Up at 05:00 BST to leave at 05:30. Happily what waves there were, were from the north so on our beam as we headed roughly east towards Portland Bill. Motor-sailed to start with as the wind was light and then it built to gust at 18 to 20 knots at its peak and we were really sailing well on a beam reach doing over 7 knots through the water. Of course it couldn’t last and after two and a half hours the wind dropped and we had to start the engine again to keep up our required passage speed. We timed it well and arrived on time to catch the favourable tide taking the inner passage around the Bill and at its peak onwards towards Portland Harbour. Of course as we entered the harbour the wind came back but too late for us and we were soon safely anchored.
The Scorpion dinghy national championships is being held in the harbour so there was something to watch as we tidied Harvard up and settled in for the night.