Hello Sailor!

Thankfully not. Other stuff. Might be able to, but I'll only know
much nearer the date. Certainly I won't know early enough to want to
make the February payment.

 

We used night sailings last year but booked seats in the lounge and on
the way back I just spread myself out on the floor behind our seats
and slept for about 2 hours. Once I'd done that I was fine for a high
speed blast from Liverpool to home. The last bit from Northampton when
it was just getting light was brilliant fun with seriously stupid
speeds being hit and not a car in sight.

 

Oh I'll try that that as well. Just thought there might already be some
people actually cancelled by then rather than just not pay up the
balance and we might get ahead of the game. In the good old days you had
to sit hitting the redial button waiting to grab that one free line.
These days I suppose you get put in a call queuing system. In these days
of mobiles it isn't that much of an advantage to be able to sit at home
on a weekday morning hanging on the phone for hours.
--
+-------------------------------------------------------------------+
| Pete Fisher at Home: |
| Aprilia Shiver Yamaha WR250Z/Supermoto "Old Gimmer's Hillclimber" |
| Gilera GFR * 2 Moto Morini 2C/375 Morini 350 "Forgotten Error" |
+-------------------------------------------------------------------+

 

Me neither, especially when I have a four hour ride home from Liverpool
starting at 2am. But it'll all be motorway and I'll have a satnav to do
the thinking for me so the only thing that can piss on my parade is the
weather.

But it's either that or miss races, which rather defeats the point of
being there. I was lucky last year, with the superbike race starting
late, but won't expect mother nature to be so thoughtful next time.

I've got lounge seats both ways, which is why I'm loathe to dump my
booking and see what happens later (not least because I've already paid
out for the seating).

So I'll be paying the balance and then finding out later if I'm spending
a week on my own.

 

snip>

I don't know if we're going or not. Once I'm there I always enjoy
myself but I hate the fucking about at the ferry terminals and it
never seems to get any better.

You should be able to expect them to sort out the boarding and get
things to a point where you're given a boarding number when you arrive
and then sit back until called but last year it turned into such a
**** up that Adie and I ended up boarding an hour apart.

Maybe I expect too much for nearly £200 but other ferry terminals seem
to manage without making you feel like cattle or making you want to
stab the muppets doing the cattle herding but if I was as bad at my
job as they are I'd be out of work.

 

Be fair though, one fortnight a year they have to deal with a full load,
the rest of the time it's two donkeys and a cart per crossing.

 

Can't be as bad as the cock up going to the Manx in 2008. Some headed
for Heysam with no guarantee of getting on a ferry. We hung around at
Liverpool and knowing it would be Karno's Army I sidled in to position
right by the desk in the portacabin well before the time announced for
the possibility for changing sailings to the one Seacat that was still
running approached and managed to get boarding cards.

We will be there for 12 days, so it makes the effort a bit more worth
it, and it is the Mountain course centenary. Strangely we enjoy things
about the Island other than just the racing, or even it has to be said
just riding round the course. That's probably why I'm still going back
after 40 years.


--
+-------------------------------------------------------------------+
| Pete Fisher at Home: |
| Aprilia Shiver Yamaha WR250Z/Supermoto "Old Gimmer's Hillclimber" |
| Gilera GFR * 2 Moto Morini 2C/375 Morini 350 "Forgotten Error" |
+-------------------------------------------------------------------+

 

That never happens.

The reality is the steam packet wait to see who pays, then clown about
a bit for no apparent reason, then start listing a whole load of extra
sailings from around the end of March.

 

Not even Ben?

Fine if you have a mate's place or scout hut to go to at short notice.

--
+-------------------------------------------------------------------+
| Pete Fisher at Home: |
| Aprilia Shiver Yamaha WR250Z/Supermoto "Old Gimmer's Hillclimber" |
| Gilera GFR * 2 Moto Morini 2C/375 Morini 350 "Forgotten Error" |
+-------------------------------------------------------------------+

 

The people cancelling part doesn't seem to mean the steam packet
release new bookings IME.