Or more precisely Sovereign harbour which is a bit further east along the coast.

A short hop from Brighton. No wind early on but was able to deploy the new Ghosting Genoa for the first time. A bit fiddly first time up but worked well and provided welcome extra power at low wind speed.




Furling was problematic when the wind increased and will require some attention.

Sovereign harbour is a completely new development. Someone utilised an existing gravel pit on the coast and built a marina/harbour complete with locks, a large housing development and shopping centre including cinemas.

The marina offered the best shower facility I have ever seen in a marina anywhere. Very impressive.
Marina Cost £19.61 per day.

Spend two days in Brighton. Brompton deployed again and proved very useful getting to and from the Marina.

The germans find that their engine is ok and that the source of their problem is a fouled propellor.

First time in a Premier marina and found the staff very friendly and helpful. Quite unlike what I had expected.

Visited an old friend, Alison, who is in the process of moving house but still found time to show me round and feed me.

I liked Brighton. It had a nice feel about it and was very cycle friendly.

A most enjoyable stay.

A very early start (07:00) to catch the tide.

Wind quite variable but manage to sail for about half the trip with a good wind for the last two hours.

Arrived late afternoon and rafted in Brighton marina alongside a German yacht bound for the med.

They have been having a rough time and are waiting for an engineer to investigate a low power problem.

A relatively early departure in order to ensure a fair tide around the Isle of Wight. Motor sailed all the way apart from about an hour in the Solent.

Entrance to Portsmouth harbour quite an intense experience with ferries and all sorts of small craft funneling through a very narrow entrance on a fast ebb tide.

Moored at Haslar Marina which at £22.40 is the highest overnight cost encountered so far.

Early on the skipper of a large Oyster berthed inside of me comes over and asks if I would move so he can more easily clear his berth.

As I have to move anyway due to the Marina being fully booked this presents no problem and I shift from the Marina to Town Quay - Poole which is a bit more bouncy but quite OK.

Also moored alongside the Town quay is the sail training ship "John Laing" run by the Ocean Youth Trust South. I had seen her in Dartmouth and Weymouth. I get invited aboard for a cup of tea and a tour. What a fabulous vessel and very helpfull staff and crew. She is a 72 foot steel ketch with berths for 12 crew and six staff. Her layout and finish is first class and extremely well thought out. I am highly impressed by the attention to detail. It turned out that the chap responsible for the fitting out and layout of "John Laing" was the owner of the large Oyster referred to earlier. She is a real credit to him.

Ocean Youth Trust South is a charity and well worth supporting.



Mooring on town quay £17.08

Left Weymouth after lunch to catch the tide for an uneventful trip to Poole. Seas still running quite strongly and with the wind almost astern we roll a bit until rounding St Albans head.

A little bird which came aboard for a rest, stayed for about an hour and then left.


Arrived at Dolphin Haven - Poole to find the whole place booked solid for a weekend regatta.

Staff kindly locate an overnight berth (A19) for me which turns out to be a bit tight and I make a pretty messy job of squeezing into the berth and mooring.

No gelcoat harmed during this process.

Mooring £20.00

Remain in Weymouth for the day. Attend to a few minor matters. The new deck spotlight fitted earlier only operates for 17 seconds before tripping the breaker so further investigation will be required.

Later deploy the Brompton and take a tour of Weymouth. Meet Barry and Jackie from another Vancouver 28 "Celana 3" moored astern and pass a pleasant couple of hours with them.

Internet Cafe £1.00 for 20 minutes Mooring Fees £16.00 per day

"Kiriwina" and "Celana 3" at Cove Quay, Weymouth

Weather forecast SW 5-7 but wind charts indicate that wind should be around F5 in Lyme bay. Left Darthaven at 07:00. Made good progress with winds averaging F6 but stronger later. Cloudy with periods of heavy rain throughout the day. Seas moderate becoming rough.

Sailed with staysail and three reefs in the main for most of the day with 2 reefs from time to time. Wind eased in the shelter of Portland Bill but increased again when clear with torrential rain for the last hour.

Very bouncy off Weymouth harbour dropping sails and preparing for berthing.

Berthed at Cove Quay on the south side of Weymouth harbour.

Total logged 61.1 miles in 11.5 hours.

All preparations completed. On board ready to depart. Series of gales forecast.

Summary of May weather here