With the family reunited on Away we set about making plans and exploring Portland. Bernie demanded a squirrel hunt and Fi wanted to visit the wool shop that never opens, so we set out along the old railway track up the hill to Castletown. The last of the seasons blackberries lined the track discussing if they would be better in jam or pies. We chose the jam ones and collected a bag of willing participants.
The headland overlooks a long section of coast and has long been used for coastal defence. We passed disused gaols, forts and quarries and arrived at the wool shop which did not disappoint. As with all English walks, a convenient doggie friendly pub popped up for restorative pie and ale.
Bernie and Fi worked out the route to the next pub and we were soon heading to our next stop on the ‘beach’ front.
All the best walks end in a dog bath and a clean fluffy satisfied dog…
Now in England we had to decide whether to turn left or right. We gathered all the ingredients for the decision: covid rules, visa enquiries, dog laws, sailing conditions, marina costs, mixed them round for a while with a pinch of indecision and decided to turn right. The latest plan is to cross the channel to Europe early next year and make our way north along the coast and eventually the Baltic.
News arrived that Away was to get some new crew: Sorana and Nigel who we had met in Bath (last blog) were mad enough to come sailing for the weekend and would be joining us in Portland!
Light winds on Saturday afternoon provided perfect conditions for a training session and a false sense of security. The big red sail came out and we soon had the crew doing all the work. Eventually the wind died completely and we puttered back to the dock past a loitering cruise ship as the sun set over the pebbly beach.
A relaxing passage along the coast to Poole the next day was planned over dinner.
The coast was spectacular east of Portland and despite its inhospitable cliffs there are nooks and headlands providing enough shelter for a lunch stop. Sorana and Nigel had walked some sections of the Jurassic coast walk which follows this section of coast and now got to see it from the water.
We rounded the headland which was a little choppy, but as we came closer to our destination, the seas flattened out and everyone felt better. There is a chain ferry at the entrance to Poole Harbour, so after some discussions attempting to predict its next move, we decided to gun it past while it was still loading cars and head up towards our marina.
We said goodbye to Nigel and Sorana until next time, and again, found ourselves with a pint at the pub. The winds looked good the next day for the short hop to the Isle of Wight, but we would need to leave on the middle of the night (ok 6:30am really) to avoid unpleasant wind against tide conditions.
