Back in the summer the local fete committee made their usual request for items or promises to raffle at the summer fete, and I offered a ride in a hovercraft on the river Severn. I did this last year too and it went down very well, eventually I took a very interesting 87yr old for a trip to the places of his youth, where his grandfather fished back in the day, when half the local economy was based on Salmon. This year Dave, a local farmer, won the prize so a day was set for the run. Since it looked promising, I decided to make a weekend of it, so Kim and Nick brought their craft along to the "hoverport" too. This was the most craft I have ever hosted and it did stretch the facilities to the maximum!
Saturday we took a trip out with Dave, down the river to see some of the usual sights. Interestingly, despite Dave owning land right on the riverside, he had never been out on the water. He absolutely loved it; the conversation soon moved to all the usual 'how much / how long' questions so I would not be surprised to see him appear on the club site - he would certainly be very welcome - and is likely to accompany me on further trips, after all if I have a spare seat, then why not?
The weather started out with thick, thick fog so it was late morning before we got set off into maybe 200m visibility - adequate, and we knew it was clearing as the sun was making its first tentative appearance in the haze. As we got past Awre the weather brightened into a superb day.
The trip took us right down to the Severn bridge and we planned lunch at the Old Ferry - which was the only downside of the day, as it was shut! Oh no! It's being refurbished, I do hope the new owner is as welcoming as the old of the occasional visit by slightly muddy hovernaughts!
Sunday saw the second set of visitors appear, including an 80 ye old gentleman who has had a long fascination with hovercraft, made models etc but never been in one. He was really keen, and managed to negotiate 'Jacobs Ladder' - it seemed to me that nothing would put him off his trip and we were very pleased to help
Just to add to the general air of chaos, new member Paul H (who is building a marlin) was invited as he's pretty local, plus a couple of Kims friends - so the garden was pretty full!
The forecast for Sunday was 5mph gusting 8 from the NW, pretty ideal conditions. Not exactly what we got though! We took another run down river, this time stopping at Hock Cliff for a little impromptu fossil hunting and a general enjoyment of this beautiful spot.
Next we went on down to visit Arkendale and Wastdale to pay our respects to the men who died in the Severn railway bridge disaster in the 60's.
The final leg of the trip was planned to be a trip round the Lydney channel, a lesser known alternative to the main ship channel on the English side of the river. I had noticed the freshening SW breeze whilst standing on Waveridge sands, and wondered about the accuracy of the forecast, but at about 15 mph we were still within safe limits so we continued. However, as we approached the narrowest point of the river locally between Sharpness and Wellhouse Rocks, the breeze strengthened. A few minutes later, and a call on the radio made the decision to abort the final leg into a no-brainer. Checking the Sharpness website later made it clear why - the breeze was peaking at 25knts (nearly 30mph) making things a bit uncomfortable. So we turned and started an early run back, not in the least disappointed as such a fantastic day had already been had.
Getting three craft in and out using the crane is not the smoothest operation in the world, but by now the crew were getting the hang of it so we had them all in and
Secure in no time. I felt sad at the end of a superb hover weekend but happy that so many people had such a great time. Roll on next time!
Ian