Friday 22nd November 2019

On the Thursday night, it was established that everyone else, including Jimmy M0HGY, did not want an early start on the Friday morning and would prefer to drive back to Cheshire in Marianne's car.  I couldn't resist the opportunity though to complete the G/SE region within the calendar year.  Just the two summits on the Isle of Wight remained - so I booked myself onto the 6am ferry from Southampton.

It was another very early start, but once aboard the ferry I could relax with a full cooked breakfast and mug of coffee, and enjoy the crossing.  After docking on the island, it was about the 30 minute drive over to the south-east corner of the Isle of Wight for the first summit.  St Boniface Down is virtually a "drive-to-the-top" summit with only a few yards to walk from the top car park to t a suitable operating spot.

The sea views were spectacular, though it was rather chilly!  I set up the 30m GP, but just made a handful of European contacts on FT8 and CW.

I decided it would be wise to be getting over to Brightstone Down G/SE-012 and then try to get the earliest possible return ferry, allowing the earliest possible eventual return home.