Anchorage between dartmouth and Poole

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bromleybysea

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I'm hoping to get the boat from Dartmouth to the Solent (single-handed so restricted to daylight only +2 hours by insurance) in the next couple of days. I'm an eastcoaster so not that familiar with that coast and the books are on the boat. I will head for Studland and anchor there before tackling the last bit through the Needles. Is there a good option to break the trip between Dartmouth and Studland? Preferably an anchorage. Wind looks like it will be SW-Nw so would Weymouth Bay be an option? Thnaks.
 
Anchoring off Weymouth beach (which shelves slowly) is fine in those winds. There is more shelter near the harbour entrance. Weather permitting you may wish to take the inshore passage around the Bill which is considerably shorter than the long way round.

You can also anchor in Portland Harbour but may have to pay harbour dues if seen.
 
Unless you really want to go to Weymouth, don't! If bound from Dartmouth to Poole/Studland stay offshore past Portland and go straight to Poole because if you go inshore round the Bill the timing is more critical and the time taken going north to Weymouth once round would have you almost at St Albans Head with the considerable tide assist, if as I would suggest you aim to arrive at a point just west (say 4mls SW) of the Bill at slack turning east.

Otherwise you could anchor inside Portland off Castle Cove area, or off Weymouth. Lulworth and Chapmans Poole etc are not best in SW winds. Swanage is as good as Studland.
 
Dipper +1

Heading the same way myself, looking like NW and dry(!), will be lovely. I shall decide on in/out round Portland when actually much closer to it, though if I elect to go outside, with fair tide, will just keep going, instead of wasting miles sailing north to Portland harbour. lulworth in a NW would be ok to catch some sleep, but it's bank holiday so space might be marginal inside.
 
Robin +1

Plan A ; Start as early as you possibly can, head well south of Portland and St Albans, just take the tide as you find it - it will average over the trip and you are time restricted.

Plan's B, C D etc will depend on progress and could include Portland, Weymouth, (in both cases having used an appropriate tidal window through Portland Race) or Chapman's Pool (in NW not SW)(in which case you will need to consider progress East the next day through St Alban's Race), Swanage or Studland.

You don't mention the boat so it's impossible to plan the trip in more detail.

Staying offshore has the additional advantage of significantly reducing the number of pot buoys you will meet as well, esp East of Portland. Overall a more relaxed trip!

It's a real shame as I have only just committed to something this weekend and would have offered to join you - being 15m from Bromley I suspect the logistics wouldn't have been too tough! As it is I will probably be going the other way next week...
 
Robin's suggestion is good if you have enough daylight to complete the trip.

If you need to anchor between Weymouth and Swanage I would go to Mupe. Beware there is a ledge that extends inshore from the line of Mupe Rocks so don't cut back in towards the beach too soon. Google Earth shows it well. The beach shelves steeply so you can anchor close in. There is a fair bit of kelp but if you chose a clear spot, the holding is quite good.

Mupe is sheltered from SW through N and if the wind goes East you can sail to the other end of the bay at Tyneham and anchor there.

The ranges aren't active until after the bank holiday otherwise your time there would be restricted.
 
If you work it so you pass Portland on the beginning of the Flood, once you get east the tidal stream increases in strength as you close Anvil Ppoint. Last time I did Dartmouth Poole (also single handed) I did this, clearing Portland (5 miles off) at 9.30 and reaching Swanage by midnight. I Reckoned I wouldnt have made Weymouth until 10.45 anyway, so the extra hour or so at sea was well worth it and saw me nearly at my destination.

Diverting in to Weymouth after coming round outsude the race just isnt worth it unless you need to or have lost the tide.
 
Whilst I agree that this is an excellent anchorage option for the forecast conditions, if a track well clear of Portland was taken it would be about 6 miles and even this distance is miss-leading as the tide will be flooding strongly as light is fading on Sat and Sun nights in the direction of Swanage.

As said, so much will depend on the progress that can be made across Lyme Bay against the foul tide in the morning - in a smaller craft Portland may well be the only possible objective, but then again you wouldn't want to slug it out in the race heading in there in a smaller craft either.
 
you have a few options.

Lullworth should not be missed, esp with the wind you are seeing.

Why not do it all the way into the Solent? A couple of weeks ago we did Torquay to Gosport in 16 hours (via the offshore route past Portland) . If you leave Dart at the start of the east bound tide (or just before) and can maintain 5 to 6kn you should be able to get very close to Portland before the tide heads you. Even if you want to go to Swanage you are going to have to punch the tide but by the time you get to Anvil it will start to come back to you and you could be into the Solent with tide under you withing 14 hours or so.

Many reasons why this would not work of course, but just a suggestion.
 
Dartmouth to Hamble

Hi I did this trip single handed in July (more light agreed) left at 0300 and got to Hamble 17 hours later - I checked with my insurance company and they agreed that I could sail single handed at night but my excess doubles when I do. Enjoy
 
Another very useful anchorage on this route is Chapman Pool, in case there is no S in the wind.

Hamble to Dartmouth or Torquay is a trip we do from time to time. We stop in Chapman Pool (if the wind is right) or Weymouth in order to break it up into two tides. Torquay - Weymouth is 52 miles using the inside passage around Portland Bill; Hamble-Weymouth is also 52 miles. With a decent wind and a little help from the tide, we can do each of these legs in a comfortable 6 or 6 1/2 hours, avoiding much if any foul tide if the timing is right.

As Robin implied, Weymouth is a little out of the way and will add some miles, but it's a nice place to stop in case you need to provision or do any repairs or need civilization for any reason.

Remember also that the strength of the tide varies greatly from place to place along that route. If you are going the inside way past St. Alban's Head, there's very little East-going tide along the Purbeck Coast -- it's mostly a weak W going stream. Inside Lyme Bay the stream is also fairly weak, and there is a significant N or S vector in the stream you need to take account of. Poole Bay has weak streams and is a good place to be if part of your trip has to be during a foul tide. If you go far enough North into Poole Bay (Christchurch Bay), there's not much of a stream at all. You can take the N channel into the Solent instead of Needles. But if you're trying to do it on a foul tide, you will get whacked at Hurst Castle, which has the strongest streams of all along that route.

But for that case -- if there is no S or W in the wind -- there is an excellent uncharted anchorage inside Christchurch Bay just at the W end of the North Channel. Look for the tongue of sand on the chart and throw your anchor down there to wait for the tide to turn fair. Excellent holding and a nice place to spend the night.
 
Came past Portland Bill four days ago. Stayed out and watched everyone else (who obviously knew better than us) go inside and pass us in very flat sea. On the other hand we got to where we wanted to go at the time I had calculated safely...
 
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