Gosport Ferry

[Daedelus]

Always felt that this was a right PITA just as you had got into Portsmouth harbour there was this green thing (or even two of them) coming for you.

However, saw it from the other side on Sunday - ferry coming from Portsmouth side when an HR suddenly did a 180 degree turn and started dropping his main right in front of the poor bloke. Ferry did a rapid turn but the HR couldn't have been looking or he'd have waited just a few yards.

Anyone else up for confession time?

 

[rotrax]

Always felt that this was a right PITA just as you had got into Portsmouth harbour there was this green thing (or even two of them) coming for you.

However, saw it from the other side on Sunday - ferry coming from Portsmouth side when an HR suddenly did a 180 degree turn and started dropping his main right in front of the poor bloke. Ferry did a rapid turn but the HR couldn't have been looking or he'd have waited just a few yards.

Anyone else up for confession time?

Never seen that, but First Mate who is I/C steering always insists that one of them ALWAYS jumps out in front of her when we are leaving or entering the Harbour.

Our only incident was running out of fuel just by Fort Blockhouse-the gauge read full but was faulty.

The sender has been deep sixed and a nice, simple and reliable dipstick put in its place.

We had to be rescued by the Harbour Patrol pontoon boat as we were being carried by the flood into the moored barges alongside just before Premier Marina.

Lucky escape-no wind, spring flood and the potential for serious cosmetic damage to the topsides.

 

[marklucas]

. Ferry did a rapid turn but the HR couldn't have been looking or he'd have waited just a few yards.

The ferries have directional propellers (fore and aft) so are very manoeuvrable. I only know because I asked the skipper once when using the ferry once.

Our only incident was running out of fuel just by Fort Blockhouse-the gauge read full but was faulty.


I too have run out of fuel on approaching Portsmouth - 200 yards South of Fort Blockhouse - but at least we were expecting it and anchor and lines ready. So a quick call to QHM to obtain permission to sail in (well he didn't have much choice really!) and then a controlled drift towards (gentle flood tide with a F2 SW) saw us to the entrance, where a passing RIB offered a tow to the fuel berth, some 100 yards away. We wouldn't have made it to the fuel berth but further North there was 200m of empty outer pontoon which we would have made and then sorted life out. Practising drifting backwards is a very useful adjunct to normal methods of propulsion.

 

[alant]

Always felt that this was a right PITA just as you had got into Portsmouth harbour there was this green thing (or even two of them) coming for you.

However, saw it from the other side on Sunday - ferry coming from Portsmouth side when an HR suddenly did a 180 degree turn and started dropping his main right in front of the poor bloke. Ferry did a rapid turn but the HR couldn't have been looking or he'd have waited just a few yards.

Anyone else up for confession time?

Built in Croatia, when there is a shipyard in Portsmouth needing the work!

 

[Stemar]

Anyone else up for confession time?

I got 5 hoots some years ago when taking the Admiral's sister and her huband out. He had his own dory fishing boat and had proved to be competent on the helm, so he was steering as we came in, while I went on deck to sort the sails out. I heard the toots and looked up to see the ferry bearing down on us and my helm doing an excellent imitation of a rabbit in the headlights.

With the tide that was running, our CPA was going to be right where the ferry had to pass to get alongside at Gosport, and avoiding us would have meant a crash stop or aborting and going round again, so he was absolutely right to holler. I think he'd realised what was going on because he'd hooted in plenty of time.

I was able to get out of his way easily enough, but my helm had just frozen.

 

[stuartwineberg]

Never seen that, but First Mate who is I/C steering always insists that one of them ALWAYS jumps out in front of her when we are leaving or entering the Harbour.

Our only incident was running out of fuel just by Fort Blockhouse-the gauge read full but was faulty.

The sender has been deep sixed and a nice, simple and reliable dipstick put in its place.

We had to be rescued by the Harbour Patrol pontoon boat as we were being carried by the flood into the moored barges alongside just before Premier Marina.

Lucky escape-no wind, spring flood and the potential for serious cosmetic damage to the topsides.

Many years ago in my first yacht, a 21 foot Westerly Warwick, the appalling Petter engine decided to explode its entire volume of oil out through one of the mild steel external oil feed pipes and into the bilge, thus stalling just inside the small boat channel. With the usual fluky winds we were being carried over to the Navy side and were heading directly between 2 ships of the line and looking likely to be jammed like a wedge between the bows of the moored ships. Fortunately we used to keep a long shaft Seagull on the transom and got it going in time to swerve away. Still one of the worst experiences of my sailing career. At least no-one shot at us which is probably what would have happened if we had headed for a couple of Navy ships today.

 

[stephen_h]

Hand up! - Was looking at a nice boat in Gunwharf and didn't notice ferry had left Gosport berth - got a hoot,
increased throttle and was out of the way in a few seconds. Sure it must have made a dull day for the Captain
a bit more interesting

 

[neil1967]

We normally give the Gosport ferry a wide berth - we used to daily commute on it - but last year we were heading slowly in and I thought it was going to be a bit close so I put on lots of power to get across him (stupid I know - we should have slowed down or even turned around) but only sped up only a tiny amount, but enough for us to get right in his way and he had to do a quick stop. Subsequently found the gearbox was slipping and had to be replaced :-(

 

[Habebty]

I grew up in Gosport in the 60s and 70s, and the ferries have had their moments too!
One very foggy Saturday, my parents took me on the monthly shopping expedition to Portsmouth. It was the thickest fog I have ever seen. The ferry was the Vesta ( last seen as a trip boat on the Thames) built in the 30s. And had no radar.

It was a very quiet but packed ferry that gingerly left the Gosport pontoon, and not a sound could be heard apart from the quiet engine.
We progressed slowly, and after about half an hour, a voice from the open bridge was heard to say " don't anybody bloody laugh, but I think this is Gosport"

Must have been about 1966/67 as we all trooped off the old ferry onto one of the "new" ferries and did the same trip in 10 minutes.

They had just taken delivery of the Gosport Queen and the Portsmouth Queen, followed a couple of years later by the "cruise boat" the Gay Enterprise, renamed a year later the Solent Enterprise
Those ferries were a big part of my life really.

 

[PhillM]

First time into Gosport marina. Basically stopped level with where the ferry needed to be to pull into Gosport and the other needed to be to leave. No hoots from them but my son went spare when he realised one ferry was arriving and one about to leave and I was ignoring both.

I'm sure that if I was listening out I'd have been called a numpty by both skippers.

 

[langstonelayabout]

Never seen that, but First Mate who is I/C steering always insists that one of them ALWAYS jumps out in front of her when we are leaving or entering the Harbour.

The damn things seem to have it in for us as well. Twice on Sunday I checked the harbour was clear, wellied the throttle and the blimmin Gosport ferry appeared just to the side of us.

Where is that Portsmouth-Gosport tunnel when its needed... http://www.lrta.org/southhants.html