None of the lobster boats left the harbour this morning and we decided to do the same. Spent the day on the boat whilst a storm passed through.

Today we left early and made the 30nm sail to Portsmouth by 17.00. A pretty approach to the city from the sea, much more picturesque than the original in the UK. Nice naval prison building too, although derelict now.

We cycled round the historic part and learned about ‘Portsmouth’s Great Fires’. Most wooden buildings in the heart of the town were destroyed after huge fires in 1802, 1806 and 1813 (bizarrely on Dec 26, 24 and 22 respectively). The ‘Brick Act of 1814’ was introduced after the last and most catastrophic in order to protect New Hampshire’s only major port. It mandated that all new buildings over 12 ft high in the central and northern parts of the town be built in brick, with slate or gravel and tar roofs.

The southern part remained wooden and we visited the Strawbery Banke Open Air Museum where forward thinking historic preservationists protected the whole 400 year old neighbourhood from urban renewal in the 1950s.

We returned to the boat via an open air performance of @Shrek, the Musical’ which we declined to watch in its entirety!