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squiz Member Member#: 6644 Location: Registered: 27-05-2007 Diary Entries: 2882 |
9th May 2018 Windsurfing: Portland Harbour,Weymouth Wind Direction: SW Wind Stength: 10/15 Surf / Sea State: flatish Air Temperature: Sea Temperature: Weather: sunny periods but cooler. Max Speed: 22.84 (knots - unless stated otherwise) Distance Covered: 10.52 (Nautical Miles - unless stated otherwise) Wednesday 9th May – windsurf *** Portland – sunny periods but cooler. 22.84 knot max., 21.35 knot ave., 7.81 knot hr., 16.17 knot mile, 19.50 km., 14.08 knot alpha. F2 Stoke 117 + 38 cm fin + Tushingham Lightning 7.8. After yesterdays windsurf session - where I rigged up at Hamworthy (Poole Harbour) then the wind went offshore, dropped and I sat on the beach for an hour waiting for it to comeback before giving up and packing up! - I was keen to actually get on the water as I haven’t been out since April 26th :( With wind forecast over the next few days but varying strengths and direction I messaged Facebook friend Ken Bartlett (who kindly lent me the 117 in Spain earlier this year and is the reason we are in the area as we are returning it). He only lives up the road so I asked him what were the best venues for the coming days? With wild camping spots at a premium here in the UK we ended up at an old favourite - the Quarry above Kimmeridge Bay - a very beautiful spot and we were treated to a nice sunset too:) We had a good night as the army using live ammunition on the adjoining firing range stopped at 11. It was a bit surreal going to bed with the sound of machine gun fire and shells going off! This dead-end road to Kimmeridge is surprisingly busy with farm traffic and locals – even a couple of tanker lorries. We also had a large flock of sheep being shepherded up the lane! I checked the phone first thing and it was supposed to be cloudy with showers and a SW wind 15/20 mph. but it was a glorious morning with blue skies and wispy clouds. It looked good for a walk along the cliffs but you can’t go the Lulworth way because of the army live arms range is still being used. Then I read Ken’s reply to my message - he said he was going to give Portland a try in the afternoon. I wasn’t intending to travel that far this trip but as it’s only 25 miles from here we postponed the walk until tomorrow and hopefully I might even get another sail at Hamworthy on Friday! So, after breakfast we headed to Weymouth which is a roundabout route from here with the army closing the road! There was even a report on Radio 2 saying that a broken-down tank was causing a hold up nearby! We did see a tank on route which was a bit weird. We filled up with diesel on the outskirts of Weymouth and arrived at the café carpark (the opposite end to the Sailing Academy) and paid £3 to park. It was fairly full mainly with campers and a group of sea cadets learning to windsurf but there was nobody on the water! I got talking to one of the campervan owners and he said despite the no overnight camping signs several of them stopped last night! A couple had gone out with gear nearly as old as mine and it looked OK to rig. I set up the biggest kit I had 7.8 on the 117 and set off at 1.15 with the sun still out. It was OK for an hour nothing fast but planing then the wind went very patchy so I returned to the van for lunch to discover I had been out an hour and a half! Mag had just made a yummy tuna salad and by now the only ones going were the kiters and foilers and I nearly called it a day. With Mag off for a walk (she had a great time walking to and exploring a ruin of a castle Henry VIII built – Sandsfoot Castle – we will come back and bike the Rodwell trail so I can see it too!). I had one last go and spotted Ken on the water. We stopped on the slipway for a nice chat watching several different foil boards and foils being tested, I would definitely get one if I lived down here! The wind had gone and I wobbled back and packed up as I had got really cold and most people had already gone! After a warming cuppa and gear on the roof we headed back to Kimmeridge, stopping again to take pics of the Dorset sheep with their amazing brown lambs. There was a car parked in our spot at the Quarry so we drove down to the bay carpark just to have a look. The tariff board showed that as we have gear on the roof it would cost us an Amazing £10 to park here during the day!! The girl on the gate had long gone luckily so we had a look at the view and spotted the nodding donkey pump Mag had read about this morning which apparently pumps 40,000 to 60,000 barrels of oil daily!!!! Who knew???? That does explain the tanker lorries this morning though – we thought it was milk!! Back at the Quarry we park up at the back, might be better any way as it might be windy and wet during the night. With light rain falling and feeling cooler, Mag made a curry which hit the spot and fingers crossed for a sunny day tomorrow for a walk along the Jurassic Coast! Photo Gallery Here |
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