The Wednesday saw us climbing up St Catherine's Hill, the summit of which afforded a lofty viewing position above the city of Winchester. After a couple of 70cm repeater contacts on summit, we descended and enjoyed a picnic in the nearby water meadows. The weather continued to hold very nicely indeed.

   

Thursday 2nd August 2007 was the day agreed for the Isle of Wight day trip. We booked on a Red Funnel ferry from Southampton to East Cowes (£37.50 return) and took a calm crossing on the 10am service. On the island, we called in at Maplin and Morrisons for supplies of contrasting nature, then hit the road towards Ventnor. Upon nearing the island's south-easterly town, Jimmy directed us uphill and onto the winding climbing tarmac road to Ventnor Down. We parked in an area near the radio station and trig point (not at the actual summit), and made a start on the picnic in the dry of the car. It was chucking it down outside!

     

As soon as the rain abated, Jimmy and I took a walk to the summit area and tried our luck on the handhelds. Marianne was not in the mood to sit and watch us playing radio, so the strategy needed to be "smash and grab" I am afraid. We were surprised, with contacts being very easy to come by, with calls from the Isle of Wight and Hampshire enabling activation qualifications in short order. We walked back to the car, and were there before Marianne and Liam who had been off to explore the area above the coastal cliffs. Jimmy and I enjoyed the views across the English Channel and amused ouselves at the funny dancing rituals being carried out by a group of scouts as part of their 100 year celebrations. In fact, two or three GB special event calls from centenary scout camps were heard during these few days.

We drove down to the front at Ventnor and had a pint in the pub and a play in the arcade, before heading off to the island's other SOTA summit, Brighstone Down G/SE-012. Jimmy now had two of his target four summits.

Thanks to the following stations, worked on 2m FM with 2.5 watts: