Our weekend consisted of a two day paddle in the vicinity of the Isles of Portland and Purbeck. Even though this is our usual stomping ground, you can always create a new adventure, with a bit of imagination …
On Saturday a couple of us paddled near Old Harry, but in the evening seven of us converged at Chesil Cove for a 14 mile evening/night paddle around Portland Bill. It just happened to be a peasoup fog and the Coastguard didn’t sound wildly enthusiastic about our plans when I called them on the VHF. Anyway, we paddled south in odd conditions – enveloped by fog but occasionally able to spot the cliffs above us, glowing in the evening rays.
In due course we reached the southernmost tip of Dorset, Portland Bill. Portland Bill is characterised by some really powerful tidal flows (up to 10 knots!) but as planned, we arrived at slack(ish) water. After being deafened by the foghorn at the lighthouse, we paddled north to Portland Harbour, as it grew progressively darker. The final part of the trip was a 5 mile open crossing of Weymouth Bay (on a rough bearing) to Ringstead Bay. Visibility was almost zero – we were reduced to figuring out where people were and who was who by the dayglo colour of their glowsticks. No stars or lights to guide us! Following a glowing stick of pink through the dark and the fog was an odd experience. We also enjoyed the indescribable phenomena of phosphorescence, sparkling in the water around our paddles and bows.
Although it occasionally felt like we were paddling aimlessly all over the place, just before midnight we somehow hit land within 20 metres of our intended camping spot – not bad, huh? Tents went up and we enjoyed wine and beer well past our bedtimes.
On Sunday morning we weren’t as quick off the mark as we should have been, so we scaled our paddling plans back to a 12 mile paddle along to Kimmeridge and then back to Lulworth Cove, rather than slogging all the way to Swanage. All good, and the fog had moved on.
Are there any cliffs anywhere else, remotely like those at the Gadcliff?
No photos of the fog, naturally…
(thanks to Graham Bland for the GPS track)
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