Rounding Portland Bill in the dark - close in or stay out?

[BlueSkyNick]

Left Dartmouth at 1400 on Wednesday, 42 miles to Portland so 6-7kts would be 6-7hours, to catch the start of the flood at 2030 ie dark. Wind NW5/6. 4 strong crew. Destination Portland Marina.

Crossing Lyme Bay I starting thinking - Would forumites who know the Bill pass close in or stay offshore? Then how about the Shambles?

I'd be interested in comments before I say what we actually did.

 

[Seajet]

Go outside, chiefly due to lobster pots; also it's not a place to be in the dark if any gear failure should happen ( have done the IP at night, not sure I would now ).

Also I got severely caught out once when aiming for the IP from the West, the wind came up a lot stronger than advertised just as we were committed North into the bay - admittedly smaller boat and just self & inexperienced girlfriend, but I wouldn't repeat it deliberately in anything.

Makes a poor angle to close Portland, but so what ?!

 

[wiggy]

I've been round on my own in a 25 footer in the dark having sailed from Dartmouth. Was concerned about lobster pots but managed to miss them. Having done the reverse journey in daylight this year I wont do it in the dark again, I now know how plaqued the south east side of Portland is with poorly marked lobster pots.

 

[Pye_End]

How far offshore do you need to go?

 

[BlueSkyNick]

How far offshore do you need to go?

According to the charts, the overfalls extend 2 miles out, then if you turn north to Portland or Weymouth there is the Shambles bank in the way.

 

[Seajet]

I've always thought it was 5 miles off the Bill, no doubt one can cut closer ( with the hatches shut ! ) in decent weather.

 

[BrendanS]

From experience, you can still feel the effect 7 to 9 miles out, though not to the same scale. I'd keep at least 5 miles out if I didn't want to feel much of it - though different in a 21' planing mobo to a yacht

 

[Lady Campanula]

If arriving off PBL within an hour and a half after the start of the flood, I'd be tempted to go straight through about a mile and a half off. Then turn left provided I could see the WCM, then the ECM, marking the Shambles Bank so as to be sure to avoid it.

I'd have a careful look at the diagrams in Reeds and elsewhere showing where and when the Portland Race occurs/extends. I'm unlikely to be much troubled by a flood tide and a NW'ly breeze, provided the normal preps for lumpy seas are made.

Are you really Bill Anderson and is your answer on p.58?

 

[jimi]

Left Dartmouth at 1400 on Wednesday, 42 miles to Portland so 6-7kts would be 6-7hours, to catch the start of the flood at 2030 ie dark. Wind NW5/6. 4 strong crew. Destination Portland Marina.

Crossing Lyme Bay I starting thinking - Would forumites who know the Bill pass close in or stay offshore? Then how about the Shambles?

I'd be interested in comments before I say what we actually did.

NW with wind up the chuff and east going tide, I'd go close in. Its a long way round the Shambles. If I wanted to stay out I'd stay welll out and skip Portland/Weymouth altogether and go straight to Studland

 

[Ex-SolentBoy]

NW with wind up the chuff and east going tide, I'd go close in. Its a long way round the Shambles. If I wanted to stay out I'd stay welll out and skip Portland/Weymouth altogether and go straight to Studland

Thats two of us then.

 

[Robin]

I just don't understand why you would want to go to Portland, forget it and go to Poole or Studland and then on home. Otherwise. navigation isn't usually the problem with going inshore inside the Race in the dark, but pots pots and more darn pots is and all the way up the Bill east side too. I'd not bother, but if I did I'd go 4mls off, maybe 2mls at neaps and moderate winds, then outside (east of Shambles), which then has you going back on the get home track just to get to Portland and even more back westwards again once inside it to get to the marina, unless you anchor (as I would) off Castle Cove, 'cos I'm mean.

 

[Giblets]

From experience, you can still feel the effect 7 to 9 miles out, though not to the same scale. I'd keep at least 5 miles out if I didn't want to feel much of it - though different in a 21' planing mobo to a yacht

A friend of mine still talks of a trip to the Bill driven by a certain person in a certain powerboat on a certain PF cruise to Weymouth!

Whenever the subject is raised he just shakes his head and mutters "Nutter, absolute nutter!"

 

[BrendanS]

That was a flat calm, and was just to show how to go around. He'd **** himself in rough conditions......

 

[sighmoon]

Go outside, chiefly due to lobster pots

+1
That's what Reed's says, and what we did.

I just don't understand why you would want to go to Portland

If there's no South in the wind, Lulworth cove is another option.

 

[dslittle]

I just don't understand why you would want to go to Portland, forget it and go to Poole ...

