Portland
July 27, 2022
HM 203. Portland. The world's largest man-made harbour when built in 1872 (now the 4th largest).
The iconic shape of Portland Bill is known the world over, but not many people know that it shelters a thriving port inside a giant harbour. A natural refuge for ships for centuries lead to the establishment of a base for the "steam" Royal Navy in 1845. A prison was then built at Portland to provide labour to build the massive breakwaters and create a "Port of Refuge", similar to Peterhead. When the Royal Navy left in 1996 an enterprising Dorset farmer, John Langham, bought the site and created a highly successful port. It now receives over 700 ships a year seeking a variety of services including bunkering (fuelling), repairs as well as imports of cement and animal feeds. It is a regular base for Royal Fleet Auxiliary ships and due to its large deep quaysides it is a perfect destination for Cruise Ships as is the stunning Jurassic Coast their guests.
I met the Deputy Harbour Master Claire Spencer who has a very relevant background. As past commanding officer of RFA ship Wave Knight, her role was to supply the RN (and other countries') ships with fuel, food, water and ammunition while on operations around the world. After leaving the RFA in 2010 she was offered a job as Pilot and Tug Skipper (great job title!) before becoming DHM. Her biggest challenge was running port operations alongside the 2012 Olympics. Portland Harbour is of course home to the National Sailing Academy.
On my tour around the harbour with George (ex Royal Engineer) we watched dinghies compete using "remote controlled" racing buoys (Photo 7) which are held in a GPS position by motors and require no anchoring. A vital gizmo as the harbour has a large area of seagrass which has to be carefully protected. The UK coastline has lost 90% of naturally occuring seagrass in the last few decades.
Thank you Claire and George for a very interesting visit and for locals I can recommend the most informative HM's newsletter on portland-port.co.uk (see photo 10).
My boat Good Dog is overwintering here at the excellent Boat Folk @portland_marina
The iconic shape of Portland Bill is known the world over, but not many people know that it shelters a thriving port inside a giant harbour. A natural refuge for ships for centuries lead to the establishment of a base for the "steam" Royal Navy in 1845. A prison was then built at Portland to provide labour to build the massive breakwaters and create a "Port of Refuge", similar to Peterhead. When the Royal Navy left in 1996 an enterprising Dorset farmer, John Langham, bought the site and created a highly successful port. It now receives over 700 ships a year seeking a variety of services including bunkering (fuelling), repairs as well as imports of cement and animal feeds. It is a regular base for Royal Fleet Auxiliary ships and due to its large deep quaysides it is a perfect destination for Cruise Ships as is the stunning Jurassic Coast their guests.
I met the Deputy Harbour Master Claire Spencer who has a very relevant background. As past commanding officer of RFA ship Wave Knight, her role was to supply the RN (and other countries') ships with fuel, food, water and ammunition while on operations around the world. After leaving the RFA in 2010 she was offered a job as Pilot and Tug Skipper (great job title!) before becoming DHM. Her biggest challenge was running port operations alongside the 2012 Olympics. Portland Harbour is of course home to the National Sailing Academy.
On my tour around the harbour with George (ex Royal Engineer) we watched dinghies compete using "remote controlled" racing buoys (Photo 7) which are held in a GPS position by motors and require no anchoring. A vital gizmo as the harbour has a large area of seagrass which has to be carefully protected. The UK coastline has lost 90% of naturally occuring seagrass in the last few decades.
Thank you Claire and George for a very interesting visit and for locals I can recommend the most informative HM's newsletter on portland-port.co.uk (see photo 10).
My boat Good Dog is overwintering here at the excellent Boat Folk @portland_marina