August 18

We arrived in Portland harbour, after a rather bumpy ride, through the tide race at St. Alban’s Point, then across the bay. Portland harbour is a created bay, with a large, many-fortressed breakwater. It used to be a major naval base, with helicopter landing area and hangers, plus room for a very large naval force. The navy has left (mostly- there are 3 ships moored here, but they are support ships, and at least one of them is all but abandoned- listing at at least 10 degrees!). After tying up alongside the pontoon in the marina, we discovered that there was to be an airshow that evening, with the British RAF Red Arrows. This was actually in Weymouth, some 5km north, but we had almost ring-side views of parts of the show.

RAF Red Arrows over Weymouth and Portland Harbour

Then, on to Exmouth the next day, being very cautious about the tides and the infamous tide race off Portand Bill.

Portland Bill. There are 4 light towers here. Can you find them?

We chose correctly, there was little evidence of the race, and we had a good boost of tide to speed us along. There was very little wind, and the sea was smooth, but a roller-coaster ride with a long 1.5m swell. No problems, and we were lucky to encounter a pod of dolphins, who wanted to play alongside for a while.

We arrived in Exmouth Harbour, a wide, shallow estuary, as the tide was flooding. A quick entry ensued! We tied up to a visitor buoy, and hopefully will be secure for the stormy weather forecast this weekend. We intend to explore this area fully, taking advantage of the mooring. Although we just missed the fireworks after the Red Arrow demonstration in Portland, we were fortunate to have a waterside view of the fireworks here in Exmouth Harbour last night!