We had two weeks worth of food supplies along with all the usual belongings and we needed to make two dinghy trips to get it all on board. It's been a whole three weeks since we've seen Thesee and we couldn't wait to get here and give him (his mast) a cuddle....it's a ritual you see.
After we had sorted ourselves and before it was time for happy hour, Linda decided it was only fair that Saffy should have a happy hour every day too, where we give her lots of fuss, cuddles, and attention. She has a new lifejacket and we tried it out for the first time on her afternoon walkies.
Don't i look smart in my new lifejacket?
One of the low flying Chinook helicopters over Wicor this afternoon
Our plan for this holiday is to go to Alderney in the Channel Islands. We did infact go there two years ago and the weather was so bad we didn't get to see or do anything, and we had a really awful uncomforable night rolling about in Braye harbour.
The week's forecast is fairly good but the current South Westerly wind is not in our favour, so tomorrow we are planning to head to Newtown Creek and take our plans one day at a time.
Thursday 24th August… Low tide was at 7am, and Saffy needed walking before we set sail. So Dean and Saffy went ashore with some difficulty, Dean having to virtually paddle and push the dinghy through the muddy channel to get to the main pontoon.
Wicor swans looking for some breakfast
A black swan isn't something you see every day
We cast off from our home base a little earlier than planned and gently made our way towards Portsmouth harbour entrance, getting our very first view of the brand new Royal Navy aircraft carrier HMS Queen Elizabeth on the way. It’s only been here for about a week. It’s a biggie for sure and when it arrives and departs here the channel has to be closed to all other traffic.
The long awaited HMS Queen Elizabeth
Out in the Solent the water was calm but we had to tack all the way to Newtown Creek because the wind was coming from South West….exactly where we were going. It was a day of big ships and as we neared our destination a 400 foot luxury superyacht called Al Lusail went by cruising towards Cowes. We’ve found out that it’s brand new and sails under the Qatari flag. You don’t see one of these every day! Maybe in Monaco yes, but not in the Solent.
Al Lusail - Only 8 times longer than Thesee!
It was high tide and we entered Newtown Creek without any issues. It’s a very popular place for visiting boats and we managed to find a gap to anchor. Unfortunately Dean seemed to have a bit of trouble getting into the right spot because the wind kept blowing the bow out of position. Eventually after trial and error he was happy to drop the hook and we settled down for the rest of the day. Our plan for tomorrow is to head past the Needles and out towards the Jurassic Coast.
What we’ve learnt today: Lusail is the newest planned city in Qatar
Thursday 24th August… A very good night’s peaceful sleep last night, hardly any movement at all. We started the day off with our special Bacon McThesee’s for breakfast and contemplated that we have been bordering on minimum depth at low water. In fact we think that Thesee’s keel has been just about sitting in the mud at low water (7am).
It was a glorious morning
We spent an hour or so doing a few jobs whilst we waited for departure time to arrive. Then at 11.30am we left Newtown Creek, headed past Yarmouth, navigated the Needles Channel, and set off across the bay towards St Albans Head. Dean set up Ida (our Hydrovane self steering) and we tried to remember how to use it. We tried a bit of sailing and were doing ok, with just 5 knots of wind we were making headway at 3.5 knots. However the wind started to veer and we lost our course heading, so we agreed the best thing to do was motor sail in order to reach our destination (Mupe Bay) on time.
The obligatory Needles photo
The colourful Fairway bouy as we say cheerio to the Isle of Wight
Dean checking he's set the sails to full potential
Saffy making the most of the trip
Here's the three sails looking lovely but not actually doing a lot
Meanwhile on the VHF radio we were listening to a Pan Pan call where an unfortunate sailor had lost a finger. Dean had the fishing rod out for a while, but still no joy in catching anything.
No fish for dinner tonight
Passing St Albans Head there are dangerous overfalls stretching out to sea for approx 3 miles which need to be avoided. This adds quite a lot of time to the journey, and we reached Mupe Bay around 6pm. We’ve been here before and it’s a gem of a place, right below the cliffs near Lulworth Cove. Even though the weather is calm there is still a fair amount of swell rolling in, not sure it will be as peaceful as last night.
The wonderful Mupe Bay makes a beautiful anchorage
What we’ve learnt today: There is no such thing as a phone signal in a picturesque high cliffed bay!
Saturday 26th August... As predicted, a restless night and Linda was up early at 6am. Once again it turned into another glorious morning but we couldn't stay as Weymouth was calling. Before departure Dean couldn't resist diving in for a quick swim.
Sorry, yet another sunrise
Just to prove he did it
No wind again, so we motored close inshore to get a look at Lulworth Cove and Durdle Door.
