[Cannoneer No. 4]

I scheduled my R&R to be in Portsmouth on June 28. My wife and I drove down from Kent, arriving at Fort Nelson around 1100. From up there we could see the harbor and out into the Solent. Coastal fortifications have always attracted me. I took Cannonette to Fort Morgan, Alabama on our honeymoon 25 years ago and have been dragging her to forts and castles ever since. Fort Nelson was great. Very much like Fort Pulaski, Georgia.. Anybody with any interest at all in forts and artillery will love Fort Nelson. We were on the way back to the car when we heard naval gunfire down below. This was salutes to the Queen who was reviewing the Fleet down in the Solent.

We hurried on down the hill and ended up at Explosion!, where we parked the car and walked to the Gosport Ferry and took it over to Portsmouth, and toured HMS Victory.

[Cannoneer No. 4]

Touring HMS Victory was a dream come true for me. I'm a big Hornblower fan and, according to Cannonette, rather a bit piratical myself. Spent all afternoon aboard Victory, then remembered that our car was still parked at Explosion! so we set off at best speed back to the ferry, getting rained on along the way. The lovely Cannonette discovered pink cotton outergarments become transparent when wet. Went back to Gosport, long walk back to Priddy's Hard, stopped on the bridge to watch the Red Arrows, discovered our car locked up in the Explosion! parking lot.