Afterwards

Last night we drove to Yarmouth to catch the ferry, and found ourselves the first in line. Through an upstairs window of the booking office, I could see a TV screen, and the Olympics closing ceremony still winding down. Perhaps that was why it was so quiet. We wandered around in the still, warm air, trying to take photos of boats in the harbour. Eventually the ferry arrived, and all of three cars drove on. The captain came over to CleanSteve and asked if he'd mind if they did some staff training, in the form of launching the rescue boat.

Mind? We were delighted. More blippertuntities! We went up to the sun deck , though it was past midnight, and waited for the alarms to go off. Unfortunately they went off right as I was passing a speaker, and yes...they are quite loud! The rescue boat was an orange dinghy, resembling an inflatable/RIB, and the task was for the crew to attach it to the crane by wires and hawsers; two men to climb aboard; the crew to lower it to sea level; to release the ropes; and motor off into the darkness. The whole exercise took about fifteen minutes, which I thought was quite long. But then again, I am used to school fire drills...

When the boat zoomed off I had a warm, fuzzy feeling, imagining Starbug leaving Red Dwarf, the mother ship. This was very odd, as I'd never thought I actually believed in Red Dwarf! It was such a tiny, orange boat once it hit the water, with its crew of two men in orange with blue helmets, and the darkness around it was complete. Off you go, little boat, into the night...

Then our ferry carried on into Lymington, up the river channel. It is narrow, and there are red and green lights to port and starboard every few yards, to show the way. Yachts bobbed up and down on either side, as we approached land. The evening was still, and I could only hear the chug of the engine; CleanSteve and a crew member chatting in the distance; and lights of the Lymington twinkling. I will remember the peace of the lighted channel for a long, long time.

So, why this curious shot? Well, I had not figured out how to alter the settings for night on the borrowed camera, so I winged it. It was very dark indeed, The resulting shots were blurry, to say the least. Also, this is the aftermath of a holiday; there is the fizz of memory, and the restorative effect of extra sleep and time spent doing nada, but the champagne, the champagne has all been drunk! And tomorrow one may wake with a headache.

[Serves you right for eating all that cheddar cheese. You know it's no good. Ed.]
CleanSteve is blipping this shot too. He managed to get the boat in! Here