Day 41 Southampton to Gosport (Portsmouth)

 


Dear Readers, no prizes for guessing where we are now!


Leaving Ocean Village, where we felt that Lunar Sea didn't fit in!!

We left Ocean Village in Southampton Water at 12.30, looking forward to moving on to Portsmouth. We had a very pleasant sail, in light winds and sunshine. We did a quick detour up the Hamble to see Warsash, where Josh did his officer training for the Merchant Navy. 

It was much quieter in the Solent, but there were still a lot of sailing boats around, obviously racing because they were all going in the same direction. We also saw two lovely old racing yachts, possible J class boats, and then it dawned on us that it is the start of Cowes week!

Racing in the Solent, Cowes week

We still had to contend with ferries, both going to and from the Isle of Wight, including the unusual sight of a hovercraft. There is also  Brittany ferries going to France, container ships and the possibility of naval vessels. What is interesting is that the harbour master for Portsmouth is called the Queen's Harbour Master, or QHM for short!  

A bit close!

Isle of Wight hovercraft, an unusual craft to see these days.

We arrived in Haslar Marina, in Gosport, at 4.30 in the afternoon, a very sensible time to arrive and get settled in. We have been here before, but since we were last here it has been taken over by Boat Folk. the same company that runs Portishead. So it has excellent facilities, full recycling available and friendly and helpful harbour staff.  The signature light ship is still here though, so we went to have a drink on it after dinner on board Lunar Sea.

IOW Ferry and the Spinnaker tower


The views from the lightship have to be the best in town, as the lightship is moored opposite Portsmouth. 

When you see the ferries next to the Spinnaker Tower it makes you realise how big the ferries are.


We are having two nights here, and plan to get the little ferry across from Gosport to Portsmouth tomorrow.

So on Wednesday we will be leaving early (6am!) for Brighton, then an overnight stop there and on to Eastbourne for Thursday. 

We then plan several days there, as we have lots of friends and family visiting us. 

After that an overnight stop in Dover and we should reach Ramsgate on Monday, a week today.

 We both have mixed feelings about our trip ending, we feel sad because it's been a big part of our life for the last 5 years, and a great adventure. We don't want the adventure to end. However, it will be good to be home and to have Lunar Sea back in her home port of Ramsgate. 

Brittany Ferries coming into Portsmouth.



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