Wow! That's Really Huge!! (part 2)

The tease with which fbb ended yesterday's blog remind him of an anecdote shared by a former colleague, Ann. In his younger days, her brother bought for himself a three wheel car and announced that he was taking it over on the ferry to the Isle of Wight. Slightly frustrated by bro's over-excitement about his entry into the motoring brigade, Ann innocently asked, "how will you manage getting the car on board up the two planks?"

Panic ensued!

Chortle chortle!

In the 1920s (?) The London and South Western Railway started their car ferry service from Portsmouth to Fishbourne, near Ryde. The island terminal was basic, simply a roadway laid down from the end of Fishbourne Lane to the edge of Wootton creek.

And that was about all there was.

It is somewhat bigger today.

(Google Earth view taken BEFORE the latest developments)

Barges full of vehicles were drawn by tug boats ...

... and, yes indeed, there were only two planks!

Later, more conventional ferries arrived on the route.

The last of these small and, frankly, primitive vessels survived until 1984 when "Fishbourne" was finally retired.

fbb remembers a journey across to Portsmouth in very windy weather when the vessel bucked and rolled most spectacularly, accompanied at one point by a loud crash as a whole shelf of teacups was emptied onto the floor (maybe better called the "deck"!) The boat made no further trips that day.

The mainstay of the fleet at that time was the so-called "C" class of boat, all named after Anglo Saxon kings (what else?).

But big changes were afoot with the arrival of the first of the "Saint" class vessels, significantly bigger than anything that hat floated previously.

Ultimately four female Saints plied their trade between mainland and island; St Helen, St Catherine, St Cicelia and St Faith.

Then, on the cusp of year 2000, Wightlink talent scouts found a part built ferry languishing in a shipyard in Gdansk. Known universally by the crews as "The Pride of Poland", she was christened St Clare.

She was even bigger. After her arrival, there was a brief period in which the company tried to run all five boats in high summer. It was a disaster, as loading and unloading delays meant a 40 minute crossing often became 90 minutes. Holidaymakers were not at all happy!

But the loading problem wouldn't go away and the company had aspirations to obtain another big big boat. 

Meanwhile, competitor Red Funnel was "stretching" their car ferries and adding a second deck. Double ramps were installed at both terminals ...

... and, reportedly, Wightlink was beginning to lose commercial traffic to the Southampton company. 

So double ramps it was for Wightlink at Portsmouth ...

... and Fishbourne.

The Pride of Poland was modified to accept two level loading and unloading and the newbuild would, of course, be so equipped.

Enter, in August 2018, Victoria of Wight.

Wow! That's Really Huge!! (Presumably the "of Wight" was necessary as there are plenty of Victorias and Queen Victorias floating around?)

It takes over 1000 passengers and can handle 178 cars. It has ten lounges and, yippee, free wifi!

And fbb has not yet sailed in her. Travelling from Seaton to the Island, the easiest route is from Lymington to Yarmouth, as previously (and often - yawn) reported.

But one day ...

On 25th January this year Cicelia, the last of the four Saints, was gracefully retired and moved to the Mediterranean. Here she joins the former Saints Helen and Catherine (Anna Mur and G B Conte are respectively their new names) working for the Delcomar company sailing from Sardinia. 

Definitely the end of an era; but there is a concern.

Instead of a fleet of up to four/five ferries for the Portsmouth Fishbourne run, Wightlink will now have only two, Vicky and Clare. Admittedly they are both big, but what happens if the elastic bank breaks, and it certainly will - probably on the busiest Saturday of the Summer.

"Aha!", says the Management, "we will be using the "spare" from the Lymington Yarnouth run if there is an emergency."

Klaxons sound, red lights flash and Wightlink regulars fear the worst. The Lymington boats have been found to be under-powered and the engines catch fire if they work too hard in windy weather. So to cover, say, for a huge and fully booked Victoria having an off day you have a much smaller Wight Sun/Light/Sky - only about half the size.

As someone once sang ...

There may be trouble ahead 

But while it's Vicky and Saint Care we love and romance 

Don't face the worry and chance 

Before the menders have fled 

Before they ask us to pay the bill and while we still have the chance 

Let's lose the worry and dance! 

Soon we'll be without the Sun, Light, Sky as they're in use and then 

There may be teardrops to shed 

So go Red Funnel, less risky, with much better chance? 

Let's ditch Wightlink and dance

Hey ho - Red Funnel will be booking-up all three of their boats, so you end up with the same risk! Maybe Bognor this year rather than the Isle of Wight?

 Next top-up blog : Monday 18th March