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From Studland past St Albans Head to Portland Harbour with a stop at Lulworth Cove.

We weighed anchor early at the Studland anchorage to be able to get past the Lulworth Gunnery Range before the army started firing at 09:30. This meant an inshore passage past the St Albans Head. While not in the same league as Portland Bill, St Aldhams Ledge does have a bit of a "reputation" and the inshore passage doesn't always exist (see here and here for a couple of fun Youtube videos of yachts rounding St Albans Head). In our case we were crossing about mid tide with maybe a F4 against the tide so we could have expected some lumpiness. In fact, it was a pussycat - no idea why! Then on to the circular inlet in the cliffs that is Lulworth Cove. When we dropped anchor there we were the only yacht there - the benefits of early season cruising! Then on to Portland Marina. Built for the 2012 Olympics the place is huge.

From Portland Harbour, round Portland Bill to Starcross Yacht Club on the Exe.

As ever, a rounding of Portland Bill by the inshore passage required careful planning. In our case, this meant that to get safe and helpful tides we had to be off the end of Portland Bill at 16:30 - a late start given the long sail to the Exe after the Bill.

As we left the excellent Portland Harbour there were fleets of Oppies and Toppers training. We then closed the Bill near Grove Point and the tide helped us speed down the 5 metre contour line to round the Bill. Again, we had the obelisk at the end of the Bill lined up with the red band on the lighthouse (meaning we'd be far enough off the rocks but - usually - not too far off to be in the race).

The biggest challenge - once again - was to avoid the swarms of tiny appallingly marked lobster pot buoys that appeared to be laid out like some minefield grid!

After passing Pulpit Rock on the west side, we started heading off towards the Exe. With the late start, this meant that we'd be going up the Exe in the dark. However, it also meant that we decided to sail in the light winds after it got too dark to see the lobster pots also scattered in Lyme Bay.

The trip up the Exe was OKish. The lights in the fairway are better than when I last did it in the dark - maybe three years ago - but there are still two unlit buoys (numbers 14 and 21 IIRC) in the Exe itself. Additionally there are a few large metal mooring buoys that encroach too far into the marked channel meaning a risk of a serious "ding" to a boat's gel coat without local knowledge and/or someone with a decent light on the front of the boat to spot them. Back on the mooring at SYC at 01:30.