Tuesday 2 June 2015

A Solent Crossing and an Old Gaffer



On Saturday, we had a day out on the Isle of Wight. It promised to be the last fine day for a while.

We caught a late morning ferry from Lymington, across the Solent to Yarmouth. 
It was a pleasant surprise to find that the 19th Annual Yarmouth Old Gaffers Festival was in full swing.
As the ferry neared the Island several beautiful old boats sailed nearby, but this elegant yacht from another era passed in front of our bows. What a sight!



Several old boats were out on the water, some were working craft with traditional red sails and others were wooden yachts, lovingly restored.

Interesting boats were moored in Yarmouth harbour as we approached. Flags and bunting adorned their  rigging for the festival.



Driving off the ferry, we found that the small town of Yarmouth had been transformed. Stalls selling food, drink, crafts and "allsorts" lined the streets. Crowds of people massed around the town and the harbour, enjoying a Real Ale festival as well as the sight of so many historic boats out on the water.



We had another destination, but as we returned to catch the homeward ferry that evening, we were quite sorry to leave so soon. It seemed that Yarmouth was still celebrating and the night was young!

9 comments:

Anonymous said...

It is a lovely place, the Island. We have plans to pop over in the summer, I always love visiting it. Nice to have you back by the way :o)

The Weaver of Grass said...

Lovely photographs giving us a real taste of the festival. I love sailing boats of any kind.

Simon Douglas Thompson said...

I'm studying a Futurelearn course on maritime archaeology with University of Southampton, there was a guide to identifying sailing ships from their rigs.

Which I've forgotten already!

Rowan said...

How fantastic - what a shame you couldn't join in with things. The photo of the yacht is just beautiful.

angryparsnip said...

Oh what fun to be surprised by the festival.
I have always wanted to visit the Isle of Wight.

cheers, parsnip

Ragged Robin said...

Love that yacht and seeing your photos of the Isle of Wight. We're going back this year for our holiday and I really can't wait :)

Anonymous said...

What a beautiful craft - and what an angle it was at!
Thank you.

Pam said...

Oooh, you started blogging again. I missed it. Now you seem to have stopped again. Alas.

Linda said...

Beautiful photos.