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Home , Abbotsbury, Bindon Hill, Chesil Cove, Durdle Door, Lulworth Cove, Portland Harbour

the Perfect weekend

The Beach House Café N Lyme WALES Regis The Riverside Restaurant 2 West Bay Bristol Channel Southampton Ly m e B a y 0 1 2 3 4 5 1 Swyre A PERFECT WEEKEND ALONG THE GLORIOUS nautical miles Plymouth Marina Weymouth Fuel /Restaurant

Portland’s new marina has first-rate Mallam’s Restaurant, Perry’s, facilities and is a worthy stop on a Dorset or West Country trip Floods seafood restaurant and Inn Lulworth the Red Lion Cove C h e s il B e a c h Weymouth Marina Weymouth 3 Ringstead 4 DORSET COAST Bay Worbarrow The Route: Portland Marina, West Bay, , Weymouth, Bay The Boat that Rocks, 5 Quiddles Seafood Café Portland and Crab House Café Harbour W e y m o u t h The Dorset coast is a magnificent English spectacle of chalk cliffs and Saturday afternoon B a y Portland rolling green hills. Portland juts into the Channel like a giant lizard If you feel active, it’s fun to cruise another six miles west to Lyme Marina PORTLAND and Weymouth is a classic seaside town with a snug marina above its Regis, a charming timeless harbour with the jumbled layers of bridge. was once a naval base, but its vast acres are its historic town winding up the hillside. Although the harbour now devoted to leisure boating. The sailing Olympics will be raced mostly dries, there’s a visitors’ pontoon in the pool off Victoria Bill of here next year at the National Sailing Academy. But few cruising folk Pier, west of the pierhead light – a delightful spot in quiet weather. Portland The Shambles know about Dean & Reddyhoff’s Portland Marina, with its first-class You can walk ashore past Lyme’s famous Cobb, the original quay Weymouth has a facilities and visitor pontoons – the perfect start to a Dorset weekend, with its old fishing sheds (one of them now an aquarium). The bustling charm with supper in The Boat that Rocks, where there's a lively, salty French Lieutenant’s Woman was famously filmed here, with Meryl 1 Saturday morning atmosphere and good food. Streep gazing forlornly seawards. You’ll just have time for ice creams or a Dorset cream tea at the Beach House Café, before heading back Saturday morning towards Portland to catch afternoon slack water round the Bill. A period with lunchtime HW is good for fast boats. Leave the marina 3½ hours before high and follow the east side of Portland close round Saturday evening the lighthouse near slack. The west side feels suddenly secluded and Following Portland’s east shore towards Weymouth, you arrive it’s fascinating to hug the coast past the shingle miles of off the popular Esplanade and its holiday sands. With a friendly and and the hills beyond Abbotsbury. bustling atmosphere, Weymouth is a good spot for your Saturday After two conical peaks near Swyre village, you soon reach the evening. Just inside the pierheads, huge Channel Island fast ferries fantastic gold Jurassic cliffs just before West Bay harbour. Inside the squeeze alongside. Beyond the sailing club and a row of local jutting piers you can moor alongside a visitors’ pontoon to port. Then moorings, the south bank curves into the picturesque wander up for superb fish and chips at one of the many kiosks around Cove and its handy pontoon. Over on Custom House Profile the colourful inner basin. Quay is the 18th Century red-brick harbour office. Then the author The striking cliffs of the Peter Scenic Lyme Regis has tower Cumberlidge great walks nearby over this stretch of water As a cavalier 2 Saturday afternoon youngster Peter often cruised around If you feel active, it’s fun Dorset in a leaky wooden cabin cruiser with a temperamental petrol engine! to cruise another six Thankfully, he has returned in many other craft since. miles west to Lyme Regis, a charming harbour with its historic town winding up the hillside

The red-brick Customs The Dorset coast has a good mix of salty harbours, House has seen mariners charming quaysides and some of the most beautiful This expanse of coast is arriving in Weymouth since scenery on the South Coast full of shimmering bays the late 18th Century

