A SAILING vessel is safely back in harbour after crossing the Bermuda Triangle but getting stuck in Lyme Bay.

The Tall Ship Pelican undertook a voyage of thousands of miles from St Lucia in the Caribbean to Weymouth, but was foiled by ‘unhelpful’ winds to the west of Portland.

Becky Simmons, of the ship’s crew, said the crew were ‘really pleased’ to be back in Weymouth.

She said: “We left St Lucia in February, crossing the Bermuda Triangle with no problems at all.

“It was a bit rough, but you expect that in the Atlantic at this time of year.”

But the winds changed as the ship approached her home harbour.

Becky added: “We got to the west of Portland perfectly on schedule but the winds were just against us.

“We were stuck in Lyme Bay for two days before we finally managed to get around the Bill of Portland early on Saturday morning.”

Because the ship is a sailing vessel, its journey is dependent on winds. An attempt was made to motor around the Bill, but this was unsuccessful.

She said: “It wasn’t an emergency or anything, and there was never any danger, it’s just one of those things.

“But it was quite funny to be stuck so close to home after sailing all that way.

“We were very thankful to get back into Weymouth Harbour. We rushed down to the quay and grabbed the moorings.”

Pauline Trimming, of Weymouth, said her friend was on board the vessel.

She said: “The TS Pelican was unable to make it around Portland Bill due to the high winds and weather.

“She and her crew, including one of my friends, anchored up near the Fleet on Thursday, and spent all day on Friday trying very hard to battle against the wind, all to no avail.

“As the winds dropped overnight, they went for it and made it around.

“A three month trip around the Caribbean and back across the Atlantic, to be frustrated so close to home.”

The TS Pelican was due to take part in an expedition to re-enact Shackleton’s voyage to South Georgia Island as a support vessel but had to withdraw as they faced the thickest pack ice seen in the Antarctic for 40 years.

They diverted instead to the trans-Atlantic journey, leaving from the Caribbean island of St Lucia and visiting Bermuda and the Azores before heading back to the UK.

Becky added: “The crew ended up in the sunny climes of the Caribbean with all their winter clothing, because they were expecting to go to the Antarctic – but for some reason, we had no complaints.”

The Tale

THE Bermuda Triangle is an area of the North Atlantic Ocean where dozens of ships and planes are said to have vanished without trace.

The disappearances have sparked a number of theories about supernatural causes to try to explain the mystery but many scientists believe the environment is to blame.

The area, off the coasts of Miami, Bermuda and Puerto Rico, sees the majority of Atlantic tropical storms and hurricanes passing over it and the Gulf Stream is known to cause rapid and violent changes in the weather.

The sea is also shallow in places, due to the large number of islands in the Triangle.

But Portland Bill has its own reputation for fearsomely rough seas, with swells of up to five metres and numerous ships being wrecked over the centuries.