A Sad Postscript to a Great Day

David and I had been looking forward to a boat trip organised by Wimborne Railway Society to see the Bournemouth Air Festival.  The trip started very overcast, followed by heavy rain and wondering what we would be seeing, with the return of bad weather.  A lot of other boats were sailing out of Poole Harbour with a lot more sea traffic sailing along after the lifting bridge opened.  The boat anchored facing East Cliff side of Bournemouth in the bay.

From the boat looking along the quay.  The Sunseeker boar to the left

A Royal Navy vessel out in the bay with a landing craft. Isle of Wight just in the background

Just before the displays started the rain stopped and the sky began to clear.  We saw the spectacle of the Red Arrows and this Bournemouth Show is one of the displays that the team enjoy doing.  However after their show there was a delay in the timetable and the reason became clear later.  We learned that one of the planes crashed on the return to land at Bournemouth Airport and that the pilot, John Egging died.  A very sad end to a really awesome display.  This is my tribute to the Red Arrows from what I took yesterday to show how fantastic they are.

Following this was the Merlin Helicopter then a Spitfire with 2 smaller aircraft as the Lancaster Bomber was unable to fly.  I took photos as best I could because with my little camera it became difficult to see the screen, so it was point, shoot, hope for the best.  There were the Wing Walkers, and though we could see the aircraft we couldn't see the acrobatics as they were performing over the beach, followed by the American bomber B17 Sally B.  These two aircraft were shuttling between Bournemouth and Shoreham further along the coast in Sussex which also had an air show.

Sally B

The Spitfire with 2 Army training aircraft

This heart was created by the Blades display team

Further aerobatic displays took place and we were waiting for the finale with the Sea Vixen, but unfortunately the boat was due back into Poole so couldn't take photos as we were too far away for this by then.

What we were surprised by was how different Poole and Bournemouth look from the Sea instead of the land and how long the beaches are.  Back into Poole Harbour the boat berthed up in front of a tall ship, called Tenacious so more photos to take of that when we landed.  The tall ship is from the Jubliee Sailing Trust and registered to Southampton.

Old Harry Rocks and the Purbecks

Tall Ship Tenacious from the boat

Poole Lifeboat City of Sheffield

Looking at Tenacious from the Quayside