Leg 3 Poole harbour to Weymouth Postponed

Date:- 02.05.11 Name: Morgen Crew: RD (Richard Dempster), Nick Binder From: Poole Harbour To: Weymouth Comments:

Wind Strength / direction: 4/5 Sea State: Moderate Distance: Time Taken:3 hrs

We headed out of poole quay with a little trepidation as the wind seemed quite strong. However I think if we had not given it a try we would have both felt cheated in some way. Nick has picked things up really quickly and on the way out thanked his uncle over the VHF for an enjoyable evening the night before. Although the wind was strong the water in Poole Harbour was relatively flat. However this did not last very long once past the chain ferry the waters became very turbulent and we made very slow headway into the sea. Nick was at the helm as we approached the third Swashway buoy. And at this time we both agreed it was not worth carrying on as 7 or 8 hours of battering in to this sort of sea would not be fun. I took over the helm as we turned. I had to time it right so as not to be swamped by a wave from amidships. Once done we headed for the relative calm of Poole harbour and radioed through for another night at Poole quay.
Once moored we thought we might as well enjoy Poole front, “it would be rude not to”. A pint in the Jolly Sailor and on to the fish and chip shop. We sat on the quay side eating and chatting until it was time for Fran and Nick to pack and return home to Kettering leaving me to carry on when weather allows.