Day 4 - 19 May Poole to Weymouth

Vega
Irving & Cate Benjamin
Sat 19 May 2012 22:35

Had a morning shopping and some light boat maintenance, and then refuelled in Poole (at least we don't have to worry about the Euro ban on Red Diesel), and set off at 1300.  We gave the two headlands and their overfalls (Anvil Point and St Abb's Head - see Old Harry Rocks picture) a wide berth but were still buffetted a bit. Again the wind was wrong for any but a very wide tacking sail, so it was another day motoring, arriving at Weymouth Harbour 1800.  We called the Harbour Master to try for a berth outside his office, and the Royal Dorset Yacht Club, but were directed to the left bank - The Cove - where we were rafted against Maxi Miss, with a young crew who were leaving the following morning.  We remained uncertain whether to have our 'rest day' in Weymouth, depending on the dreaded weather forecast, so kept our options open and booked for one night.  We visited the RDYC which we found massively changed since my last visit: they have relocated upstairs from the small bar I remember, and now have a bar/lounge/dining room/decked garden which would not be out of place in Homes and Gardens magazine. We arrived as the members were assembling for a formal Commodore's and Former Commodores' Dinner (maybe we should have one at RCPYC - I can only think of a couple of ex-Comms I wouldn't want to sit next to!) and we enjoyed a beer (Doom Bar for me) in the lounge as they sat down.  There was a minute's silence for the three young fishermen who were lost yesterday off the coast nearby when their boat sank for no apparent reason, leaving an undeployed liferaft aboard.  There were floral tributes and notes all along the harbour wall. To the boat for a lovely steak and salad supper cooked aboard.  I had pre-loaded my mobile hard drive with films and other old programmes, and we watched the very first episode of The Sopranos on Cate's laptop before retiring.  (Cate has just corrected this - SHE watched, and I fell asleep!)

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