Two go Sailing

Saturday morning saw us chugging out of Poole Harbour - the sea was glassy and the wind indicator was struggling to read anything above 3knots of true wind - not even enough for the big sail! So in temperatures more usually found in the Caribbean and no wind at all we chugged along the coast towards the Needles channel. As usual with these relatively narrow seaways our arrival needed to be timed to ensure that the tide would take us with it through the gap between mainland and island rather than try and push us back out to sea - a battle we would find difficult to win!  By lunchtime we were passing the Needles still in no wind and with the motor chugging away, but we had arrived in the most popular and populous sailing ground in the UK - the Solent! Passing The Needles After so long sailing as either the only visible boat or at best with half a dozen or so other boats visible to us the shock of the Solent on a Saturday lunchtime was huge! All we could see for miles were hundre...

After a gap of a few weeks we returned to Teteli on a very warm day in what is turning out to be a very warm summer! Everything was fine and it was good to be back. After a day stocking the boat up and planning our route we left Weymouth Harbour on the "first bridge" at 8am and headed out into the bay. Passing under Weymouth Town Bridge The coastline around here is spectacular with fossil rich dramatic cliffs and home to such natural phenomenon as the Durdle Door and Lulworth Cove. Of more interest to us  however was the fact that it is also home to one of the most active military coastal firing ranges in the country where on a daily basis (except August) military personnel spend their days firing various munitions into the sea - on a good day Naval vessels join in as well firing from ships in the bay!! On this particular morning the VHF broadcast announced that they would be firing from 9:30 am at a range of about 3 miles - the firing range begins just to the east ...