The lovely Lulworth Cove
....and Durdle Door
Blue Peter??
It took about two hours journey time to reach Weymouth where the Harbourmaster rafted us up aside another Beneteau. We went for a walk and just along the Quayside we came across a music festival which is on for the weekend. There was a live band playing and lots of people drinking and some dancing. A good atmosphere. Then we went to look at the beach and it was packed as far as the eye could see. We had a look at the amazing sand sculptures.... a work of art.
I am a cider drinker
One of the sand sculptures
Costa Weymouth??
I've never seen so many people on this beach
Late afternoon Claire and Charlie arrived for a couple of hours and we did some crabbing from the boat and then played Uno, Dominoes, and Bingo. Then it was back to the music festival for more cider and dancing.
Crabbing in comfort
Did you get a full house Charlie?
What we've learn't today: We like Bee Sting Cider, hic
Sunday 27th August... Oh we do like to be beside the seaside! We took a long walk all along the promenade this morning. Weymouth is such a brilliant resort for all ages, and the beach is packed with kiddies stuff. It was lovely to see so many families out having fun in the sea and sand enjoying this August Bank Holiday.
We stopped off for an ice cream and some shade for Saffy as she was panting quite a lot again, then we retraced our steps back to the boat for lunch.
Afterwards, Dean washed the decks and replenished Thesee's fresh water tanks. We took another short walk late afternoon and picked up some traditional fish and chips for dinner.
The lifeboat returned to the harbour having rescued a large boat that had broken down. It seems they were going to raft it up next to us, but Dean commented to the harbour staff that we were leaving early tomorrow morning to catch the tide and so they put it on another pontoon.
We are hoping to get across to Alderney tomorrow, but there may not be enough wind so we will see what it's like when we get out past Portland.
Monday 28th August… No we’re not in Alderney, but it’s not for trying. At 7am we left Weymouth Harbour and motored out to Portland ….still very little wind. There was a lot of haze looking past The Bill to the horizon, and the 7.30am Coastguard Shipping Forecast announced the visibility in Portland sea area was poor. We’ve been around here before when there was very dense sea fog and it was pretty scary. Anyway, the wind was non existent so we decided to action Plan B and head to Worbarrow Bay instead. On the way, Dean caught Saffy’s dinner (a mackerel)!
We anchored in the bay around 10am. There were a couple of boats already here, and a lot more arrived during the day. It was another hot day and the beach was busy. A lot of people were swimming, they use Thesee as a challenge to swim around and back to shore, chatting as they pass by. Linda got the ‘airbag’ out so she could do some sunbathing. It’s like a beanbag but just full of air instead. It’s a bit wobbly to get comfortable but once you’re in the right position it’s great. Dean decided to get in the water again and do some more hull scrubbing. It’s hard going.
Later on we went ashore for Saffy’s walkies. She’s getting very brave on the boat these days. She wanders about on deck and loves sitting on her piece of artificial grass at the bow. The water is calm this evening. Another nice weather day forecast for tomorrow….yippee!
What we’ve learnt today: AWS means Apparent Wind Speed, not Average Wind Speed.
Tuesday 29th August… Well, it was all hands on deck last night! We went to bed early and were no sooner woken at 10.30pm by the anchor alarm. The wind forecast had been an untroublesome 5 knots or so all day and when we retired to bed there was nothing at all, but now from nowhere it was blowing a hoolie. Having been nicely tucked in the bay all day, the anchor now seemed to be dragging and we were slowly heading towards the outlying rocks. It was hard to tell in the darkness how close we were getting, but you could clearly tell we had moved by looking at the Chartplotter. The only option was to raise the anchor and move further up the bay in the darkness to re-anchor in a better position trying to avoid lobster pots along the way. A couple of other boats were also having trouble and they too had to change locations.
Nevertheless, we weren’t able to rest after all these goings-on. It wasn’t until 3am Dean said the wind had dropped and we eventually got some decent sleep. It reminded us of the term ‘Katabatic Wind’, but apparently in this country it’s just called Turbulence.
So then this morning we left Worbarrow Bay at 10am. We have decided to cancel our plans to get to Alderney. Today was the first day with the right conditions, but it’s now raining for 3 days in Alderney so there’s not a lot of point in going just to get wet. We took the best passage through the inner channel at St Albans Head and plotted a course back to Yarmouth. St Alban’s Head was fine and we didn’t experience any overfalls. We managed to get a little sailing in across the bay, ending up motoring through the Needles and to Yarmouth. As the sea was calm, Linda helmed through the Needles channel for her very first time.
A tricky berth in Yarmouth Harbour was followed by a well earned trip to The King’s Head pub.
