Summer was here at last, the sun was forecast to shine for weeks and the boat was ready. My wife, Maire, is not too keen on boating but she is keen on good food. So how about combining my love of boating with her love of good food? The bribery worked, she agreed to several weeks of motor boating so long as every so often we tried a really good restaurant. The deal was done and in early June we slipped from our home at the top of Chichester Harbour on a late afternoon tide and sped off to Lymington. We don’t usually go to fancy restaurants on the night we arrive somewhere, so we settled on a great little Indian place called Rivaaz near the town hall.
The next day we agreed a long trip to Dartmouth. It all started well, with calm seas, until we were approaching Portland Bill, then it all changed! We all make mistakes and mine was not passage planning properly for this part of the trip. I should have taken the offshore route and stayed well clear of the tidal race but I gambled on the inshore route and lost! It got rough, so rough we abandoned going around the Bill at all and made for Portland Harbour instead, with the promise of finding a nice restaurant to make amends. Wrong again! Portland proved to be a gastronomic desert. After a long walk we eventually found a pub and opted for a decidedly average gammon and chips. It’s fair to say that at this point in the gourmet cruise my side of the deal was looking decidedly shaky.
Thankfully, the next day we had a mercifully uneventful cruise to Dartmouth but I still made sure that the first thing I did on arrival was to book a table for two at the Angel restaurant for the following night, a mere 50 metres from our boat’s berth at Town Quay.
Denne historien er fra July 2024-utgaven av Motor Boat & Yachting UK.
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Denne historien er fra July 2024-utgaven av Motor Boat & Yachting UK.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
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Lofoten or Bust- Part 4- Grandezza owner Per Harrtoft heads back to Sweden after an epic 3500nm adventure deep into the Arctic Circle to visit the mythical Lofoten islands
After ten memorable days in the Lofoten Islands in the far north of Norway, we are on our way back south towards Sweden. We have already made it as far as Trondheim, a charming place even if it was raining so hard we had to cycle round the city centre clutching umbrellas. But now we are back on board Deamare, our Grandezza 40 Fly, eating up the miles at a steady 31 knots.
EVERYTHING YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT YACHT TRANSPORT
As the name suggests it's a means of having your boat moved professionally from one location to another. It might be as simple as hiring someone to tow your RIB a few miles down the road or as complex as shipping a superyacht halfway around the world.
HANDLE A SINGLE SHAFTDRIVE BOAT PART 1
Single shaftdrive boats are relatively rare these days but the reduced costs of buying, servicing and fuelling such a simple but reliable drivetrain does mean they are making a bit of a comeback.
COCKWELLS MOTOR LAUNCH
There can be very few boats that have appeared three times at the Southampton Boat Show and been sold off the stand each time.
INSTALLING AN AUTOPILOT
Rick Channon makes solo boating simple with a Raymarine Evolution Autopilot
GOOD AS NEW
Why fit a brand new engine when Volvo Penta's remanufacturing service can rebuild you an old one to the same standard for a fraction of the price?
BENETEAU SWIFT TRAWLER 54
Alex Smith heads to France's Beneteau HQ for a UK exclusive on what might just be the best Swift Trawler yet
ΧΟ EXPLR 44
Can XO's all-new aluminium flagship really make it big in the Med?
BUYING OUR FIRST CLASSIC
Instead of whiling away their retirement playing bowls, Rob and Shona Adams decided to invest their time and money in a classic Silver gentleman's yacht. Would the gamble pay off?
PRINCESS S65
Torn between the V and F Class flagships? The new S65 might be the boat you've been waiting for...
