A quick scan of the port of Southampton web site revealed that both ships were delayed. The Victoria had weighed anchor at 4.40 p.m. and the Mary was not due to set sail until 7 p.m., darn it! Five minutes later I spotted the red funnel of the Queen Vic heading along Southampton water with the rest of the ship obscured by trees. At last it was game on. I dispatched Scott into the water, with a few rough guidelines where to sail and hoped that common sense would prevail and he would not do anything stupid. Fall in the path of one of these beauties and there is not much a captain could do, even if he managed to spot a tiny windsurfer in the path of his 1000 feet long vessel! Less than half an hour later Scott was back on dry land as the ‘Queen Vic’ headed out up the Solent. It was all over that quickly. With the wind dying fast we decided to head to the Woodvale pub on Gurnard Esplanade for a debrief and a few pints of grog. On our way home as we passed along Cowes front, we watched the Queen Mary 2nd slip out through the channel but the wind was down to zero by now and we had to let this one slip away.