As years go, 2012 wasn't too bad, except for the appalling cold, wet and dismal weather which marked late spring, summer and autumn and put a dampener on major events during the summer.
Anyway, here are a few highlights, lowlights and notable events from this year, with some representative photos and links to the relevant blog posts.
In April, I visited a lighthouse for the first time, when I got the chance to visit St. Catherines Lighthouse on the south side of the Isle of Wight.
5th June had the first meeting of all three current Cunard 'Queens' at Southampton. This was billed as a 'Jubilee' event, coinciding with events up and down the country marking Elizabeth II's 60 years as monarch but, unfortunately, it was a bit spoiled by the unusually - even for our climate - diabolical weather. I didn't go over to Southampton, having picked up some 24-hour disease or other and, in any case, it wasn't worth the effort, in view of the bad weather, and all three would be back in Southampton on 13th July, minus the hype and probable crowds.
3rd July was the P&O Grand Event, celebrating 175 years of the company, and all seven of their current cruise fleet were in Southampton together. I was lucky enough to be there aboard Oriana, having been invited along by my friend Patricia Dempsey; someone else was booked but he had to drop out and his insurance covered the costs meaning I effectively got a free cruise, a four night one to Amsterdam and Zeebrugge. Again, the event was a bit marred by wet and misty weather but that didn't prevent everyone having a good time.
13th July - a Friday - saw all three current Queens back in Southampton. This was a much more low-key and unadvertised event but Blue Funnel Cruises were running a boat trip, which I joined, meeting up with my friends Patricia and Kevin Dempsey and Andrew and Donna Cooke. The weather was a vast improvement on the previous 'Royal Rendezvous' and the sun even made a guest appearance!
25th July - HM The Queen visited Cowes so I went with my aunt to see her. I am not a royalist but I fancied a morning out and went with my aunt (who is an ardent royalist) to see her. We got good views and I got some cracking photos of Her Madge as well. It was, for once, a gloriously hot and sunny summer's day, too.
On 2nd August I visited Holland America Line's Maasdam for the day. I'd put my name down for it and duly received a confirmation email. Mein Schiff 2 was also in, so that was two 'new' ships for my photo collection! It was a very enjoyable day and worth the effort of going across to Southampton early and also having to dress smartly.
Among the lowlights were learning in October that a ship I'd always been very fond of, the old Spirit of Free Enterprise/Pride of Kent (I) had gone to Turkish breakers as Anthi Marina, in April, following the collapse of GA Ferries. She was almost unrecognisable in her final, badly altered (molested!) form, only her superstructure and funnels identified her as one of the three Townsend-Thoresen Spirit-class ships from 1979/80. Only one now survives, Oleander, the former Pride of Free Enterprise, but how long for?
Another old friend, Pride of Dover, is also facing an uncertain future, having been towed to Turkey (for what? Breakers or repair?) at the end of November. I managed to catch her in the shipping lane south of the Isle of Wight on 30th November, under tow of the tug Eide Fighter. Luckily her twin, Pride of Calais, has been acquired by TEF and will enter service, as Ostend Spirit, in the New Year. Dover Ferry Photos Forum has all the latest news, gossip and speculation (you need to join to view the forums but it is worth it).
Back to the highlights and, in November I managed to fulfil an ambition I'd held since childhood - a trip on a Cunard liner. I went, again with Patricia Dempsey, on Queen Mary 2 for a short, four-night, trip to the Channel Islands, Le Havre and Zeebrugge. It was a superb trip and Queen Mary 2 is a wonderful ship, I sincerely hope I can sail on her again one day in the not-too-distant future.
Meanwhile, speculation abounds as to QM2's predecessor, Queen Elizabeth 2, and her ultimate fate. Rumours of possible scrapping have surfaced and a change of crew to a Chinese one, reported by Rob Lightbody on the QE2 Story Forum, have done nothing to allay people's quite natural fears for the ship. Like Pride of Dover, we will have to wait and see what happens but at least QE2 is over 40 years old, and has had a good innings, while Pride of Dover is just 25. That said, I am one of those people who don't want to see the ship scrapped but, at the same time, realistically do we want her to potentially end up in a possibly SS United States-style purgatory? Fingers crossed for both QE2 and Pride of Dover, two ships I have fond memories of.
Anyway, that is 2012, as was. Not a bad year by any stretch of the imagination, if you discount the atrocious weather and my being made redundant at the end of September. It's December 21st, as I type, a nice sunny day and - as entirely expected - no sign of a world-ending apocalypse. I guess that if the fictitious rogue asteroid/planet/comet/whatever hit us, it'd come down with a dull splat in a soggy English field somewhere. Mind you, with the rain we've had this year, that'd probably generate a good-sized tsunami in itself.
I smugly wrote on Facebook a few days ago that I'd not managed to break any bones or get any serious illnesses this year, unlike 2011 which was marked by a (fortunately benign) liver tumour, a torn knee cartilage and a broken ankle, only to injure my neck two days ago, a suspected slipped disc!
Non-maritime highlights include a trip to Texas to see my friends there as well as the best Olympics of the modern Olympiad.
What will 2013 bring? Probably not a lot if my work situation doesn't improve. I definitely have a short cruise booked, on Aurora in April and again with Patricia D (pooling our resources makes these trips just about affordable, as doing it singly would mean I'd have to pay the odious single supplement), a four nighter to Amsterdam and Zeebrugge. Boring itin? Not a bit of it - great for ship photography!
I also plan a trip to Dover, Calais and Ostend with possibly Terneuzen and Antwerp thrown in for good measure. The Ostend part of it will be to catch up with Pride of Calais/Ostend Spirit and maybe the rumoured Ramsgate Spirit (Pride of Dover/A. N. Other Ship) as well.
Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year everyone.
