Day 42 Gosport, Portsmouth and Southsea

 

The Lightship in Haslar Marina, Gosport, now a bar and restaurant.

Dear Readers, day 41 is a rest day for us, so we decided to take the 10 minute ferry ride to Portsmouth. We then headed to Southsea, because Josh is having a special birthday in September and we have booked a family weekend celebration there. We caught the no 1 bus to Southsea, and had a coffee stop in the Canoe Park, with some rather old fashioned but charming pedalos. I don't think the real swans were impressed!


I had to have a swim in the sea on the East beach by the pier, while Josh had an ice cream. It was very cooling for both of us, which was needed as we are having a heat wave at the moment.

We walked along the seafront and came to the D Day Story, which we visited for several hours, it was very interesting, clearly explained and full of personal stories of the D day landings. The tour starts on a Landing Craft and then leads you back into the building for the rest of the experience. Well worth a visit. 

Southsea Castle built by Henry VIII. He saw the Mary Rose sink from here. The flowers spell E II R.

The seafront is very well kept, with flower beds and shelters to sit in, all gaily painted, and numerous cafes and ice cream stalls along the way. There is a large grass area and a huge memorial to the Royal Navy, very reminiscent of the Hoe in Portsmouth. 

What a great way to encourage people to bin their litter

We also walked past the Hover Port where a small hovercraft takes you on a 10 minute trip to Ryde in the Isle of Wight. It is the only passenger hovercraft operating in the whole of Europe. We might do that trip next time we are here in September.

We hopped on a conveniently passing bus and were back at the ferry terminal in no time.

As it is so hot this evening we are staying on board and are having an early night in preparation for our 5am start tomorrow, to get the tide for most of the 8 hour trip to Brighton. Catch up with you then.

Brittany ferry and the Ben Ainslie hanger


The stunning view of the Spinnaker Tower and HMS Warrior



Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Day 48 and the return to our home port of Ramsgate.

Image
Lunar Sea and her crew back in Ramsgate  Dear Readers, we finally arrived back in Ramsgate five years after setting off on 1 May 2017. The weather then had been atrocious, but it couldn't have been more different for our return. It was promised to be the hottest day of the year, so we had plenty of sunshine and not very much wind. lt did pick up to about 12 knots as we approached Ramsgate, so we managed to get the sails up and the flags flying for our entrance to Ramsgate.  Leaving Dover, heading for the Eastern entrance,  on our way home now. It had been an uneventful 4 hour trip from Dover to Ramsgate, but for some reason the unusually hot weather had created an optical illusion and we had a really clear view of France as we passed Deal. Perhaps it is the high pressure, not sure why?  France, shall we go there instead? We had Josh's daughter Jo on board and Owen and Jordan, two of Josh's grandchildren, joined us in Dover for the day sail. When we got to the approach to Ra
Read more

Day one and two of the Caledonian Canal - the adventure continues

Image
The Lunatic crew for the Caledonian Canal   We entered the  Clachnaharry sea lock at Inverness for the 1.30 lock and were met by a very helpful, calm lock keeper who talked us through. There was a large sign saying Ireland this way! Clachnaharry Sea Lock, the entrance to the Caledonian Canal, The Great Glen, Loch Ness and Ireland! The lock was timed so that you could then sail through the railway swing bridge, then on to the Muirhead flight of four locks. We had relaxed once we got on to the canal, thinking things could only get better and there is much less to worry about in a canal as opposed to being out at sea, no tides to think about for example. How wrong we were, we were forgetting this is the Lunacy cruise. At the second lock Mick fell in! We heard a plop and a splash and Mick had fallen into the lock between the lock wall and the boat. Josh's quick thinking saved the day as he put the long swim ladder over the edge and Mick managed to climb up before he
Read more

Day 47 Eastbourne Sovereign Harbour to Dover

Image
  Passing Dungeness Dear Readers, a brief blog today as we are in Dover and just about to leave for our final leg to Ramsgate, which will be day 48 of this leg of the trip. We had a pleasant and uneventful motor sail to Dover, but it was a long trip of 9 hours. The time does go quickly when you are at sea, so it didn't seem so long. We had a couple of visits from porpoises, but they don't come and play around the boat like dolphins do.  Yacht trying to fill it's spinnaker, Eastbourne We had an exciting lock out of Sovereign harbour because it was very busy, so we had boats of all shapes and sizes jostling for position. We passed the remains of a wreck just outside the harbour, only the boilers remain and the birds seem to like it as a perch! Dungeness nuclear power stations. We passed Dungeness which is always interesting, as you get a good view from the sea of the two nuclear power stations, and the two light houses. There aren't many fishing vessels left on the beach,
Read more