And then we went home

25 August

To Brighton

No dramas.
Martin went home by train, and we popped back to Essex to cut the grass and feed Putin (who was fine). 
Travel on land using legs, trains, buses and the occasional taxi is remarkably easy.

28 August

To the Solent.

Leaving Brighton (by boat) does involve  .. well  .. leaving the marina by the marina entrance. 
The entrance can get shallow, especially after storms and does, we understand, require regular dredging.  As we wanted to leave at low water springs, I checked with the man in the marina office that it would be deep enough for us.

Whilst examining the results of a recent survey, he suggested that "it should be OK, especially if you go a little wide here, and more in the middle here, and perhaps go out on  a rising tide, but it  might be better to give it another 2 hours".
So much for seeking reassurance. 

As I was now in extreme safety mode (we no longer had Martin aboard and I really didn't want to have to call Solent Coastguard again that week), we opted to leave an hour early, albeit on a falling tide.

It was fine.

There was no wind.  We motored swiftly to the Solent,  refuelled in Yarmouth, and then, having firmly agreed that we couldn't possibly get beyond Studland Bay that night, eventually arrived in Portland Harbour before dark. 78 miles, no problem.

30 August 2018

Portland to Dartmouth.

No problems  .. and we were home!