along the beach in Weymouth which is beautiful. I had gone for a run early in the morning and watched them clean and rake the beach in preparation for the familes arriving from mid-morning. The architecture around the Town is remarkably well kept especially along the harbour front. You can see that they are doing as much as they can to attract visitors whilst maintaining a slighly quaint and Victorian feel to the town.
By mid-afternoon, the beach was full with sunbathing, swimming, volley ball pitches laid out and fair-rides. It helped that the sun shone brightly and it was around 26deg.
In the evening we wandered across the bridge to one of the pubs. They had clearly had a busy day and upon enquiring why out of school holiday period it was so busy they stated that cruise shipps were visiting regularly, docking at Portland Harbour depositing around 3,000 people ashore for short periods.
On the Thursday after a quick video conference with a potential Trustee for the Dartmoor Pony Society we walked around to Northe Fort which was built around 1870ish. Its purpose was to guard the approaches to Weymouth Harbour and in particular the newly constrcuted Portland Harbour which was a major Navy Base together with Portsmouth and Plymouth. It has been renovated by volunteers from what was essentially a derilict site into a fantastic visitor experience which takes you through its history as well as the various ages of the Fort from Victorian times up to being adapted as a Nuclear Bunker during the Cold War. Well worth a visit. We spent 3 hours there. Upon return to the boat we resited the temptation to doze and just relaxed with a couple of glasses of wine and some nibbles watching a sailor’s favourite past time in harmour – looking at boats as they arrive and moor – occasionally leaping forward to lend a hand to take lines.
Purrfect Tale 