Sunday 27th August... Oh we do like to be beside the seaside! We took a long walk all along the promenade this morning. Weymouth is such a brilliant resort for all ages, and the beach is packed with kiddies stuff. It was lovely to see so many families out having fun in the sea and sand enjoying this August Bank Holiday.
That's the way to do it....
We stopped off for an ice cream and some shade for Saffy as she was panting quite a lot again, then we retraced our steps back to the boat for lunch.
Ice cream breakfast
Beautiful gardens on the seafront
Afterwards, Dean washed the decks and replenished Thesee's fresh water tanks. We took another short walk late afternoon and picked up some traditional fish and chips for dinner.
Lots of gluten free eateries
Looking across the harbour to the handsome Thesee
The lifeboat returned to the harbour having rescued a large boat that had broken down. It seems they were going to raft it up next to us, but Dean commented to the harbour staff that we were leaving early tomorrow morning to catch the tide and so they put it on another pontoon.
We are hoping to get across to Alderney tomorrow, but there may not be enough wind so we will see what it's like when we get out past Portland.
Monday 28th August… No we’re not in Alderney, but it’s not for trying. At 7am we left Weymouth Harbour and motored out to Portland ….still very little wind. There was a lot of haze looking past The Bill to the horizon, and the 7.30am Coastguard Shipping Forecast announced the visibility in Portland sea area was poor. We’ve been around here before when there was very dense sea fog and it was pretty scary. Anyway, the wind was non existent so we decided to action Plan B and head to Worbarrow Bay instead. On the way, Dean caught Saffy’s dinner (a mackerel)!
We anchored in the bay around 10am. There were a couple of boats already here, and a lot more arrived during the day. It was another hot day and the beach was busy. A lot of people were swimming, they use Thesee as a challenge to swim around and back to shore, chatting as they pass by. Linda got the ‘airbag’ out so she could do some sunbathing. It’s like a beanbag but just full of air instead. It’s a bit wobbly to get comfortable but once you’re in the right position it’s great. Dean decided to get in the water again and do some more hull scrubbing. It’s hard going.
One Two Three....Jump!
The water looks very inviting today
Later on we went ashore for Saffy’s walkies. She’s getting very brave on the boat these days. She wanders about on deck and loves sitting on her piece of artificial grass at the bow. The water is calm this evening. Another nice weather day forecast for tomorrow….yippee!
On our walkies. Thesee in the bay.
Linda on the wibbly wobbly airbag
Sunset this time
What we’ve learnt today: AWS means Apparent Wind Speed, not Average Wind Speed.
Tuesday 29th August… Well, it was all hands on deck last night! We went to bed early and were no sooner woken at 10.30pm by the anchor alarm. The wind forecast had been an untroublesome 5 knots or so all day and when we retired to bed there was nothing at all, but now from nowhere it was blowing a hoolie. Having been nicely tucked in the bay all day, the anchor now seemed to be dragging and we were slowly heading towards the outlying rocks. It was hard to tell in the darkness how close we were getting, but you could clearly tell we had moved by looking at the Chartplotter. The only option was to raise the anchor and move further up the bay in the darkness to re-anchor in a better position trying to avoid lobster pots along the way. A couple of other boats were also having trouble and they too had to change locations.
Nevertheless, we weren’t able to rest after all these goings-on. It wasn’t until 3am Dean said the wind had dropped and we eventually got some decent sleep. It reminded us of the term ‘Katabatic Wind’, but apparently in this country it’s just called Turbulence.
Passing the NCI Station at St Alban's Head
So then this morning we left Worbarrow Bay at 10am. We have decided to cancel our plans to get to Alderney. Today was the first day with the right conditions, but it’s now raining for 3 days in Alderney so there’s not a lot of point in going just to get wet. We took the best passage through the inner channel at St Albans Head and plotted a course back to Yarmouth. St Alban’s Head was fine and we didn’t experience any overfalls. We managed to get a little sailing in across the bay, ending up motoring through the Needles and to Yarmouth. As the sea was calm, Linda helmed through the Needles channel for her very first time.
A tricky berth in Yarmouth Harbour was followed by a well earned trip to The King’s Head pub.
Time for a Pint
...and a Pineapple Juice
Back at the Harbour, Thesee's got a double
Wednesday 30th August… This morning we took Saffy for a walk around this lovely village of Yarmouth. On returning to the boat we checked all the weather forecasts. Looks like the Alderney trip could be back on after all! So after great consideration we’ve decided to stay here another night and head off to Alderney early tomorrow morning about 6am. It should take about 13 hours all being well. We spent today doing bits and bobs. Linda even made a cake.
