Crossing the English Channel

The first time we arrived at the Channel, we decided to ride the Hovercraft to England. They had room for maybe 35 cars, our VW camper, and maybe a 150 people. There are large fans under the craft blowing down to lift the Hovercraft a few feet above the beach. Then propellers drive it forward as it rides above the sand on the beach, then above the water. Not a very smooth or nice ride, but it was the quickest way there.

A few days later, as we again were going to cross the Channel, we needed to buy an alarm clock so we could get up very early (4:30AM), to catch the boat. From the ferry we could see the pink (!!) cliffs of Dover glowing in the dawns early light. We had a good breakfast, ham and eggs and all the trimmings, soon after we left Dover. Emmy and the Lindas slept (and felt seasick) while I really enjoyed the several hours ride to Oostende, Belgium.

A few years later, as we planned to visit England again, there was a strike, and according to radio news, ferryboats were not operating. In spite of that, we drove to the harbor in Oostende, Belgium, found boats were running, there was no waiting line, we drove right on, and found almost no one on the ferryboat.

We had thought we were going to Dover, England, but found this ferry was going to New Haven, and the trip would take seven hours. This ship was supposed to sail from France but because of the strike, is leaving from Belgium. It’s good we didn’t have a printed boat schedule, we would have been at the “wrong” place. In England we again heard on the radio news about the long lines of people begging to get on a ferryboat.

On our return to the Continent we were the first vehicle on the ferryboat at Harwick England and sailed to Hook de Holland, The Netherlands. It cost $100 for two people and the RV, for a 7 hour trip. There were first and second class areas, and three movies, take your choice, for 1£ each. But no thanks.

Our last trip across the channel was on the Polish ship, TSS Stefan Batory. With the RV in the hold of the ship, we were on our way from Rotterdam, to Montreal, Canada. We docked on the Thames River, spent the day in London, then nine nights on the Atlantic to Montreal, and drove home to California.

No jet-lag this time.