Weymouth - 50° 36' 27" N 02° 27' 05" E

By Kate and Sean -

After a 5 am start from Gosport, a beautifully-timed run through some potentially nasty currents, we had a super, flawless 15-20 knot wind on the beam (from the side - perfect for a cruisey-fun sail) run and arrived in daylight to Weymouth.

Talk about a welcoming entrance!

From the minute we pulled into the seaway and tied up to the 200-plus year-old sea wall, we were instantly charmed by this seaside town.

Can you just hear the seagulls?

Weymouth is gorgeous, but it is still a working harbour, with fishing boats coming and going all around us as we entered the seaway.

We tied up and went into the Harbour Master's Office to pay or our berth - right on the seawall with so much going on all around us.

Being on the seawall, there are also some fun pubs and plenty of Fish and Chip shops ... all outrageously expensive.  So much for fish and chips being a cheap bite to eat!

Double the number to get closer to Canadian or Aussie dollars.  
For takeout.  Gulp.

As we had a few days here waiting for favourable winds to take us further west (and a maintenance stop), we did some wandering of the town by foot.  It is a pretty little town and a lot less industrial than Gosport was.  Here is a bit of what we saw.

Fishing boats, pleasure boats ... and an aerial photobomber.

Very insistent about having his picture taken.

Old Rooms or New Rooms.  Your choice.
The New Rooms still look pretty old.

Hanging out with the other rugged-looking boats.

It took me until just now to realize that many of these places are named the way that they are because of their location at the mouth of a river.  The Wey.  Wey-mouth.  Similar to Plymouth (the Plym), Dartmouth (the Dart), Falmouth (the Fal), etc.  Ta da!

A beautifully repurposed warehouse along the waterfront.
Buy a coffee ... or a bike.

Easy to tell you're near the ocean.

We love to walk around towns to explore (and get some exercise).

Beach shacks along a very nice stretch of sandy beach.  This place must be crammed with visitors in the school holidays.

More fun nautical-themed doors.

So kitschy they are cool.

We have tucked into this town to sit out a gale/storm on our way to Plymouth.  We are also in need of a Volvo-certified mechanic to perform our 50 hour service and officially stamp our engine's warranty service record book.

While we were here, we stopped into the Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI) boatshed, which was just across the harbour.  They are a great organization and we like to support them as they are funded completely by donations.

They have upgraded from the original rowboats.

Navigator's seat

Below decks in the victim recovery area, with capacity for 12 people.

At the wheel.

Twin engines with 3,000 litres of fuel, giving a 150 nautical mile range at 25 knots.

Back aboard Chinook, we are planning our next jump ... to Plymouth.

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