boats

Jun 122010
 

Before leaving the hotel for the day we asked about places along the coast to visit. A number of suggestions were offered up and we chose Lyme Regis – it’s supposed to be very beautiful and not too touristy. It was a few hours of driving, but we enjoyed seeing more of the English countryside.

English Channel, near Lyme Regis

Our first sighting of the English Channel from Dorchester Road (A35), looking South.


The community itself is a small beach town. There are cabanas along the beaches, a lawn bowling club, and an aquarium/museum on the breakwater.

We arrived at low tide, surprised to see boats in the small harbor sitting on mud. Lyme Regis gets about a 3m (10ft) tide difference twice a day and the harbor was not made in deep water.

Lyme Regis low tide

Low Tide at Lyme Regis

It was interesting to see the dual keel sailboats that stand upright rather than falling over like a typical sailboat would.

The end of the breakwater protecting the harbor had this stone staircase built into it.

Lyme Regis stairway

The stone wall protecting the harbor has interesting steps leading down it. The first step is a bit disorienting.


We had lunch in a pub, watched a family launch their ski boat by backing about a hundred feet into the shallow water of the harbor, and headed back to Salisbury.