We were both gutted. We had been prepared and all rigged up for three hours prior to the scheduled sailing and our anticipation had built and then been scuppered. As this massive manmade wonder disappeared into the darkness we headed home dejected with no idea when our next opportunity would come round again.
Fast forward nearly two years and any hopes of catching the Polo had been cast out of the window. Slightly nerdy I know, but I had made a point of checking the cruise and container ship schedule each time I was home on the Isle of Wight, but this elusive ship hadn’t even returned once since its inaugural voyage from Southampton. It was time to instigate Plan B instead, a journey that took us on a rollercoaster of hit-and-miss missions back and forth to Cowes with a similar aim, but different list of objectives. This time round, the new list included at least one of the Cunard fleet of Super Liners, any majestic, white cruise ship and the biggest container ship we could hunt down. With plenty of boats heading in and out of the port during the summer surely this tiny list would not be present too many problems. The Polo seemed to have eluded us since that dark December night in 2012 but this new trio of Super Ships was sure to present a swashbuckling adventure in the abyss of the Solent!.
A PAIR OF QUEENS
So now its early June 2014 and perusing the shipping schedule both of Cunard’s, Queen Victoria cruise ship followed by the Queen Mary 2nd were due to leave port around 4.30 p.m. on the 7th. There was just about enough wind forecast up until 6-ish, but then dying fast at 7 p.m. onwards. As long as everything was on schedule, we were in with a shot of securing our first target. So at 4.30 p.m., bang on the dot, we were on the parade, rigged and ready waiting for the distinctive black hull of Queen Victoria to appear beyond Calshot on the other side of the Solent. Our parking spot was perfect – smack on the front of Cowes esplanade with a little slipway down into the water, the logistics could not be easier. We had chosen our location directly in front of the turning circle for the shipping lanes so we knew for sure that the vessels would come out of Southampton water and arc round in front of us before heading up to the NAB tower at the end of the Solent. By 5.15 p.m. we were still sat on the wall like a couple of lemons with no sign of any ship in sight. A few passing walkers kind of looked at us strangely wondering what we were up to, just sitting around with a windsurf rig on the pavement and my camera on the tripod ready to roll?