All’s well that ends ….

Derek Hathaway

….. well - not the best ending to my voyage east. I’d chosen the least worst day with a run of mostly west/ southwesterly winds predicted for over a week ahead and I needed to get home. Motor sailed from Studland round St Alban Head and to a waypoint 5NM off Portland Bill. As expected I then had a fair(?) wind with enough south in it to sail (sometimes quite fast!) and with mostly favourable currents all the way through the early night to make the Exe estuary with just a couple of tacks at the end to avoid the mussel farms. I was very close hauled all the way so not easy to cook dinner - just snacking. With 1 reef in main and variable amounts in the Genoa we were heeled over all the way. Future days were expected to be more NW to W so less good! Sailing meant less risk of getting snarled on a pot buoy. Brief burst of motor to bring the sails down and then dropped the anchor. Rolly second half of the night before entering the Exe and back on the mooring. Back home and safe and Thalmia and the autohelm (all the way!) were brilliant.