£45.64? Really?
I only want to stay the one night yer know!
Yes, that's Poole Quay Boat Haven for you. It probably explains why the residents are predominantly big motor boats.
But I'm getting ahead of myself (as usual).
Our last post finished with us tied up on a mid river pontoon (or, more specifically, Cyclone tied up on a mid river pontoon) on the River Dart. We stayed there for 4 nights before moving up to Dittisham, during which time we did an enormous quantity of washing at the Dartmouth Launderette - 3 machines and over 20 quid's worth; stocked up on groceries; read a bit and did some sightseeing.
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| The lower car ferries. Weird things these, with a tug pushing the separate platform along |
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| The lower ferry again. on its way to Kingswear with the entrance to the river in the background |
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| Warfleet Creek - near the entrance to the River Dart |
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| Britannia Royal Naval College |
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| St. Petrox Church... |
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| ... with its gun tower out the back! |
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| Kingswear Castle (on the opposite bank). They strung a chain between that and Dartmouth Castle to keep the baddies out |
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| Dartmouth Castle and St Petrox Church |
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| The oldest pub in Dartmouth - from medieval times I believe |
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| Like lots of Devon and Cornwall, not a place for the elderly or disabled! |
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| Small harbour the other side of the road from the river. Unusual! |
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| Shopping Mall |
So, after 4 nights near Dartmouth, we made the voyage to Dittisham. We've made longer voyages. This one was about 1.5 miles!
Opposite Dittisham stands Greenway, the summer residence of Agatha Christie. We passed her "boathouse" - how you'd get a boat in there I've no idea - on the way up the river. It was the scene of a Poirot murder!
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| Greenway's "boathouse" |
There's not a lot at Dittisham but, like most places around these parts, it's very pretty.
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| Dittisham waterfront |
From our mooring in the river (£17.84 by the way, Poole Quay Boat Haven!) we had the above view of Dittisham and the view below of Greenway Quay. A ferry takes National Trust visitors between the two - quite a lucrative business I imagine at £2 per person each way for a one minute boat ride! It also picked us up from our boat and took us to Greenway. My suggestion that we should only pay half as we were half way across the river already was politely ignored!
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| Greenway Quay |
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| Looking downriver from our mooring |
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| If you look really carefully you may be able to make out a seal on the small rock next to the Anchor Stone (the big one!) |
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| Greenway. Agatha Christie's summer and Christmas pad |
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| An exotic flower in the greenhouse... |
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| ... and some weird ones outside! |
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| The Pet Cemetary |
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| Cyclone on her mooring with Dittisham in the background |
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| Oh how true! |
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| A Dittisham street. It was very steep! |
On Thursday 23rd May, after a couple of nights at Dittisham, we set off to cross Lyme Bay. We had a fast crossing, the highlight of which was very definitely these guys (below).
I saw them approach from our port side and they just turned to run with us and put on a display! It's fantastic when this happens and they had us whooping with delight (a rare sight!) as they leapt from the water.
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| Dolphins swimming with our bow wave |
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| This fella kept launching himself into the air and landing on his side. I'm sure he was trying to splash me! |
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| What a showman he was! |
We arrived at Swanage a little after sunset and lay to our anchor for the night. Very peaceful (and free) but we needed to get supplies and fuel so moved on to Poole harbour the following day. Jo was getting a bit whiffy too, having been sans douche for 3 nights!
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| Views from our anchorage. Swanage Pier |
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| Swanage front |
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| Swanage front again |
Between Swanage and Poole are Old Harry and his wife - pictured below (Old Harry is the larger column). I think I read somewhere that these used to connect with the Needles on the Isle of Wight. Before my time...
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| Old Harry, his wife, a few miscellaneous arches and a hole (look carefully) |
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| Sandbanks car ferry crossing the entrance to Poole Harbour |
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| Sandbanks car ferry |
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| Big house on Brownsea Island. Baden Powell. Dib dib dob and all that! |
Our next trip will return us to the Solent. Then we'll have some decisions to make.
Put Cyclone ashore?
Or carry on eastwards and maybe head up the Thames?
Who knows.
Maybe a London Marina will be even dearer than Poole Quay Boat Haven!!
Grrr!!
5 comments:
I hope you told the dolphins to visit us on Samaki some time soon! I could never get bored of seeing them. Another great Blog post and photos. N,T&E!
Thanks Tim. Unfortunately they neglected to leave a business card but, if I see them again, I'll definitely point them in your direction! Hope you've had a good sail this weekend. Cheers. Rob
3 of us sitting in our caravan on the I of Wight in the rain, all on mobiles, 2 reading your blog in parallel. Same comments eg wow! Poor Jo. How much for washing?
I see it's decision time for you. Which ever one you make, I hope it's the right one. Sail safe and enjoy it.
T C & A
Why's it always poor Jo? Never poor Rob...!!
There's an obvious reason why it's always poor Jo!! The big house on Brownsea Island is Brownsea Castle - run by John Lewis as a hotel for its employees (and ex employees). Having just been to London for the BH weekend and visited St. Catherines dock, I think you will find that the fees on the Thames make Poole Quay pale into insignificance - if that makes any difference to your decision! Fantastic to see the dolphins and the photos of Helford make me want to revisit - we are in Cornwall in June so should have the chance. Speak soon, happy sailing P & P
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