Harry May Boat Trips

03/02/2025

A fantastic opportunity to acquire a well established and highly successful boat tripping business based in the desirable coastal resort of Lyme Regis in Dorset.

Catering to the region's heavy flow of tourists, this is an ideal seasonal business from April to October with very good demonstrable profits over a prolonged trading period.

After 53 successful years of loving the life, owner Harry May is planning to retire at the age of 79 having been voted No. 1 boat trip in Dorset and No. 1 attraction in Lyme Regis with over 500 5* reviews.

The business is being sold as a going concern including all assets and branding:

Two beautifully maintained 7.3 metre wooden tripping boats. Each boat licensed to carry 10 passengers for deep sea fishing, mackerel fishing and sightseeing trips around the World Heritage Jurassic coast with commercial moorings and much sought after licenses in Lyme Regis harbour.

Fishing tackle, rods, reels, lines, fuel storage shed and dinghy included.

Branding, website, social media accounts and domain names.

Asking price: £120,000
Turnover: £70-90k
Net profit: On request

Please send a private message or phone Harry May on 07974 753287

Serious expressions of interest only please.

18/10/2022

My Radio 2 request to Johnnie Walker granted

For several years I tried to get various tracks played on different radio stations and each time the message was the same.

Thank you to everyone who has been out on our boats from Lyme Regis. Thank you to everyone who booked on Harry May Boat Trips. I asked for different records and then suddenly I was successful!! Johnnie Walker, who I have followed since his days on Radio Caroline, played Rocky Mountain Way by Joe Walsh on his Sunday afternoon show on Radio 2. I asked Johnnie to dedicate this record to everyone who was onboard my boat when a very large bottle nosed dolphin followed usleft for a full hour.

This event had quite an effect on my passengers as well as myself. One lady left the boat in floods of tears and people who didn’t know each other were hugging at the end of the trip. None of us on board will ever forget that hour. Here is a beautiful track for everyone who has been out or is planning to come out or who just can’t get enough of Hans Zimmer and Time.

Prepare for goosebumps!!

As this year’s season for Lyme Regis deep sea fishing or Lyme Regis mackerel fishing trips comes to an end Harry May Boat Trips looks forward to welcoming new and returning visitors in 2023.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=va1oiojnGrA&list=RDva1oiojnGrA&start_radio=1

01/10/2022

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/zm4dLF8FIek

The amazing device called a jet board

I was out in the bay this afternoon when I spotted two of these within a few hundred yards of the end of the Cobb. Clearly one rider was an expert and the other a learner. I watched fascinated as the expert made it look so easy. He just glided around and I could see thousands and thousands of kids wanting one NOW. You might call it effortless surfing.

Before long our expert came near which is when I got this video. As he spun round the boat with absolutely no effort at all he told me these have existed for four years and he had done 5,000 hours on them. No wonder he makes it look so simple !

At the moment these boards seem to cost anything between £5000 and £10.000 but I imagine in no time at all the price will plummet and they will become much more available. I don't remember hearing any sound from this machine at all. I’m afraid they make jet skis look rather like yesterdays noisy toy.

Now I can't promise that you'll see a jet board every time you come on a Lyme Regis deep sea fishing trips or one hour Lyme Regis mackerel fishing trips but I can offer you an excellent 1 or 3 hour fishing trip with all rods, reels, bait and tackle provided.

20/09/2022

Extraordinary sky and light tonight over Lyme Regis

As I was growing up in Lyme Regis in the very early 50s my parents and my brother and I lived in a house on the same site as my house now and that is right next door to the public gardens.

Only in those days the gardens finished where the statue of George Somers stands today. Between there and where I live is the Lister Gardens. For most of the 1950s the family that make all the chocolate, the Cadburys, owned that land.

It stretched from the the Marine Parade (or Swim as it is now) right up to the crazy golf course which is where the Cadburys had a huge mansion where the many members of the family would visit from time to time.

It was called Cliff House. Right next door where Merry and Carl Salter live stands Cliff Cottage and it was in Cliff Cottage that Mr and Mrs Ernest Garnsey,the chef and his wife, lived. They did all the cooking for the Cadburys.

Now the reason for this story is that the Cadburys bought the Garnseys a television, probably one of the first TVs in Lyme Regis and I remember being taken to their house in June 1953 to watch the Queen’s coronation. It was a very small black and white set of course but I thought it was magical.

I can’t claim to have been doing the job as long as the Queen but this is my 50th year of doing Lyme Regis deep sea fishing trips or one hour Lyme Regis mackerel fishing trips.

The photo with the extraordinary sky and light was taken from my house the night the Queen passed away.

29/08/2022

Candles on the Cobb - A Lyme Regis Night to Treasure

Thousands and thousands of people descended on Lyme Regis tonight to witness the spectacular Candles On The Cobb and what a show it was!

There wasn’t even a breath of wind making it the first time that all 5,000 candles stayed alight throughout the whole event. Each candle is bought and paid for by someone remembering someone special and the town was packed. All 5,000 candles were sold at £5 each and what with the special music that played on the speakers – music that spoke of love, of memories, of someone much loved and missed – it was a very moving occasion. As I drifted amongst the crowds, many people were holding hankies or openly crying.

The money raised is going to cancer research, the Red Cross and local Lyme youth projects. When all the candles were alight, Alan Vian, the excellent master of ceremonies on the loud speakers, asked everyone who’d assisted in the lighting to move off The Cobb and leave all the lighted areas empty. That is when there was complete silence from the crowds as everyone just gazed at the sight in front of them. One minute later, Elton John’s ‘Candle in the Wind’ came on the speakers all along the sea front and the Cobb - an appropriate song for a magical and moving moment. Well done to everyone who was involved! It was a major Lyme Regis event.

