|
|
Our aim was to plan our departure time from Portsmouth so we enjoyed favourable tides through the Solent and had passed through the Needles Channel no later than slack water at HW Dover +5hrs (0920). That would result in us having foul tide for most of the remainder of the passage, however once round St Albans Head we planned to move inshore to minimise the negative impact. After studying the Shell Pilot and Reeds we opted to stay well offshore at Anvil Point and St Albans Head (leaving the latter around 3.5M to starboard) rather than attempt the inshore passage.
Some temporary repairs at Eastbourne saw the Genoa re-hoisted on the spare halyard. The problem had been that the angle with which the halyard met the swivel at the top of the sail had been too steep following the rigging of a new headsail the previous year. We were concerned that we still hadn't got this right so were watching the furling action carefully to see if further work at the top of the mast was required.
Leaving Portsmouth at 0500 not surprisingly there was little activity as we passed the fleet assembled for Cowes Week and with decent winds we arrived at the Needles slightly ahead of schedule. We had a bit of wind against tide (WNW F4) but aside from 20 minutes of uncomfortable chop the passage was great and it was good to have plenty of interesting coast to look at. The favourable tide held longer than expected and on a close reach progress was swift. Keeping well off St Albans Head we didn't encounter much additional turbulence however the foul tide at 2.5 knots was a full knot faster then the charted information, and with a NW F3 we were struggling to get a VMG of much more than a knot so we motor sailed for a couple of hours to clear the ledge and then headed inshore. Judging from the number of boats that were using the inshore route and their apparent progress, it seemed with hindsight that this would have been a better option for us. Once clear of St Albans Head, the sail across to Weymouth was great (although predictably to windward).
Weymouth harbour responded on the VHF although asking permission to enter didn't seem to be the norm as the harbourmaster's main role appeared to be allocating berths on the trots that were up to six deep. It's a bustling harbour but we opted for the relative comfort of the marina through the lifting bridge which meant that our access would be limited to every couple of hours during the day from 0800. The facilities and staff at the Dean & Reddyhoff Marina at Weymouth were excellent. After our arrival the conditions took a considerable turn for the worse and over the coming days the visitors' area was pretty much at capacity most of the time as boats sought refuge. Although the marina was great, we were rafted out or rafted to each night and did feel that the average berth cost of just under £30 was a bit steep.
Weymouth is a great holiday town with a fine beach and lots to do and plenty to see close by (including Portland Castle and Chesil Bank) and further afield with a hire car. We couldn't have picked much better a place to have been stormbound for a week!