O/T Hovercraft

[phild]

Did anyone on here ever go on one of these, what was it like?

[kettering_baggie]

Yes, I’ve been on them. I went to Paris for my honeymoon and we crossed the channel on hovercraft. The return journey was a bit rough, touch and go whether they operated owing to the rough sea. It was very bumpy, with lots of small ‘drops’, a bit like an aircraft hitting small pockets of air turbulence. Lots of people had their heads over the sick bags, I ordered more beer! Fortunately, rough seas never bothered me and I have never been seasick.

[TipperaryBaggie]

Hovercraft were just fair weather ships really. Anything worse than a force 6 and they were grounded. Only went on one once and although fairly rapid, you couldn't see anything through the spray. The ferries were always better but maybe I am biased because I worked on the ferries at one time.

[soulman101]

They named one after me Hover Lloyd , my Mom and Dad went on it.

[soulman101]

They named one after me Hover Lloyd , my Mom and Dad went on it.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hoverlloyd

[mickd1961]

Never been on one and though I love the sea I have a real fear of big boats.

Some mates in Stourbridge had other mates who were on The Herald Of Free Enterprise when it went down in Zebrugge, they were early 20’s and fit and it was only this that helped them survive.

The stories I heard about them clambering over a 100 feet vertically using the fixed table legs of the ship as she lay on her side filled me with horror.

They saw people coming flying past them who’d slipped higher up and who got smashed on tables as they flew past them to their death.

Then the ferry Estonia went down not long afterwards, the first the many sleeping passengers knew about the situation was when their cabin filled with freezing water in the pitch black as they sank two miles to the ocean floor.

Drowning and fire are my two biggest fears, I wouldn’t sleep on a big boat or go on a cruise if you paid the whole trip for me.

That land racing on mini hovercraft always looked fun though.

[TipperaryBaggie]

Never been on one and though I love the sea I have a real fear of big boats.

Some mates in Stourbridge had other mates who were on The Herald Of Free Enterprise when it went down in Zebrugge, they were early 20’s and fit and it was only this that helped them survive.

The stories I heard about them clambering over a 100 feet vertically using the fixed table legs of the ship as she lay on her side filled me with horror.

They saw people coming flying past them who’d slipped higher up and who got smashed on tables as they flew past them to their death.

Then the ferry Estonia went down not long afterwards, the first the many sleeping passengers knew about the situation was when their cabin filled with freezing water in the pitch black as they sank two miles to the ocean floor.

Drowning and fire are my two biggest fears, I wouldn’t sleep on a big boat or go on a cruise if you paid the whole trip for me.

That land racing on mini hovercraft always looked fun though.

I actually worked on the Herald of Free Enterprise but I left in 1985 before she went down 1987. I knew a lot of the crew who sadly went down with ship. I know that the captain holds absolute responsibility with the ship but it was a shame that it happened to Dave Lewry who was one of the most respected captains in the whole fleet. I wont bore you with the details but most people were surprised that it happened years before. At least, it brought about a massive tightening of regulations which has since made ferry travel much safer.

Finally, back on the subject of hovercraft, one of the craft hit the wall coming into Dover harbour and then subsequently acquired the apt name of the Harbour Wallbanger!

[Dubbag]

They use to run a Hovercraft service of the Isle of Wight. Used it a few times but like Tipp....much preferred the ferry.
They were quick but no view out windows. Could be a bit bumpy crossing the Solent even on a calm day. And much more noise....

[Titchfieldbaggie]

Still do

[DaveP67 is back!]

Used to go camping in France quite a bit as a kid, we went mostly on the old Townsend Thoresen ferries out of Southampton but did once go on the hovercraft from Dover, I hadn’t been on a plane at this point but it felt to me like I was the speed and power of the thing compared to the ferries was like day and night, shame they stopped running . We do seem to take as many steps backwards as forwards transport wise.