The Portland Race - the master terror of our world (Hilaire Belloc). We've never had to tackle it before, our trajectory always having taken us outside the race, but today we wanted to take the inside track which requires careful planning and can easily become troublesome for the uninformed skipper. Pilot books and local knowledge advise an east to west crossing at high water Portland +4 hours, not to cross on a spring tide and avoid conditions with wind over tide. And so it was at 6 o'clock this blustery morning we left our berth in Portland Marina to take advantage of possibly the last weather window before neaps gives way to springs.
The early morning fog soon cleared and we enjoyed the view as we goose-winged down the eastern side of Portland to the lighthouse. Rounding the Bill, it was clear that the Race was going to give us no trouble at all and we set our course for West Bay, which was sitting delightfully in a lone patch of sunlight on the other side of the bay. We had a cracking sail, sailing full and by on starboard tack, making 8.5 knots through the water. Despite the cold wind, we were sorry to have to pull the sails in as we reached our destination.
Portland Bill
West Bay (a.k.a. Broadchurch for fans of the show) is the harbour on the River Brit serving the town of Bridport. It's not really set up for yachts but does have some visitors' pontoons and some very friendly staff. So far, we've spotted four pubs, three chippies and numerous tea shops and ice cream parlours, not to mention those stupendous cliffs where David Tennant gazed moodily out to sea!
A lovely walk over the cliff tops to Eype this afternoon, overlooking the bay where Canadian troops rehearsed for the fateful raid on Dieppe in 1942. Returned to the boat to be entertained by the Coastguard Rescue Team, who were training in the harbour. Planning to catch a bus into Lyme Regis tomorrow, we had hoped to go there by boat but it just isn't going to work for us. Keeping a constant eye on the weather forecast, which changes almost by the hour, in order to plan our next leg.
Around West Bay and Eype
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