So it was with sadness that we 'locked out' early on the morning of 27th May while Chris, Mo and Kevin were all asleep - though Clive and his son (the local landlord(s)) did give us a nice send off as they were passing with their dogs for the morning walk.
All of these people had also been great comfort to us when we received a horrendous parking fine! Rose had hired a car for a few days in order to go up to Stratford for a hen do. When she came back down should brought a load of shopping with her, and parked the car in a little dusty car park about a mile from the lock. Next morning, it was gone. At first we thought it had been stolen but it transpired it had been clamped, then towed away. After a finger nail biting 3 hours, and a £423 (seriously) ransom paid, we had the car back with the rental firm who were kind enough not to charge us a late fee. Nothing we can do about it really, but watch out for signs like the one pictured below wherever you park around Exeter!
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We had planned to stop the night in Starcross again, but we were making good time and the wind was good for a sail to Lyme-Regis. Four hours later we were there, and decided to take the harbour master up on his offer of assistance in going alongside a wall and drying out - something we'd not done before, but which we knew would be a handy skill...
Their assistance was verbal only. And when the time came to make ground contact and ensure Isabella settled correctly (leaning towards the wall) we were on our own. I think we did everything right, but we ended up with the bow high in the air and the stern on the mud. Sleeping was not easy! I think I managed 4 hours. Rose was sliding down the v-berth all night. Lunar didn't seem too bothered.
Next morning we had a dilemma. Strong winds forecast for Saturday meant we either went around the infamous Portland Bill straight away, or would be stuck in Lyme-Regis, drying out alongside the wall, twice a day, until the next window of opportunity. Because of the tide times, that meant potentially a week or so if we wanted to avoid a night passage. We concluded that we'd head towards the "inside passage" of Portland Bill, and turn back if the wind picked up too much (remember Chris' advice mentioned above.
About 3 hours from the Bill, with some trepidation, we listened to the updated inshore waters forecast. Ah great - a strong wind warning for 'later', winds up to force 7 - one less than gale 8. But 'later' means 12 hours away, so we carried on.
The wind increased to a force 5. But we were nearly there. I kept phoning some chaps on the Bill in a watch station who were giving me wind and sea state updates (I think they're a volunteer organisation set up to help people navigate around the Bill) - they were brilliant. It was imperative that we made the passage around the tip at 17:00 because this meant the tide would sweep us down to the tip, and then up the other side, and the worst of the tidal race and 'overfalls' would be avoided.
It was absolutely fine in the end. And we're now in Weymouth planning our next leg of the voyage - probably to an anchorage in Swanage or Studland bay.
Here's some photos:
A walk along the tow path of the Exeter Canal. Isabella and The Turf Hotel in the background
Isabella at The Turf
The parking sign we didn't see
Leaving the lock
Emergency bit of programming work for a client while on passage to Lyme-Regis! Mobile Broadband is amazing!
Along the wall before the tide went out in Lyme-Regis
On the mud in Lyme-Regis harbour
Rounding the Bill. Apologies for poor photo - I was stressed, unnecessarily
