And so to where we are currently  - sitting on a marina berth in the centre of Poole Harbour, the largest natural harbour in England, again attracting attention from the locals. As we motored through the harbour entrance, across the large chain drawn ferry (and waiting for the chain to sink as it berthed) that runs between the east and west sides we passed the New Haven Hotel which was the site that  Marconi first transmitted from. On taking a berth at the town quay we were asked to move as a British warship was due in to berth for the night so we relocated 100 metres into the marina. After fuelling up at Cowes we set off to the SW in a SW wind of force 5-6 (20 to 25 knots) and in the rain! Had a 14 mile beat to the Needles and then as the wind veered to the south we were able to lay through to Poole and the rain finally stopped. Today was really the first decent windward work we have experienced and again the boat performed  right up to expectations trucking along with one reef and the self tacker at 8.8 to 9.4 in 20-24 knots apparent at 30 degrees which is where the polars show we ought to be.

So the big debate tonight is where to for tomorrow – looks like a choice between Dartmouth or Salcombe before then going on to Falmouth and picking the weather window for the Biscay crossing.