Repairs completed, she was to have sailed for some sea trials today, departing from Southampton at 0900 and sailing out to the Nab, so I went to Cowes to photograph her on the way out.
My phone signal was intermittent - i.e. crap - and I couldn't check Marine Traffic AIS properly to see where she was so, when the signal allowed, I texted Patricia Dempsey who was at Hythe Marina. Saga Ruby had left the berth, assisted by the tugs Phenix and Wyeforce, but it was soon discovered that she had a fault which was soon fixed...but then another one developed so she returned to the berth. No new sailing time has been announced yet, so we have to wait and see.
It was a wasted journey from the photography point of view, especially with the cost of petrol these days, but it was a pleasant, if cold, morning and the dogs got a walk along the seafront at Cowes...lots of new, interesting, smells and 'p-mails' to check!
Apart from Red Osprey, one of the Red Jets and a solitary WAFI, the only floating object in the Solent was this Great Crested Grebe, already changing into its breeding plumage with the crest that gives the species its name.
I wanted to go to Tesco at Ryde, so I drove there via the East Cowes chain ferry and Fishbourne. I had not been to Fishbourne village itself - as opposed to the ferry terminal - since I was a kid when we used to go to the beach there (no idea why, as it's a crap stony and muddy beach and the island is blessed with much nicer ones!) so I was curious to see if I could park and get some nice photos of the ferry - I wanted to take some photos of something! There is limited parking down there and a turning space to extricate oneself without having to reverse back up the road.
St. Faith was in and just about to depart while, out in the Solent, Don Juan was passing, on her way up to Southampton with another load of cars.
Fishbourne is a pretty little place, once you are past the Fishbourne Inn, with some lovely cottages and, despite the presence of the Wightlink terminal, is - in estate agents' parlance - a 'much sought after' location. It could be said that, with the terminal there, they have ferries at the bottom of their gardens (that pun is too good not to use!). It is a lot smaller than I remember but, as the last time I was there was when I was a teenager - when myself and my stepbrother got yelled at by an old chap for throwing stones into the water, although we were actually doing no harm, and we cycled away giving him absolute abuse, the nice kids that we were - in 1980-something...! More than 25 years ago anyway!
St Faith starts her engines...
...and backs out of the terminal
As for Saga Ruby, these are uncertain times and, for the ship's numerous fans, worrying times due to her age. It's best to discover the problems now and fix them, rather than find out on Wednesday, when she is due to sail on her shortened world cruise, which has become a round-South America cruise instead.
Update - Saga Ruby is now scheduled to depart on her sea trials at 1700 this afternoon.
With thanks to Patricia Dempsey for the additional info and updates via text!
