Ferry tales of Lymington

Above: Lymington ferry port

From its earliest life as a Saxon village in the sixth century, when it consisted of no more than a group of huts by the shoreline of the Solent, to today, when it has been named one of Britain’s best coastal resorts, with three marinas, two sailing clubs, a small fishing fleet and, as the closest mainland harbour to the Isle of Wight, a major portal through which millions of tourists and commuters pass each year, Lymington’s proximity to the sea has always dictated its fortunes.

First granted its charter as a free port in 1200, like the very sea it looks out on, the town has experienced highs and lows, even, at one stage, rivalling Southampton itself as a major port. This was in the days when it was famous for making salt, which involved boiling seawater in copper pans over fires fuelled by coal brought by sea barges from the coalfields. This was then shipped to the rest of England. At this time, port was also imported from France, and there was a thriving trade in exporting cloth from Salisbury.

Little wonder, then, that the town was also infested by pirates, who were said to have hidden in the larger creeks and frequented the town’s many inns, which at one time were thought to have numbered 45. Today, the tidal salt marshes stretch for 10 miles and are protected as a national nature reserve.

Life change
By the end of the 19th century, however, Lymington’s life as a trading port was in decline, largely due to the death of the salt trade, but its metamorphosis into a sailing and shipbuilding centre had already begun. There had been a small boat-building industry in the town since the late 1600s but, from the early 1800s, this had become more specifically a yacht-making industry.
Then, in 1830, a major boost to Lymington’s economy loomed into view when the first steam ferry paddled its way between Lymington and Yarmouth, thus steering the town onto a new course as a ferry port. The railway reached Lymington in 1858, bringing with it lots of new Victorian bourgeoisie passengers, all bound for fun in the suddenly accessible and fashionable Isle of Wight, where even the Queen herself had a summer residence.

Back on track
Control of the ferries then fell into the hands of the railways, where it stayed until 1984 when, as Sealink, it was denationalised. The ferry company was to pass through a few more hands before eventually morphing into the Wightlink that we now know. Today, under a relatively new ownership, the company is looking very much to the future and has shown its confidence in the Lymington to Yarmouth route by investing £29m to replace its three ferry boats which, at some 34 years old, are much-loved but (for a vessel) elderly ladies.
The three brand-new, state-of-the-art ferries, Wight Link, Wight Sky and Wight Sun, are more environmentally friendly, not least in terms of emissions, than their retiring sisters. They have been designed exclusively for the route, with 15 more spaces for cars, and 150 fewer places for people which, says the company, reflects the changing times.
It may all be a far cry from the days of Saxons in coracles and smugglers in creeks but, as Lymington moves into the 21st century and opens a new chapter in its life, its story is still very much one of the sea.

Meeting Captain Digby
I didn’t like to say anything, but the last time I travelled on the bridge in a ferry, we crashed into the quayside causing, I was told, tens of thousands of pounds of damage. It was nothing to do with me (honest!) and I remember the captain, amid the chaos, muttering something about currents and sudden surges. But that was then, many moons ago on a turbulent North Sea a few days before Christmas, and this was now, a beautiful autumn day in the waters of the Solent that were sparkling as though they had been polished by the sun.

Introducing…
Senior master Guy Digby, who has been sailing boats since he was 10, has been plying these waters for Wightlink for the past 10 years with nothing more serious to worry about than the odd passenger setting off a door alarm by accident, or making sure that the coach parties get back on to the right vehicle.
That’s not to say that the ferries don’t have their core of regular customers who commute between the Island and the mainland, and deck hand Marcus Ford, who took over at the helm for a while, told us how he had seen some of the passengers grow up. And it’s not only the customers who are long term, as a lot of the staff have been with the ships for some 30 to 40 years, and one, who started working there when he was 15, even managed to clock up 50 years’ service.
Captain Digby, a 55-year-old master mariner who lives in Bashley with his wife and sons, added: “You couldn’t ask for a better job on a lovely morning like this. Even though I must make this trip 1,200 to 1,500 times a year, I never get tired of it. I love its unpredictability. The weather is always different. The sea always looks different.”

Say the word
This is probably why the company has few vacancies for captains, but should you want to work there, you would first have to become well versed in a whole heap of subjects, from the exotic-sounding celestial geometry, to the more prosaic electronics, business and, even, law. Although the days when captains had the jurisdiction to marry and bury people at sea are gone, once 12 miles out from land, the captain’s word on a ship is still the law.
And while sailors may be no longer given the traditional ration of rum, there being zero tolerance on drinking any alcohol at all for at least eight hours before sailing, you still hear all the lovely old nautical terms like port and starboard being bandied about as they raise the red ensign (the flag of the merchant navy) at the stern of the ship at every sailing. 

Come rain or shine
Ships these days may come with an array of navigation and other equipment  (Captain Digby is particularly excited at the moment by the prospect of the three brand new vessels in which the company has just invested £26 million, fitted out with state-of-the-art radar, sensors and fire-fighting equipment), but he says that you still have to know how to navigate with a sextant and the stars, should the need arise. 
Not, of course, that this happens often and Captain Digby can only remember one occasion when the boats didn’t  go out, and that was some years ago when there was a storm force 11 gale blowing off island’s famous Needles landmark (force 12 is a hurricane). 
Still, you don’t grow up sailing boats without a healthy respect for the sea and Captain Digby has earned his stripes working in the Atlantic off Plymouth and on oil rigs in the North Sea where conditions could be much rougher. In fact, he admitted, they could be horrendous. “It was so cold up there, they would have daffodils in July,” he laughed. 
A bit different, then, from where we were ... and, turning our faces to the prow, we all gazed out gratefully on the green and inviting patchwork of land behind Yarmouth that was basking before us in the bright sunshine.

All aboard

Wightlink, one of the UK’s largest domestic ferry operators, provides a
30-minute service all-year-round service between Lymington and Yarmouth on the Isle of Wight. For times, prices and special offers visit www.wightlink.co.uk