I hadn't been to Dover since 2005 and that was just a fleeting visit on my way over to Belgium, so I decided that, this summer, I would go down there to see the changes in the local ferries. My friend Patricia was also planning to go to Dover on July 4th to see the two Saga ships, Saga Ruby and Saga Sapphire so we decided to pool our resources and go together.
With that planned, I booked my car onto Red Funnel for 3rd July and arranged to collect Patricia in Southampton just after 0930. Because of some stuff Patsy had to do en route, we arrived in Dover at around 4pm where cruise ships Carnival Legend and AIDAstella were waiting. We checked ourselves into the Premier Inn on the seafront, where I'd booked us a twin room, and then went to get photos of Carnival Legend, which departed at 1700. Unfortunately the light was rubbish.
AIDAstella sailed at 2000, in improved lighting conditions. There are WAFIs in Dover, too, but these don't seem to do any actual sailing, they come out of a marina, sort of drift around then head back in again.
The ferries were coming and going.
Spirit of Britain leaving in the late afternoon/early evening
Here, as it was getting dark, Spirit of Britain is back in while Pride of Canterbury arrives.
The next morning we took a return trip over to Calais, travelling over on Spirit of France and back on one of my old favourites, Pride of Burgundy.
The weather was disappointingly murky but improved as the day went on.
Dunkerque Seaways was in
While Nord Pas-de-Calais, another of my favourite ships, was just arriving.
As we left the harbour and headed out into the misty Dover Strait, Pride of Burgundy and Dieppe Seaways were approaching
The trip across was enlivened by a Herring Gull looking for easy pickings, which a group of American teenagers were happy to give him.
Spirit of Britain and Calais Seaways - a ship which has had more names than I've had hot dinners - were leaving Calais on their way to Dover.
A seal swam behind us as we entered Calais harbour.
Pride of Canterbury and Rodin were in Calais, as was the ro-ro ship Ivan
As we didn't have long before the return sailing, we waited in the terminal where I found a lovely model of the Spirit-class (original Spirits, not the new things) ship Pride of Kent, formerly Spirit of Free Enterprise. She's one that's much missed around here.
We didn't have that long to wait until our 1325 return sailing on Pride of Burgundy. In the meantime, Dieppe Seaways had arrived back in Calais.
Berlioz was approaching Calais as we left, 20 minutes late.
The weather was disgusting, so we headed inside. Personally I much preferred Pride of Burgundy to Spirit of France, she was a much friendlier ship with nicer interiors although her outer decks could do with a bit of attention. I just didn't like SoF at all. What were P&O thinking when they designed her with bugger-all outside deck space part of which is designated for smokers - who ignore the no-smoking signs on the no-smoking port side and invade it with their filthy habit.
The weather improved as we got to the English side of the Channel. Spirit of France was departing from Dover, I nearly missed her...
...as I was watching Nord Pas-de-Calais following us into Dover
Dover Seaways was about to depart
Another friendly gull...all nice gulls love a sailor.
After we'd disembarked and gone through the usual formalities -which included ridiculous questions asking us where we'd been, why and for how long, which annoyed me as I was coming back into my OWN country on a UK passport - we headed back to my car to drive along the seafront, because we intended to walk up Prince of Wales Pier to photograph the Saga ships departing...at least that was the plan. In the end we just got Saga Sapphire and not Ruby, which didn't sail until 6pm.
While waiting for these, I photographed more ferries - Berlioz, Dunkerque Seaways and Pride of Canterbury.
Both Saga ships were late, Saga Sapphire didn't sail until nearly 1700 and I had to run down the pier to renew my parking ticket, as I'd put £2 in the machine and not £3, before she was clear of the harbour. In any case we had to get going pretty soon, because I was booked on the 2215 ferry back to East Cowes, and had to go back to Southampton via Dibden Purlieu to drop Patsy back at her place, and I know what the M25 is like at this time of day, so didn't want to risk getting held up especially as Red Funnel love charging people for missed ferries and amended sailings ('Missed your allotted sailing? Oh dear, that'll be another fiver please').
While we were waiting for Saga Ruby, I decided to go and get some petrol, and when I returned to the pier I could see Patsy walking down. She'd given up on Ruby and, as it turned out, the ship didn't sail until 1800.
Dover-Southampton is usually around 2.5 hours but the M25 was indeed as bad as I thought it would be, but after queueing on that motorway and witnessing some spectacularly crap driving on the M3, we got back to Southampton by 8.30pm and were quickly in Dibden where I dropped Patsy off at her place.
It was a good trip and it's been too long since I'd been to Dover, and I really shouldn't leave it another eight or nine years. It was slightly sad, as some old friends - the old Spirit class, the Prides of Dover and Calais, etc, are all gone - but Dover is still a busy place and long may it remain so.
