Waverley on the South Coast Part 8
Report by Martin Longhurst
On Saturday 16 September 2006, I had to attend a PSPS Council so missed the final Round The Island sail. The weather was quite dull as the Waverley circumnavigated anti-clockwise with a full load.
Passing The Needles (Jenny Longhurst)
The paddler pulls away from Portsmouth Harbour Station Pier on her last leg to Southampton (Jenny Longhurst)
Heading off into the gathering dusk (Jenny Longhurst)
Sunday saw much brighter weather, initially at least. Over 100 joined at Southampton and Yarmouth before the paddler headed for Bournemouth.
Iain Quinn checks the PSPS London Branch Programme to check the date of his talk
Approaching the western berth at Bournemouth
Quite a throng joined here too and Bournemouth Belle brought the Swanage contingent across the Bay. Soon a cool mist enveloped the steamer and visibility was curtailed, but fortunately most passengers were already on board by then!
Weymouth's Pleasure Pier
Weymouth was reached a few minutes early and we tried the Ringwood Brewery's The Boot, to the south side of the Inner Harbour.
Who's stolen the tops of the cliffs?
Worbarrow Tout
Peter Bushell (Southend) attempts to sell Rebirth of a Legend to Chris Phillips (Swanage)
Whisps of steam curl round the forward funnel
The visibility improved to a certain extent on the return voyage, so passengers were able Chris Warren's knowledgeable commentary. Today again, there were one-way trips offered from Weymouth to Bournemouth and from Bournemouth to Southampton, both with coach return.
Monday was off-service at Southampton and Tuesday saw the paddler head for Bournemouth to take her sail to Ryde and Portsmouth Harbour cruise. At this point Hurricane Gordon intervened, disrupting the remainder of the week's sailings. Tuesday's trip was curtailed at Southampton with coaches home and the following two days' timetables had to be abandoned.
Meanwhile Captain Colledge decided to set course for Tilbury early on Wednesday morning, ahead of the worst of the windy weather, berthing at the Essex port at 20.35. This turned out to be the right decision as conditions on the Thursday were too bad for the steamer to sail safely.