Weymouth
Sailing
Club

Well Lockdown no.2 has ended and restrictions have lifted, this means visiting ports again is allowed and we have a week off work and a trip to our favourite places in the Solent for a nice little break.

So Friday 21st May it was time to pack the boat with provisions and clothing, it seems a while since we had done this, and it also feels we are heading off for months with the amount to pack, but anyway all part of the fun, Saturday 22nd we leave Weymouth (Home Port) with winds of 19knts gusting 25knts from the sw, this made it a a fast sail with the wind behind us but a large swell from the storms the day before, which made it a little uncomfortable now and again.
A few showers on route, but nothing to heavy until we reached the approach to Poole and the heavens opened up and we got a tad bit wet, anyway yes that’s right our first stop was Poole Town Quay, not been here as a stopover for quite some time, main reason was that it was always quite an expensive berthing and the facilities were not the best, but we decided to stop here.
The following morning we decided to get the bikes out and cycled to Sandbanks and back, nice little trip but winds were growing steadily all day, an extra night in Poole was going to be needed with the wind gusting 40knts and heavy rain that night, Monday, well Monday it was starting to calm down a little by the afternoon, but it did give us an opportunity to have a lovely 3 course lunch in the Poole Arms, (Highly recommended) oh yes and Wedding Anniversary 29 years.

Tuesday 25th, it was time to leave we slipped the lines at 6.30am and headed out, it was very choppy as expected and wind speeds ranging from 12 to 24knts again westerly so we had the wind behind us next stop was Lymington, it was a great sail, and very fast surfing the waves, with a few moments we wont talk about. Moving on we arrived at Lymington around 10.30am, we were looking forward to this stop as it was on Town Quay on the new pontoons it was a really nice spot to stop over now that it had been revamped no more rafting and you had hook ups as well, the following day weather is getting better and there is a lovely cycle route here so it would be a shame not to so out come the bikes.
The route takes you around the Lymington and Keyhaven Nature Reserve through the Salt Marshes, there are plenty of birds to see if this is your thing. Next stop over Bucklers Hard we arrived just in time for lunch it was a pretty uneventful trip here due to no wind , what a difference, we went with the tide, a beautiful sunny day, summer has arrived, A few more improvements to the visitors area this year and the mid river pontoon is now a walk ashore pontoon, its all very impressive, its certainly our favourite place and the facilities are by far the best in the Solent. Bucklers Hard is a great place to visit very peaceful and relaxing steeped in history, and it is the best place to wake early to watch the sunrise and hear the birds awaking, we spent a couple of nights here walking, cycling and drinking the odd spirit or two before heading off to Yarmouth for our final night meeting up with fellow sailors before returning back home to Weymouth.
A lovely week with a real mix of winds, weather and sailing.

Karma