Weymouth

Tenacious leaving for the day.

Last weekend John and myself on Ciao Bella and Paul in lapwing made the trip to Weymouth.  After the usual shenanigans (Clearing seagull poop) we slipped the mooring around 11am and headed out of the harbour.

It was pretty much a spring tides so we needed to take the long route out around the tidal race off St Aldhelms head.  With the wind from the south west there was no way we could head to the mark in one beat.

A much faster yacht haring past us off Swanage.

Pauls Corribee can make a better heading to windward than Ciao Bella so managed to get far enough south to tack in one. Our course put me in the path of the ferrys and as it was poor visibility I decided to tack early then tack out again.  The rest off the passage was one long beat,  we had to skip through a small strip of overfalls but as it was so short it was quite fun.  With the nights drawing in and the wind dropping to a F1 we decided to motor the last 7 or 8 miles.

Ciao Bella and Lapwing safely tied up.

The moorings on the west bank of the river were all taken and I didn't feel like rafting up so spun round and tied up near the ferry terminal.  I'd avoided this side of the river before as its a bit chavvy at night, but this turned out to be perfect.  It's far enough away from the pubs to be undisturbed.

Nothe Fort

After a splendid night out in Weymouth we had to be up early to catch the tide back to Poole. There was not a whisper of any wind nor a ripple on the sea. We had to motor all the way back to Poole

Following Lapwing out of the harbour.

Portland

I'd misjudged the amount of fuel that I had on board and the engine spluttered to a halt at Swanage, Fortunately Paul had a spare can of unmixed unleaded so after a quick refuel we were on our way again.

Back at the club and there was plenty going on.. One of the members had brought a whole dear and was spit roasting it in the car park.  There was also match racing with the two club picos.  The chap in the safety boat was getting bored so I took over for a while so he could grab some food.  A good sociable week end  rounded off with a pint at the bar :)

Pico match racing