That trip to France

So we called off France as the wind was in the East.
Lets go to the West, say Brixham or Dartmouth ? Well that was the plan until we got the extreame weather warning.
So we are ready to run West until we talk to Steve Fraser on the mooring as we are about to set off.
"rounding Portland Bill into the teeth of a gale ? Hell !" so we decide to go East into the wind so we can get back on Thursday for work.

Now we were set to round the Bill with favourable tides but going for pool to East we had tide and wind against us. So where to stop that is sheltered ? Lulworth Cove !

It took us 4 and a half hours to sail the 8 nautical miles ! We had a fresh 5 to 6 against us and the swell was not too bad. We motored into Lulworth and dropped the hook. This was a first for me as I have always tied up for the night. On the East side of the cove the is great shelter from the Easterly winds and we had a great night's sleep.

Next morning there is dread warning of Force 9s in our area. We climb to the top of the cliff and have a look. Well the wind had dropped a bit so rigged a deep reef, we pulled the hook and off we went.
We dropped the main in about 2 mins as the swell was going to cause killer jibes. Plan B we unfurled half the jib and shot back home with the wind and tide. Only took 1 hour and twenty minutes to get back.