Sumara of Weymouth

Reading Time: 5 minutes

22nd June 2024

We arrived at Weymouth at 11:30 GMT and were allocated berth D4. Normally finding a berth requires a search of the pontoon ends with binoculars to spot the minute signs to denote “D pontoon” and then a guess to wonder whether you travel down the near side or far side to find berth 4 on D pontoon. No such worrying in Weymouth as the signs are MASSIVE, clearly designed by a boater!

I love Weymouth, but this year I had another reason to visit this seaside town, I had arranged to meet the family of Terry, who built Sumara. It was time to get out the Brasso.

But before the gathering it was necessary to sample a crab sandwich at Portland Bill. Our friend Philip had been working in Plymouth and called in to see us, so we all jumped on the ferry to Portland Harbour.

The ferry crew recommended the sandwiches at Quiddles near Chesil Beach, saying they were superior to The Lobster Pot on the Bill. No doubt they were correct, but when we arrived at Quiddles they weren’t serving food and had no crab in any case! So off to the the Bill, we went.

I had perhaps built up everyone’s expectations too much. The £12.50 crab sandwich was fine, but I am sure the description said “with salad and crisps”, but it had no crisps which actually rather annoyed me! Lucky I had ordered some chips as a side dish so I didn’t go hungry. Only a couple of tables had sun shades and people were gasping for shade. I think they should invest some of their profits to provide a few more sun shades. So just 7 out of 10 for the Lobster Pot.

On the walk back from a swim at Castle Cove we stumbled upon the Stone Pier Cafe. It scored bonus marks for refraining from the temptation to use the work “Shack” in its title. As it sold crab sandwiches, we decided to have another go. At £11.50 it was £1.00 cheaper, so more points for that. It didn’t come with crisps but never claimed it would do, so that was fine. It was a little over rich with brown meat but otherwise a very fine sandwich served with a well dressed salad. 9 out of 10 for the Stone Pier Café which also happens to be just a short walk from the Cove moorings. We visited the Stone Pier Café again one evening and had an excellent Paella whilst being entertained with live music overlooking the harbour entrance. Highly recommended.

Sumara’s name was created by Terry to include all his daughter’s names: SUsan, MAry and Angela, so it was wonderful to meet them all and show them around the boat. Chris, one of Terry’s sons also joined the gathering together with Susan’s son, Shane and his girlfriend Rachel. It was quite a gathering especially as I had naively organised it to clash with an England Euro football match. Luckily they seemed blissfully unaware of the match and seemed to enjoy the evening.

Weymouth Good Points

Weymouth is loaded with holiday atmosphere. Kids screaming as they catch a crab, pensioners enjoying an ice cream, people eating al fresco

None of the sterile marina moorings, this is a proper town quay with boats rafted up and lots of activity to watch

Although clearly a popular holiday town it also seems to have commercial working boats providing a working town atmosphere.

There is an amazing fine sand beach. I reckon this is about 320 grit. There is another beach a short walk away at Castle Cove.

Bad Points

Unless you are willing to take the inshore route, there is a 7 mile detour to avoid the Shambles and the Portland Race (if heading west)

The showers were a bit of a trek away over the bridge, but that was no big deal.

Price per night for an 8 m yacht

I think it was £32.00, not too bad for the South coast.