Today’s journey takes us out round Portland bill so getting the tides right is critical. There are several areas around the UK where tidal races are created which can be dangerous and PB is one of those ☹️. Tom Cunliffe pilot quote “ Quite substantial vessels drawn into it have been to disappear without trace “ ! 😱 and he’s generally quite cup half full! So……. we set off at 1130 which was a good job as just then on the radio we heard there was a boat coming in to take our place against B5. As luck wouldn’t have it we had wind on the nose as well as needing the tide to be in the opposite direction. We put one reef in the main and 3/4 headsail and headed S. Portland bill looks like a wedge of cheese from the sea. As we neared the corner of it all looked and felt ok. I was helming. We knew we’d got a bit of tide against us, the plan is to be in the vicinity of the end at about 1330. We then have to head out to sea about 3-5 miles to avoid the race. At this point the seas were starting to get big and confused… choppy to say the least! We had to sail as close to the wind as possible to avoid another sea area called “the shambles “ to our left, whilst not wanting to go anywhere near the land on the right. What a surprise to find about 6 pleasure fishing boats sat bobbing about on this bit of water! So as well as the rest of it we then had to avoid them! As they didn’t seem keen on moving out of our way. We had to dodge round the back of one small boat, the crew of which appeared to shout something rude at us. Unbelievable! If anyone would like to enlighten me on the why ANYONE would want to pay money to sit there in that sea to catch a few fish, feel free! We gradually got beyond the cardinal marking the west end of the shambles and slowly started getting out to sea and away from land. The wind still on the nose and about 15 knots. Gradually the sea state eased slightly and I breathed again. The red and white lighthouse on the end of PB is getting smaller . Once we were far enough out we decided to tack and hope that we got a reasonable angle back into Lyme bay. We sent up a celebratory cheer once we could see round the tip, and The long stretch of chesil beach came into view. Unfortunately the wind was not being kind and we were being “headed” ie pushed back by the wind shifting. So we tacked and headed back out to sea. Sadly this wind pattern meant we never got close enough to appreciate the lovely coastal scenery we were passing. The next thing we had to deal with was J noticed that for some unknown read the line from the self furling apparatus on the headsail had wound itself outside the drum😳. So we had to unthread it and sort it out and hope it won’t do it again in a blow!
It was a long day. However Eventually the clouds gave to blue skies and sunshine and the sea state was fine.At 1900 we had our pasta bolognese which I’d prepared before we left. It was already in the pan with cling film holding the lid on and all we had to do was heat it up. It’s a good hot boat meal and very welcome on a long evening. The sun was getting lower in the sky and eventually we took the sails down and motored because we really needed to get to Exmouth before dark. As we approached, it was Sod’s law that the sun was shining right in our eyes and setting literally over Exmouth. Avoiding lobster pots and trying to spot unlit navigation buoys not easy! Thankfully the sun did go down before we got to the tricky bit. We had to follow the port and starboard markers across the very shallow entrance. They had been moved recently ( as the sand bar moves ) and the positions bore no resemblance to the channel marked on the plotter. There’s also a sector light which was helpful and you just have to keep in the white zone. If you see red …. go right, if you see green go left. In the half light all of this was a bit tense but the final challenge was the swift tide that would like to sweep you past the entrance to the harbour which is a right angle bend. Once inside the entrance, peace descended and we heaved a bit of a sigh of relief. We knew that the bridge into the harbour basin wouldn’t open till the morning so we were very happy to tie up, listen to a very squeaky but friendly pontoon and pour a couple of large glasses of 🍷!
What I learned today….. the penny has finally dropped. In order to open a clutch under tension, you have to put more tension on the rope. Ie winch it on , before you can release the clutch ( other wise you can break it🙁) Seems counter intuitive to me …..
Sue x
Angelique 