Let's call it a Cherry Madeira Sandwich
Thursday 31st August… Don’t mention Alderney again! After all the wishing, planning, and weather forecasts we got up at 5am this morning and then decided NOT to go. It was a joint decision for various reasons, so instead we headed up the Solent and anchored in Thorness Bay for the morning and just relaxed. By noon we were able to sail up to Cowes, and into the River Medina to spend a lovely evening at Folly Reach. On the way we heard what turned out to be a hoax call to Solent Coastguard saying their boat was sinking, even so the Coastguard had to follow it up. The lifeboat came past us obviously looking for a boat in distress. Seems it was some youngsters who had been messing about with a ships radio unbeknown to the skipper! I bet they got a serious telling off.
End of the rainbow on Hamstead Ledge beach
We felt exhausted but still spent an hour or two threading the new satellite phone antenna cable through the workings of the boat, from the starboard lazarette, through the starboard cabin and heads, and into the back of the electronics cupboard. Dean fitted the actual antenna onto the pushpit the other day, and now it’s all ready to be wired to the satellite phone situated on the navigation table.
The new satellite phone antenna
Friday 1st September… We both had a great night’s sleep and were feeling refreshed this morning. Didn’t want to waste the day so had a little outing planned. First we walked the lovely riverside footpath to Island Harbour to have a little chat with them about winter berthing. Moving on we followed public footpaths for about 3-4 miles to Wooton Creek, where we stopped for lunch at the Sloop Inn. We were going to get the bus back but decided to retrace our footsteps and walked it. Back at the Folly Inn we stopped off for Ice Cream desserts …that’s two pubs in one lunchtime! We’re enjoying ourselves here. There’s only a few visiting boats, which is surprising for this time of year. Here’s some photos from today’s adventures.
Caught this boat passing us this morning, complete with huge wind turbine
The lovely Folly Inn
Berries and Boats
Think this footpath might be closed!
Postbox heaven
Big Top
No trains today it seems
Wood Sculptures in Wooton
Linda ready for the return journey
Bundles of beautiful blackberries
Saturday 2nd September… HAPPY BIRTHDAY CLAIRE !! We woke to another nice morning at Folly Reach and ate our poached eggs on toast al fresco. At noon we motored out of the River Medina and popped just around the headland to anchor in Osborne Bay to wait for the tide to turn. The anchorage was heaving with at least 50 boats I would say.
All shapes and sizes here today
....and some more in this direction
The girls chillin' in the summer breeze
It was so hot and lots of people were swimming and some paddle-boarding too. We ate lunch and waited for the ice-cream boat (that Dean spotted straight away) to head in our direction. And what a wait it was! We didn’t get ice-cream until two and a half hours later! By this time the sun had disappeared behind a big grey cloud and the novelty had just about worn off.
Dean wasn't leaving until he ate ice-cream
Mr Whippy
Even Saffy wanted ice-cream
Whilst Dean had been monitoring the whereabouts of the ice cream boat through his binoculars, he spotted our next-door-neighbours boat from Wicor. When we departed we made sure to go past and give them a shout and a wave. We sailed with main and genoa for a short while and then just the main back into Portsmouth harbour. The wind has just about evaded us on this holiday, but approaching Wicor and about to drop the main sail the wind suddenly decided to blow 14 knots. The most we’ve had in 10 days. Thanks a lot wind.
Dreaming of ice-cream..... and sailing holidays (not!)
Sunday 3rd September ... It was an awful rainy and windy day today. We knew it was coming because yesterday we had considered going to Chichester instead of back to Wicor. We decided against Chichester because we would have had to leave the harbour this morning in strong onshore winds with an ebbing tide. Not the most favourable conditions according to the experts. Also, we've managed to stay dry this holiday and we didn't like the thought of getting drenched now.
So today we just milled about on the boat. We never get bored though, there's always something to be done, or a blog post to be written 😉. Dean had the floorboards up to tidy the hoses for the keel coolers. He also restyled his satellite phone bracket so the antenna sits in a better position, and then he made a new spot on the back of the port side aft cabin door to keep the hydrovane, making more space for when he brings the passarelle. After dinner, Linda twisted Dean's arm and he agreed to a game of Scrabble. Not in his top 100 things to do, may i say. He did try exceptionally hard though, so much so that he managed to knock up a score of 160. Well Done Dean. 10 out of 10 for effort. Think you're getting the hang of it now.
Just the spot for Aunty Ida
We made good use of the Scrabble board
The weather didn't let up all day and night, poor Saffy only got a couple of pontoon walks, the last one being at 10.30pm. We donned our head torches and ventured along the swaying pontoon but she wasn't interested in peeing in the rain. Can't say i blame her.
We haven't been too far this holiday, but we've still had a great time x
