As we were motor sailing across Christchurch Bay, there was a loud clunk and then vibrations from down in the engine. A quick check found that the shaft was vibrating over about 1,000 rpm. Nick (engine) suggested we may have got something wrapped around the propeller and to proceed very slowly until we could find out what was going on. Jonas, who had joined at Chapman’s Pool volunteered to dive down and have a look and found that the three-blade propeller was now only a two-blade option. A further dive armed with the Go Pro camera added pictorial evidence which was then sent to Bruntons who said the best solution was a new propeller. Not very happy about that as paid them nearly £500 to have the propeller serviced fully at the beginning of last year. Negotiations are proceeding and we are stuck in Lymington!

A short hop from Weymouth left us anchored in Chapman’s Pool, just west of St Alban’s Head. Matt was quite keen to see the dinghy in operation and we went ashore to meet Jonas who had come down from London for the trip to Lymington today. Very steep dog walks up the cliff. A very peaceful location and a starry night.

We met up with Joan, who sailed down from the UK to Portugal with me last year and who also happens to live in Weymouth. Over last winter she has acquired a Hanse 31 which she races as part of the Weymouth Sailing Club. As it happens she was racing in the last evening race of the season and asked Matt and I if we would like to come along. So we joined Joan and friend Christine for a lively sail around the cans in about 20 knots of wind! Great to see Joan again and do a little proper sailing.

A big adventure yesterday as Topaz Rival responded to a Coastguard call to come to the rescue of a 31 ft sailing boat anchored in Lulworth Cove. The boat had a broken gearbox and could not move forwards or in reverse. Their anchor was also starting to drag. They were asking for a tow to Portland Marina for repairs. We were just approaching Weymouth and were about six miles from Lulworth. No other boats answered the call so we diverted to the cove. The plan formulated en route was to pull them alongside out of the narrow entrance to Lulworth and then astern on two bridles until near Portland where we would reverse the process to put them on the pontoon. Amazingly all went smoothly and we were lucky that the previous owner of Topaz Rival had left a long line perfect for the tow with a spliced loop in one end to which we attached our anchor bridle and a spliced plastic eye in the other for the rescue boat to thread its bridle. First time I have ever towed another boat but Matt and I agreed it was a good way to spend the afternoon (very little wind and a calm sea). Afterwards a rewarding drink in Weymouth courtesy of Galatea's owners who also made a small donation to the RNLI. Great fun!

We stopped in Bridport to wait for the right moment to get around Portland Bill with the tides. Much busier than my last visit in 2018 and still full of holidaymakers. Everyone in the south west has a dog! Had a couple of pints in the local pubs and listened to the tennis on the radio.

Well I had to wait a week to get the rev counter replaced on the engine as it has been swinging around with no accurate reading. Nick turned up as promised and swapped it for a new one in a few minutes and also kindly showed me how to put a new element in the Racor fuel filter at the same time. Let's see how this one goes! We had a great sail from Dartmouth.