I like Portland (and Weymouth and Lulworth Cove and Worbarrow Bay).

Obviously if a delivery trip I wouldn't go in but on our leisurely trip back from the West Country we had a nice time through there.

We did go well offshore coming around the Bill - I have been frightened off by too many stories (and TV programmed)...

 

[Robin]

I like Portland (and Weymouth and Lulworth Cove and Worbarrow Bay).

Obviously if a delivery trip I wouldn't go in but on our leisurely trip back from the West Country we had a nice time through there.

We did go well offshore coming around the Bill - I have been frightened off by too many stories (and TV programmed)...

I like all of those places as well, but the OP was on a delivery trip.

We always chose Portland rather than Weymouth too and anchored off Castle Cove which is excellent holding, quite a pleasant stroll into Weymouth, no rafting hassle (or bridge hassle for marina addicts) and above all FREE! Yes I know they try and collect a fee sometimes but never did from us. The new Portland marina is miles from anywhere.

I'm quite happy to use the Portland Bill inside passage in either direction, but only if going to/from Weymouth or Portland otherwise there really is no point. The inshore passage is fine taken at the right times with a fair tide and in fair conditions, just stay close (VERY close) in and watch for pots all along the Bill and especially on the end, not to mention divers who seem to think it is their sole right to be there at slack water. At night or in thick fog I would not use it, nor in strong winds obviously.

I like Lulworth also but it can be very rolly as you mostly lay parallel to the beach, there being a sort of circulatory tide flow around the cove. I preferred to stay only in winds with north in them, except many years back when we had small boats with shallow draft and could anchor close in with a stern anchor on the beach to hold us bows to the swell.

 

[KellysEye]

>NW with wind up the chuff and east going tide, I'd go close in. Its a long way round the Shambles.

Did you do that in the dark, that's what the OP is doing? Having been off Portland twice in the dark I certainly wouldn't go the inside route, we stayed about 10 miles out.

 

[BlueSkyNick]

Did you do that in the dark, that's what the OP is doing?

Not sure I said that .....but we did. At the time, I was predicting the responses to this thread saying 'No chance' through to 'fine in the right conditions'.

From the sea state that we had, and confidence in the tides, I kept our heading to the north of the Bill, and when the tide turned it pulled us round perfectly.

Even though it was a delivery trip we had broken the back of it already, and crew having taken a week off to help wanted to make visit new locations, and avoid too much night sailing. I also wanted to see the new marina and facilities at Portland. If we had needed to stay out, we would have gone to Poole but arrived circa 0200. We weren't trying to get home before any nasty weather, either.

Pots are not a problem at night, well at least we couldn't see any

One problem was the helmsman being dazzled by the light 4 times every 20 seconds.

Worse still, the plotter died about 2 hours out and I had to resort to using a paper chart! (That's a fib, I had my PC up and running with Maptech and a GPS mouse)

 

[dslittle]

I like all of those places as well, but the OP was on a delivery trip.

Agree with everything you said but where does delivery trip feature in

"Left Dartmouth at 1400 on Wednesday, 42 miles to Portland so 6-7kts would be 6-7hours, to catch the start of the flood at 2030 ie dark. Wind NW5/6. 4 strong crew. Destination Portland Marina.

Crossing Lyme Bay I starting thinking - Would forumites who know the Bill pass close in or stay offshore? Then how about the Shambles?

I'd be interested in comments before I say what we actually did.
" ???


Unless you had inside information !!!

 

[Robin]

Agree with everything you said but where does delivery trip feature in

"Left Dartmouth at 1400 on Wednesday, 42 miles to Portland so 6-7kts would be 6-7hours, to catch the start of the flood at 2030 ie dark. Wind NW5/6. 4 strong crew. Destination Portland Marina.

Crossing Lyme Bay I starting thinking - Would forumites who know the Bill pass close in or stay offshore? Then how about the Shambles?

I'd be interested in comments before I say what we actually did.
" ???


Unless you had inside information !!!

You are obviously completely unaware of my clairvoyant powers!

Actually I read it in another post from Nick.

I still wouldn't fancy the inshore route at night, the pot marks are dragged under to just about prop depth, but then they were under sail. We once picked up a pot line or somesuch between rudder and hull (off Cherbourg not Portland mind), it was blowing around F7 and we were doing about 7kts in a W33, the line broke with a huge bang and the steering pedestal chain jumped a tooth or two on it's sprocket making straight ahead 3 O'clock on the wheel. We were lucky the line broke, we knew what it was because a bit of it with white floats still on was still jammed when we got in. I would not want that to happen when rounding just a few yards off the Bill!

At least rounding the Bill at night you can't actually see the seas, just an occasional glimpse as the light goes by.