Another short hop today. Julian’s cousin lives in Poole so we had made a plan to meet them lunchtime ish. Entering Poole harbour via the Swash Channel…. it was so close there wasn’t much point in putting any sails up. Here you have to go up the left hand side of the channel which feels strange as that’s not the normal rules of the road. On the right hand side we can see the vast opulent properties of “Sandbanks” . Straight ahead is Brownsea Island with its castle. Think Scouts and Baden Powell has something to do with this place. The wind was still blowing up to 20 knots even in here. We phoned ahead to get our instructions for berthing and were given C12 Starboard side too. Everything ready and realised we would be severely blown off… ie blown away from the pontoon that you’re trying to attach yourself to. Fortunately somehow we made it okay without embarrassment. We noticed nearly all our neighbours were large white shiny motor boats… some really HUGE! Julian went to pay our dues and returned a little flummoxed, “ saying” Well we’ve reached the £100 a night berth😳. Or very nearly! We had been told that south coast prices could be that high so we weren’t surprised. To give a comparison, we were paying £20 a night in the NE Scotland. ! Anyway… very soon we were in the lovely company of Sue and Bryan and we went out for lunch to Oriel on the town quay. The afternoon passed quickly. It was great to see you both! After a bit of a walk along the coast eastwards, An evening of rest and TV .
What I learned today…… Pip Hare famous for doing really well in the last Vendee Globe round the world race. ( solo) , keeps her new foiling sailing boat Medallia here. It’ll be in the next VG race in 2023. Check her out! What a lady!
And also that they’d overcharged us by £85 ! Faith restored! 😊
Brownsea castle and island 
Sand banks 
Baden Powell 
Town quay restaurants… 
……and pubs
Sue x
Angelique 