Winter gales in prospect

 Emsworth dinghy park boats hunkered down for the winter gales.

 No bad thing taking the mast down every year, good opportunity to check things over and make sure everything is in good shape come spring.

Cold day out on the water - first row of the year

Despite the chilly start to the year there were quite a few folk out on the river enjoying the winter sunshine and calm condition 

A lone laser sailor who was very well wrapped up against the cold practices the COL regs with a tender presumably going up to a yacht or motorboat further up river.

Some paddle boarders enjoying the almost flat calm conditions, difficult to tell but I'd want to have a wet suit on under those clothes given the water and air temperature, hopefully they did.

A couple of boats from Hamble River Rowing club were out, the cox called out to me by name so clearly recognised if not me then my boat. I could only reply with "with happy new year" as I couldn't see that well, so apologies for not recognising you.

 On the slip a couple of hardy fishermen were debating the the strength of time, from their gear they looked to have been there from early morning and well wrapped up against the cold.

Frost & snow

In complete contrast to the mists a couple of days before, the first snow we've seen in a long time fell.

Being so close to the coast and presumably some relatively dry air there was only a light dusting which the sun hadn't started to burn off in the shadows on the eastern side of the river.

By contrast the river and to the west was bathed in bright sunshine and with no wind the water was like glass.

Up river at the boatyard, business was going on as normal despite the conditions.

 

 

Sounds in the mist

 The weather at the start of the year has created some spectacular conditions, like this early morning misty walk. 

Everything was quiet presumably damped down by the think mist which was punctuated only by the sound of ships fog horns drifting over from Southampton water.

It's strange to see the view you know so well completely changed with the enveloping mist

The phone camera wasn't coping very well with the limited visibility and for some reason the images were pretty small

Remarkable engineering

 Between Christmas and New Year engineers carried out a remarkable price of work on the nearby M27 motorway  outside Fareham where a new junction and underpass is needed to serve the Wellbourne development.

Rather than tunneling  under the busy M27 the underpass shell was constructed beside the motorway (below) . 

Then starting on Christmas Eve the team literally sliced out a section of the motorway which was closed for the Christmas holiday, slid the tunnel section into place, filled up the gaps and resurfaced the road surface, finishing at 4.0AM on Saturday and ahead of schedule.

 What a remarkable feat of civil engineering, the team were working around the clock. The process is well documented by M27 JUNCTION 10 Drone  from which the stills above are taken, (hopefully he will allow) and well worth checking out the full set of videos through which the work is documented daily on the channel - much appreciated daily viewing in the BB household.

Festive Cars

The Boxing Day meeting of Locksheath classic cars was cold but very well attended, with some very interesting cars out in the dry winter weather.

Below camper based on what looks like a Mk1 Ford Escort van, the car and especially the "Pop top" in absolutely authentic 70's colour scheme.

Huge variety of cars on display, quite a contract between this Benford van and what looks like a 57 Chevy, both immaculate.

By now this must be very rare, a late 1980's pickup, complete with "tender" in the bed.

Little Red Corvette, no wonder Price wrote a song about one.

Baja bug conversion on this 1969/70 VW Beetle, complete with rear "lookout" long before the days of reversing cameras.

Probably the best Bugatti ever, I forget but probably Type 35, this one has a supercharged grand prix engine

 Our local YouTube celebrity hot rod builder - Oak Swamp made a good video of the event and also at nearby Wickham, well worth watching, in fact if you watch the ending you can just catch a glimpse of him following Mrs BB's bright GREEN Skoda.

The last Post

 All the best for 2026