Experience another exciting Lyme Regis event by joining one of our Lyme Regis deep sea fishing trips or one hour Lyme Regis mackerel fishing trips.

18/07/2022

Flurin catches big bass and the Harbour Inn cooks it

Thursday July 14th. We were still in the middle of all the heat and extremely calm weather, the three hour morning deep sea fishing trip left Lyme Regis Harbour at 8.30am as usual.

There were six people aboard, one lad by himself, one mum with her son and the Messmer family from Baden in Switzerland, mum, dad and their 14 year old son Flurin. We were fishing a mark about two and a half miles south east of Lyme Regis. At first we caught lots of whiting and when we had a large bucket full we changed tactics and baited up for conger eels as I knew there were some down there – large baits all round.

Almost immediately Flurin’s rod bent right over. He struck and the fight was on. The fish fought every inch of the way up and all the time I thought it was a good sized conger but when the fish appeared from underneath the boat wham bang … it was the biggest bass I had ever seen! Much excitement all round and even after snapping the trusty landing net we got the beast aboard . It was beautiful and huge, the biggest bass landed in Lyme Regis for many years. It had been caught on a very small hook positioned one meter up from the bottom and baited with a short te****le from a cuttle fish.

The family were overjoyed but what to do with the fish? They were staying in Sidmouth and leaving for home in two days. That was when we came up with the idea of the Harbour Inn in Lyme Regis. One call to Daryl the chef and the deal was on. The family chose various courses from the menu including bass, didn’t pay a penny for the night out and the Harbour Inn kept the rest of the bass to sell. Everybody was happy except the fish!

This is what can happen when you come on one of our Lyme Regis deep sea fishing trips or one hour Lyme Regis mackerel fishing trips.

18/07/2022

https://youtu.be/B8yWZ0UVjD8

Right at the end of the trip Eli catches a 35 lb conger eel

Eli was cool, calm and collected. She brought a very big fish of around 35 lbs up to the surface.

Eli recently moved to Ottery St Mary from Dubai to be near her grandmother and has always been very keen on fish and fishing. She booked on to my morning deep sea fishing trip and came out with two friends on July 8th.

We left Lyme Regis Harbour at the usual time of 8.30am and went out a mile and a third to a wreck where Eli and her friends plus three other passengers – a man and his two sons – caught a lot of whiting which I prepared for their lunch and barbecues. For the last hour we moved to a different fishing spot where we anchored down and all six fisher persons put on a big bait in the hope of a conger eel or a skate, something a bit meaty that would put up a bit of a fight. Eli almost got more than she wished for.

A small conger of about 18 lbs came along and was released and then, ten minutes before we were due to come home, one of the men hooked into something really big that refused to leave the bottom and after three or four minutes bit through the line and got away. Two minutes later it struck again on a young lad’s bait but again it escaped after biting through the line. We waited, time was running out, everyone had new fresh bait, we waited…….and suddenly Eli struck just like a pro and the big fish was back on the end of a hook.

The rest is here for you to watch. Eli was cool, calm and collected. She brought a very big fish of around 35 lbs up to the surface.

You might just share a similar experience when you come on one of our Lyme Regis deep sea fishing trips or one hour Lyme Regis mackerel fishing trips.

07/06/2022

Lyme Regis Platinum Jubilee finale with fireworks at the Cobb

Anyone missing Lyme Regis at the moment will get a jolt when they look at this wonderful picture of our truly beautiful town in this perfect setting.

This was taken by Max Redwood using one of his many drones just before 10pm on Sunday June 5 when a spectacular and very loud firework display started from the end of The Cobb. This brought to an end the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee Bank Holiday when Lyme was packed and everyone seemed to be in a great mood.

There were crowds everywhere and we were blessed with good weather and calm seas. Our boats were in and out non-stop and there were even a few mackerel to add to the mix. A pod of dolphins appeared on the Friday much to the pleasure of those onboard at the time.

You can share this experience when you come on one of our Lyme Regis deep sea fishing trips or one hour Lyme Regis mackerel fishing trips.

03/04/2022

Ukrainian flag flying over the Cobb at Lyme Regis

https://youtu.be/vfr5EQmdU9A

Soon after Russia started its deadly invasion I sent off for a Ukrainian flag.

It was a very popular thing to do at that time because it didn’t turn up a few days later. In fact, I had to wait a fortnight before it arrived. I had planned to fly it from my boat which was out of the water at that time having a paint up on the slipway. It was in a good public space where lots of people walked by everyday but because of the delay I didn’t think it would stand out well on the mast in the harbour.

So without delay, I hoisted it on the council flag pole at the end of The Cobb and I have to say it looks very good indeed. Of course, whatever the time of year if the weather allows it, there will always be people passing by, giving Ukraine a thought.

I thought if I asked permission there would probably have to be a committee meeting up at Dorset Council’s headquarters in Dorchester and it could be ages before someone on high says yes.
It is horrendous what Russia is doing. The whole world is shocked. Why Putin thinks he has to destroy Ukraine completely I cannot imagine. Who on earth will ever rebuild it?

Harry’s boats are back in the water ready for another season taking people out for Lyme Regis deep sea fishing trips or one hour Lyme Regis mackerel fishing trips from Lyme Regis Harbour.

Ukrainian Flag Flown at Lyme Regis - 22nd March 2022