14 April 2001 - The Solent (Pride of Bilbao)

I'm here, done it, on my way. I'm in my cabin on the ferry, with women's tennis on the tv, and the erratic air con whining above me. Today has been tiring. At 10am I was in Altrincham, trying to collect my green card extension for Morocco. It was drizzling constantly, and my packing was so bad that I stopped twice to adjust and repack. I couldn't get comfortable as my little rucksack was pressed up against the two spare tyres bungeed to the top of my kit. Eventually all was sorted and I bimbled down the M6 in the drizzle. Apart from a stop at Warwick, where I discovered my GPS mount had broken, I had an uneventfull run down to Guildford.

At Matt's place, he and Jason expressed their envy, pointed and prodded, and rode up and down the cul-de-sac. Now off the bike I saw that the XT's ground clearance had shrunk dramatically with all the kit I'd loaded on (although Jason's bulk may also be to blame!). So after a cup of tea, and some photos, I was back on the road and headed to Portsmouth. I pretty much rode straight onto the boat, and had to fight off the little man who scurried across to lash the bike down, in order to get my panniers before they parked a jeep up as close as possible.

Due to my incompetance I'd left getting a ticket very late, and consequently I had an expensive cabin. So after lugging my stuff up to the cabin, I put on some jeans and went for a look around the boat. Up on the helicopter deck I saw that two berths along from us was HMS Invincible, the closest thing we have that passes for an aircraft carrier. I was amazed at the size of it (or lack of), I had always imagined warships to be huge. I was a bit dissappointed really.

So here I am, in my cabin, rolling gently from side to side with the swell. I don't know if I've overplanned this trip, time will tell I guess. Maybe when I get closer to Morocco I'll start to get more impact in the pit of my stomach. In the mean time the sea state will have to suffice.