The day dawns fine and clear and with the promised winds from the east.

We up anchor to head out for the Bill and are gratified to find a succession of boats out of Weymouth, all with the same idea. We assume that we can’t all have got our passage plan wrong.

Out of the harbour we shake out the reefs in the main and with a full genoa we are skimming along in company. Ride to the Bill is always fascinating as we are never more than a quarter of a mile (two and a half cables in very old money) from the old quarry workings and the rusting remains of cranes used to load chunks or Portland stone on the coasters. With a fair tide helping us, we race past the beach huts and the light house and the tourists….and then we’re out into the bay.

But then, just as rapidly…we see absolutely nothing. Of Portland, the tourists and the other boats there is no trace as thick fog engulfs us with visibility down to less than 50m.

Fog horn out and radar on, but then within 10 minutes the fog lifts and we are back to sunshine and clear views of Chesil beach. The only sign of the fog is a dense cap over the top of Portland.

We tack down wind in around 12 knots of wind and consider getting the cruising chute out. The latest shipping forecast for the inshore area now talks about strengthening winds up to F6 with thundery showers towards late afternoon/evening. The chute stays in its locker and the swell and wind build through the afternoon, with the sun having to work ever harder to penetrate the deepening clouds.

Steering down the waves requires more and more concentration and in what is now 20kts of wind we round up and stow the main. Continuing under genny alone makes the motion much easier and avoids the unpleasantness of an uncontrolled mainsail gybe.

We are shadowed for a time by a couple of warships on manoeuvres (we hope) and gradually by the rest of the little flotilla which rounded the Bill with us. Visibility deteriorates and It is not until we are less than a mile from Brixham that we can finally make out the entrance light.

Unfortunately the (cheap) harbour moorings are all taken already so we end up in the regular marina accompanied by some of the worst behaved and noisy seagulls imaginable. Oh well, electricity, water and the promise of hot showers soften the need to take out a mortgage to stay there.

So here we are again. Saturday afternoon and once more doing some final prep and shopping. The remnants of some fairly nasty weather are blowing themselves through, but Sunday looks like it could be good with some forecast NW winds which should be good to help us on our way down the SW coast. It is the day of the Round the Island Race (Isle of Wight) and there was some talk of the race being cancelled this year for the smaller boats. In the event it all goes ahead albeit with a succession of rainy squalls blowing through. We get Heydays shifted from her river mooring to the much more convenient pontoon belonging to the Lymington Town Sailing Club.

Chris and Yee Tak have trundled off to shop for the perishables….and booze, But get holed up in the supermarket while the rain comes down in such torrents that not even a dash to the car is advisable. Meanwhile John and James are sat tucked up in Heydays listening to some carnage out in the Solent as the last of the stragglers reach the finish line just off Cowes. The coastguard are dealing with several ‘PAN-PAN’ messages (these are for incidents which are not emergencies yet, but which could be come one) of people going overboard, steering failure etc. There are also two full MAYDAYS going on with lifeboats out from both Hamble and Calshott. This is not a day to be out we decide.

A brief lull in the rain gets all the necessary stuff on board and we make it to the pub for dinner  before the weather sweeps through once more. We meet a very cute cocker-poo called Summer and can’t resist sending it to Yee Tak and James’ number 2 granddaughter….also called Summer. Summer clearly means cute in our unbiased and objective opinion!

Back on board we’re nicely tucked up with a rum when there is a knock on the window and a boat is trying to get into the berth behind us. We dutifully undo all our lines, shift up and redo the moorings. They are very grateful as they have just come from Cowes having been in the race. They later admit they also stopped in Cowes for a beer before heading home. They are all togged up but we gather that one of them is Jeremy Vine….THE Jeremy Vine we wonder?

The morning forecast is for slightly heavier winds than in previous broadcasts, but the suggestion is that the bigger gusts are confined to the East of the area. The weather is fine and with a 7.30 alarm we are ready to slip Lymington for the last time (we hope) for many months.

We leave the river behind in a steady F5 from the NW and zoom through Hurst Narrows and the old Henry VIII fort on the first of the ebb tide.

Rounding North Head buoy off Milford on Sea we wave goodbye to John and Chris’ flat up on the cliffs and we set a course for St Aldhelm’s head in company with a small flotilla of boats making their way back west from the race. With a double reef main and about a third of the genny set, Heydays is happily plugging a sea which is still very lumpy from yesterday’s winds. A fair chunk of wet stuff throws itself at whoever is at the helm. The wind stays very fresh however and decides to gradually shift more and more westward, forcing us further from our planned track than we ideally wanted.

The forecast easing of the wind doesn’t happen and we face a classic wet and bumpy slog for the next 6 hours or so to Portland. We look longingly at the boats already snug on the sheltered moorings in Studland bay and there is an easy decision to change course and head in to join them. In the shelter of Old Harry rocks the motion is instantly easier, and as the fast Condor cat from Cherbourg passes us, we take our sails down and pick up one of the new moorings in the bay.

Footnote. This used to be a favourite anchorage among sailors, but it is also home to some relatively rare seagrasses and seahorses. They have now laid some mooring buoys which are effectively screwed to the sea bed and so repeated scouring by anchors has been prevented much to the relief of the sea horses…