Photo: Tish Mistery Photo: 3 Saturday evening

november2011 75 finest in the world. help feeling that this ancient stretch of English coast is one of the Cutting a swathe towards the Bill and Portland Marina, you can’t etching moody shadows into those dramatic layers of Dorset chalk. sweep of cliffs before curving back west. Now the low light will be run out, take a short spin east past and its majestic grand-scale sun trap. Later in the day, with the weekend starting to just lazing and swimming, the shallow water warming up easily in this On a warm summer afternoon, Lulworth anchorage is perfect for Sunday Inn for a relaxing pub lunch. Landing on the beach, make for the garden of the Lulworth Cove cliffs provide not just shelter but a powerful sense of long history. in magical surroundings off the north-east shore. The enclosing entrance can be tricky to spot, but inside the shy gap you can anchor into the soft strata of . Lulworth’s narrow perfect horseshoe inlet nibbled geological showpiece, an almost Weymouth, Lulworth Cove is a arch known as Durdle Door. Nothe and the curious natural cliffs folding east towards White , with its white the glorious expanse of down the channel and out into are ready for action, head back Quay and East Street. When you on the corner of Custom House Bistro (Tel: +44 (0)1297 445923), breakfast at the Harbour Side life and get a cracking good Watch Weymouth come to Sunday superb bangers and mash too. favourite is the Red Lion, in behind the Cove on Hope Square – Custom House Quay. Weymouth are legion, but my real ale townhouse. On the north bank I like Floods seafood restaurant on Road is an excellent bet. Perry’s is next door in an elegant Georgian harbour. Just along from the Cove, Mallam’s restaurant on Trinityinner harbour. Weymouth has plenty of eateries both sides of the two hours to let boats stream to and from Weymouth Marina and pubs seem to alternate right up to the town bridge, which lifts every Lulworth Cove… spot ontheE Possibly themost idyllic 4 Seven miles east of Sunday 76 t he nove p erfec m nglish coast? be afternoon morning morning r t 2011 weeken

d spots alongthecoast of themany picturesque Worbarrow B 5 Sunday ay isjust one afternoon

arch, Durdle Door Durdle arch, The iconic natural natural iconic The Weymouth harbour fresh supplies tobustling Fishing boats bringin and we’ll try and include them. them to [email protected] have some great photos too? If so, email Dover, Calais and Gravelines? Perhaps you Do you have any personal cruising tips for next month Dover an d calais

Photo: Daniel Tackley - Fotolia.com Photo: David Hughes - Fotolia.com W 788867). Portland Pearl oysters (Tel: +44 (0)1305 side of Portland spit and serves up Crab House Café (0)1305 820651). marinière has super Quiddles 823000). front (Tel: +44 (0)1305 Rocks P eateries FAVOURITE petrol alongside visitor pontoon ‘T’. Simplest at FUEL BERTHS VHF Lyme Regis Harbour Ch 14. harbour VHF Bridport Radio Ch 12. harbour 767576), VHF Ch 80. Weymouth Marina 838423), VHF Ch 12. Harbour Office 302012), VHF Ch 80. Portland Marina CONTACT DETAILSHARBOUR ledges straggle out from the cliffs. Lulworth entrance because rocky keep a good half mile offshore until Weymouth and Lulworth Cove, always Lyme Regis is quite shallow. Between The bay between and harbour you can cruise close inshore. you convenient streams and timing. and neaps with HW around 1300 gives Portland. A weekend between springs three hours before or after HW Portland lighthouse close inshore is both sides of the Bill. Slack water off the (0)1929 400333). (Tel: +44 and mackerel local scallops Inn Lulworth Cove L 772270). treat for fish lovers (Tel: +44 (0)1305 Flood’s views upstairs (Tel: +44 (0)1305 785799).door, on two cosy floors with harbour +44 (0)1305 776757). pontoon with fine meat and fish (Tel: W (0)1308 422011). and serves excellent seafood (Tel: +44 Restaurant coast hopping. Watch out for crab pots passage at slack water is simplest when For rounding Portland, the inner NAVIGATION NOTES ulworth ortland: The Boat that est eymouth: Mallam’s Between Portland and West Bay has superb B is on the marina ay seafood restaurant is a real (Tel: +44 (0)1297 442137), (Tel: +44 (0)1308 423222),

(Tel: +44 at C harbour: moules Portland Marina is behind the inner harbour ove: (Tel: +44 (0)1305

(Tel: +44 (0)8454 is on the Weymouth

The Riverside (Tel: +44 (0)1305 West Bay Weymouth is near the Cove Perry’s Lyme Regis : diesel and is next