A trip on the UK's amazing hovercraft ferry service

hello and welcome to another video and welcome aboard this train between london and portsmouth now i'm actually heading today to the isle of wight a very special part of england [Music] today i was traveling on a hovercraft for the first time the hovercraft is a british invention in fact the first passenger service ran from real in wales to the wirral due to their versatility hovercraft have a myriad of uses from sightseeing in the arctic to military logistics craft some of us will also remember the heyday of the gigantic saunders row cross channel passenger hovercraft that could even carry cars but when these were scrapped 20 years ago our isle of wight service became just about the world's only scheduled passenger hovercraft a seasonal hovercraft exists crossing the border between russia and china and there are a few other occasional hovercraft services but this really is as far as i can tell the only year-round passenger hovercraft in the world and certainly the only one in europe so how do you go about taking it if like me you're arriving from london you need to get off at portsmouth and south sea the hovercraft leaves from a special landing stage in southsea it doesn't leave from the portsmouth ferry port so be sure not to stay on the train to portsmouth harbour make sure you take in the old booking hall here which dates from the middle of the 19th century hover travel the operator of the hovercraft runs a bus to connect with the hovercraft from places around portsmouth there's a modest fair but remember you can get through rail tickets to the isle of wight that include the hovercraft and the bus trip okay thank you you need to stop by the ticket office either to buy a ticket or show your through train ticket to obtain a boarding card there are no reservations on the ferry it works just like a bus and with it being the quickest way to cross the soland is quite popular the service links two dedicated landing stages one here in southsea and the other in ride although our hovercraft crosses the solent at one of its wider points it's still only seven kilometers and takes only ten minutes to cross less than half the time the fastest ferry takes hovercraft aren't ships or boats instead they work by blowing air into a rugged inflatable cushion meaning that they can travel over water with limited drag and friction and also take on hard surfaces too the hovercraft simply drives up onto the landing stage and it's pretty cool to see if you've never witnessed it before mr one of the fun things about the hovercraft is that it's so incredibly rare to travel on one literally unique in europe yet for most of these people there's no sense of occasion it's basically their bus to or from work it's not romantic or epic it's just very functional but still i was as excited to take off my first hovercraft trip as i probably was to go on a bus for the first time as a toddler after a short safety brief we were off for our flight can hey please [Music] it's loud very loud very bumpy riding the hovercraft is an unusual experience it's furiously loud and a very bumpy crossing a bit like riding a motorbike over cobbles and the craft is engulfed in its own spray for the whole crossing meaning the video maybe wasn't as good as i'd imagined anyway with reasonable fares and unbeatable journey times why aren't there more passenger hovercraft around well they're not cheap to run fairly noisy which isn't friendly to the locals and owing to their scarcity a lack of spare parts mean that new sea going ventures usually choose a conventional boat or ship but hover travel is safe these hovercraft are only a few years old and the service provides a great alternative to the conventional ferries there's no bridge tunnel or flights so the vital link water transport plays to the isle of wight can't be understated after 10 minutes we approach ride of a port um is thank you i know a lot of you will be wondering if i did the obvious thing when i was on the isle of wight and yes it was the real reason for my trip the next video over this holiday period will be a fond farewell to the tiny tube trains on the isle of wight which date from 1938 so there you have it that's hover travel the world's only year-round commercial hovercraft service anywhere in the world and it's right here in england really hope you've enjoyed this little bonus video thanks for watching and i'll see you again in the next one [Music] thanks again for watching and i hope you've had a safe and happy christmas [Music]

Channel: Wingin’ It! Paul Lucas

Views: 221,768

Keywords: hovertravel, hovercraft, passenger hovercraft, isle of wight hovercraft, hoverport, hoverbus, hovercraft isle of wight, ryde, southsea, england, uk, hovercraft top gear, hovercraft channel crossing, hovercraft portsmouth, engineering, rare, 2020

Id: -8fQciHXmoQ

Length: 10min 42sec (642 seconds)

Published: Sat Dec 26 2020