The Princess Anne

Do not be deceived, this is not a short pointy-ended vessel the size of a launch but a massive 185 ft long and 78 ft wide hovercraft. Of six* SR.N4 class constructed, The Princess Anne is the only one to have been preserved. Currently she resides at the Hovercraft Museum in Lee on Solent, with a wide variety of designs and sizes - including two from the BBC programme Scrapheap Challenge.

*The others were named:
The Princess Margaret
The Prince of Wales
The Sure
The Swift 
and, after the inventor
Sir Christopher Cockerell 

The SR.N4 class had a top speed of 70 knots, carrying 60 cars and 418 passengers, plying between Dover and Boulogne or Ramsgate to Calais.

Although I was not especially interested and expected to retreat to the beach, and read my book while Mr Flum absorbed every detail, I did stay the full two hours of our parking time.

We then drove to our latest accommodation. Wye in Kent.