Day 1 - Sunday 26th August

Transit ride . . . Lewes – Portsmouth

Distance – 95km (59 miles)

Overview. . . 

The Power Rangers departed Lewes in time to pick up Chris in Brighton at 5:00pm and then had fish and chips on the foreshore in Portsmouth – before boarding the Cap Finistère in time for a 10:00pm sailing.

Departure Day . . .

So D-Day has finally arrived for this bunch of motor cyclists to make our assault on Continental Europe!  The day was structured around the ferry departure from Portsmouth at 10:00pm.

One of the ‘essential’ jobs was to take a few things to Jim and Cathy to take to France - this included our ‘human’ clothes and Chris’ travel bass guitar which he will need for a gig in L’Isle Joudain in a couple of weeks.  We sent the nicest person amongst us with the manifest goods as we had perhaps exceeded the ‘baggage allowance’ and we are delighted to say that Liz did a wonderful job of getting the entire load checked-in!

In the meantime John, Lorraine and I took a blast on the bikes to get some fuel, drugs and take a look at the relocated Guitar Junction shop in Newhaven . . . visiting guitar shops is a compulsion!  The ride back was gorgeous following the Ouse the 'back' way into Lewes and we were both reminded that England is a beautiful country.

Houston We Have a Problem . . .

After lunch we started packing all the gear into the saddlebags, top boxes and tank bags and took it downstairs for a ‘trial fitting’ – and this is where the problem emerged as the saddle bags would not fit onto the SV with a pillion!

It could have been a very serious problem, but that Power Ranger John (before he had invented the gag!) saved the day by putting them onto his bike . . . which means the Bandit is travelling very heavy and the SV is traveling very light!

Departure . . .

We departed Lewes right on schedule just after 5:00pm and called in to pick up Chris.  He was ready to go with the bike waiting out the front.  After a chat with Val and the obligatory photos we headed out of Brighton at about 5:30pm and made our way across to Portsmouth via the A27 – passing the historical Arundel Castle and skimming the outskirts of Chichester along the way.

 

Ready for departure from Brighton – with that Power Ranger character

The objective was to undertake the ride while there was plenty of daylight.  However, this meant a little bit of hanging around in Portsmouth before lining up to board the ferry . . . and fish and chips on the historic foreshore.

It is The Big Wheel Café in case you hadn’t figured it out

Getting on Board . . . 

We headed for the ship.  Lorraine and I took a different departure kiosk to the others and got through immediately but there was a problem printing one of the other's boarding passes and then security decided to inspect their gear - so we were at the front of the queue wondering if they had been allocated to a different boat!  It was all sorted and we skipped across to their queue so we could park near them.

Boarding seemed to take forever as the bikes were apparently boarded last.  It was a bit strange in that all the cars and trucks were all loaded in a very orderly manner, but when it came time to load the bikes we all set off together and it was a bit of a 'free for all'!  Still, it all happened and we were on board.

Getting the bikes all strapped down for the voyage

The Cap Finistère

Under Way . . .

We all got into the lift and headed up to our respective levels, found our cabins and got things sorted out before meeting in the bar for a few beers, a chat and whatnot.  The boat departed right on time at 10:00pm and all of our lot were in bed by about 11:15pm.

On board hanging around the bars