Torquay to Weymouth 12th July 2019

The next part of the journey was to round Portland Bill and where to berth was a mystery. The marina at Weymouth was choca block and didn't think they could fit us in until we were booked in, which was Monday. We hadn't realised, but this was the weekend of the Seafood Festival at Weymouth. We had a plan, if Weymouth couldn't perform a miracle then we thought we might anchor in Portland Harbour or failing that stay at Portland Marina. Our place of choice was Weymouth, although we'd enjoyed our stay at Portland we had done everything we could when we were there earlier.

As always the journey was dictated by tides. We had a long trip across Lyme Bay before meeting the tidal gate at the Bill of Portland. Today timing was everything. We'd chosen a day when we could ensure we would be going round the Bill in daylight. This meant a 5.30 am start. The advantages to this is the lovely sun rise.

Dawn leaving Torquay

Mussel farm Torbay

In Torbay there is an exceedingly large mussel farm.

We had the mainsail up by 5.40, but it was a still start to the day. Despite the forecast of 3 or 4, increasing to 5 at times.  However by 6.28 we managed to turn off the engine. It then got quite squally and we had to reef the jenny for a while. Once the squall had passed by so did most of the wind, this meant that after only 4.81 nm of sailing we had to switch the engine on. Our speed had dropped to 3.8 knots and it was vital that we maintained a speed of 5 knots.

Blue skies and sea but slightly chilly.

It was pleasant motor sailing , had we not had a strict time to keep we would have enjoyed going along at a slower speed. When you read the pilot books about going round the Bill they can put a tremendous fear into you. My passage plan was more precise than normal and was pleased to arrive at our waypoint only 10 minutes past the time I'd hoped for. I did have a margin of error so we arrived well within that time.

It was super, though a bit bumpy going round the Bill, so I had to keep my wits about me. It's amazing a smooth everything was once around the Bill.

We also had a bit of good news as I rang the marina. They'd rung round the owners and found one who wasn't returning for the weekend so we were in.

We also got an unexpected sail in as the wind suddenly got up so we had a very fast sail down the side of Portland. Too quickly we had to drop the mainsail to enter the harbour, we couldn't stay out and have fun and sail for sailings sake as we had a bridge to catch.

The bridge at Weymouth opens every two hours, we got a place on the waiting pontoon. A rib from the marina comes out to let you know your berth. we were going to be on A berth for a couple of nights but would have to move, more about that later. Behind us was a German boat, they asked if they could follow us in as they didn't know the marina. They had noticed our European flag and said they were pleased we were Europeans.  As the bridge opened and we prepared to cast off from the waiting pontoon when a shed load of boats appeared from nowhere and powered through. There were actually eight boats now in front of us and one of the fishing boats was followed by a dolphin. The dolphin came back down and we had a marvellous view of him. then he decided to swim alongside us, unfortunately we couldn't get decent photos as we are all hands to the deck when going into port.  The boat behind us was busy taking lots of photos. I can't describe the delight I feel when seeing a dolphin and this was our best encounter of the trip.

You can see how close the dolphin is as he his right next to one of our fenders.

Weymouth was absolutely rammed over the weekend as people had come from all over for the Seafood Festival.  We also went to the tank museum at Bovington, this involved a train and quite a long walk. As I grew up in Leeds, tanks were part of our life as we had an ROF factory that built the Chieftain and Challenger tanks. I was pleased to see that ROF Barnbow featured in quite a few of the exhibitions.

The point of getting to Weymouth was to be at a good marina near a train station as we were going home for a week. My friend's son was being ordained at Leeds Cathedral so I needed to be home for that. We decided that we might as well have a full week at home. This meant we could see family and do some much needed weeding. I spent two days going over to Leeds day one for the actual ordination and day two for Ben celebrating his first mass.

Father Benjamin Hilton and family and Bishop Stocks

With my school friends - still best of friends after all these years.

On our return to Weymouth, friends Elaine and Pete came over for a cuppa on the boat. They were staying nearby in their caravan, this had been promised since we first got our boat as at the time their son lived in Ipswich, but we never managed to coordinate it. It was great to see them both and we had a lovely morning together.

We now needed to start travelling again and our next stop will be Lymington.

Sailing Information
Torquay to Weymouth 48.9 nm
For some reason I didn't note the time we arrived at the bridge - but leaving Torquay to be fully moored in the marina 11 hours. But it was 8 1/2 hours from setting off to dropping the mainsail prior to going into the harbour.
Excellent marina with staff who go the extra mile.
For other details of Weymouth and Marina see previous blog