Hi Tom, my girlfriend and I are currently hiking and backpacking around the beautiful South West of England. Today we had problems with the buses trying to get to Newquay from Combe Martin. As we were stranded in a small village, this video kept my spirits high. Thanks for that ❤
Hey, thanks for your comment, it also kept my spirits high! I hope your trip goes better tomorrow, and that there’s some sunshine (maybe too much to ask!)
Fab video and you have my sympathy for the worries over connections. Earlier this year I did 5 ferries by bike: Hayling, Wightjet, Floating bridge replacemenot boat, East Cowes and then the Hythe ferry, cycling on to Beaulieu road and back to the camp site in Chichester by train. An epic day out.
As a fellow (frequently impoverished thanks to Wightlink) Islander, you captured the pleasure and pain of Island ferries perfectly! The yachts section was like a love letter to the island - beautiful!
If you don't mind me asking, is there an Islander discount for these ferries? I know Shetland and Orkney Islanders do get one, but I was just wondering if there existed a similar program for the Isle of Wight.
Great video. I live in the USA now but grew up in Plymouth. Portsmouth was always our big naval base competition (and in footy) but I made several trips to the Isle of Wight by train and ferry. I took the early (even smaller) hovercraft on several occasions. They were very unreliable. Once we broke down mid-journey and the pilot and a crew member ended up rowing us across! The ferry overtook us. I also rode the hovercraft across the English Channel. Even noisier but so quick unless the swell was over 4 or 5 feet which was too much for them to deal with. WE have a chain ferry between Devon and Cornwall - Devonport in Plymouth to Torpoint and used to have another to Saltash until the road (A38) Tamar Bridge was built. I do crazy transport visits as well (e.g., to the most southern undergraound (metro) station in the world in Buenos Aires, Argentina!
This insane Midlander did this craziness just a few months ago. Took pretty much 12 hours setting out from Portsmouth, I headed west to Lymington, then took the ferries in order finishing with the Hovercraft home. Was nice to spend the day at sea, and all my connections went to plan. For islanders, I see how the cost can build up, and the constant stress of hoping your crossing is not disrupted can lead to a long day at work. Hovercraft will always be my favourite, but the cost of single, ouch.
Appreciate your videos, started enjoying making videos more, when seeing people like you delivering in your own way with out the need to be hyper and over energetic, as I to am more on the chilled side too, thank you!
Having been born and raised in Southampton and only been to IoW once due to the cost of the ferry, I understood the pain every time you bought a ticket. Strange but lovely to see the city in a video!
I loved this video. Although technically you didn't go far, it was a splendid adventure. I didn't know it was the place of your birth. It became very friendly and personal. I love the Jane Austen quote at the end. And what an auspicious day you chose. Truly a day that can not be replicated. I was smiling all the way through. Thank you.
At 7:10 you can see SS Shieldhall in shot, a 1950s sludge boat which now runs trips out of Southampton. She's fully staffed by volunteers, and can frequently be seen from the ferries. Would recommend a trip if you can bear more time on the water! EDIT : I'm also curious why you didn't buy combined train & ferry tickets where you could've? Those are so much cheaper!
Super cool! My Dad lives in the Isle of Wight so I get the cat over often! I know you'll know this, but anyone reading - always try to book a boat via a train ticket. It's soo much cheaper! Especially if you have a railcard. I made the mistake of turning up to the hovercraft without a ticket not long ago and was as shocked as Tom when I got there. Madness.
Yep definitely use a Railcard and get tickets to the final destination on the island, then you save 1/3rd on the ferry part as well :) I even do this when I’m not getting the train haha, like a ticket from West Cowes to St Denys and just don’t go to the train afterwards
Can you still book through tickets on Wightlink (Portsmouth Harbour - Ryde PH) via the train? When I looked at the National Rail website recently it was only showing tickets via the hovercraft! Even if I put in "via Portsmouth Harbour" it wanted me to take a bus from there to the hoverport. Ridiculous.
@@iankemp1131 It depends on strikes etc, but yes you can still book from any station to Ryde Pier Head. You can't book from Portsmouth to Ryde Pier Head, but stations before those, like Fratton, you can. So Fratton to Ryde Pier Head would work.
@@richardu Thanks very much. Have now played around with the National Rail website and, thanks to your advice, I can now also get it to give me a through ticket to anywhere on the Island Line, but only by forcing it to go via Ryde Pier Head. And it assumes that the 7 minute connection from the ship is too tight and that I will need to wait an extra hour at Ryde.
A fellow Islander who has also emigrated to Germany here. Really enjoyed the video - a complete blast from the past for me. For some reason I thought the Lymington ferries had been eliminated!
This was excellent. Partly because there is nothing like watching people race through places you’ve been (I’ve done all of the ferries covered, but rather sensibly spread across different days) but also because it is so refreshing to have a travelogue with genuine suspense and authenticity. But… I think that technically hovercraft are not considered ferries (or at least boats), and that they are flown rather than sailed… so, that’s five ferries, one floating bridge and a plane of sorts.
We were on the Isle of Wight on a Saturday, about 1.5 weeks ago! Used the ferry between Portsmouth and Ryde Pier Head, everything worked like a charm and the sunset during the return journey was breathtaking. We actually came with the train from London, and also made use of the Island Line on the island itself to go to Lake for some hiking along the cliff path. Certainly very happy everything worked out!! 😅
10:00 "you cant stop a good Brit from being miserable about stuff". Pricesless. Just goes to show what a good idea it is for everyone in the world to live in a different country for a while if they have the chance. And by the way - I love your videos overall but one thing that is really next level is your voice and narration. Have you considered doing voice-over work on the side?
Well done, mate! Some people take vacation on a fancy island, you...just take six ferries on your home island. 😎 A random day in the life of Tom Thornton. Love it! 🙃👍👍
@@thornton One day I wanna do some normal, random stuff and take the train from my home in southern Austria to Thurso in the north of Scotland and than the ferry to the Orkney Islands. 😊😎
Great challenge and great content for youtube. For next week, I actually also planned an Isle of Wight fastcat vs. Hovercraft video, haha. And you made it... so great.
Loved it! However it would have been extremely useful if you added details such as crossing time (in all cases) is it passenger only, etc. I am just trying to work out what is the best way to get to the Isle of Wight and your video is very useful!
Congratulations, Tom, on completing your very silly quest. I love the island very much and do at least annual summer visits (because it's pants in winter). I've done every possible bus on the island in one day, but all the ferries just did my head in. 😀
I did the commute between Ryde and Portsmouth 5 days a week for 10 years so I have had more than enough of crossing the Solent,. however, more power to you. Partly spent the video partly thinking how would I do it, then realised who I am kidding I would never do it, not at those prices.
The Island is my ancestral & spiritual home but amazingly given all my trips over the years I've only used anything other than Portsmouth to Ryde Pier Head a handful of times. I've also never been on the roro ferry from Southampton to Cowes. I'm such a creature of habit! Very tempted to accept your challenge, maybe he's summer
Tom you DID well under the situation. For the “floating “ crossing I remember it way back in the mid 1950s and I think it was wooden. Here in Australia we have quite a number of them crossing our major river which is over 2,000 kilometres long, River Murray.
I just started watching the video about halfway through. This seems to be the most happy I have seen you. I now want to visit Cowes on the Isle of Wight. Your day reminds me of our trip to Wolfe island in Kingston Ontario,which, oddly enough, is less saturated with development. I loved your floating walkway story of your grandparents' relationship. Great video!
It made me very happy to see your challenge. Reminded me of challenge videos I have seen by Tim Tracker. I just had to watch. Please do more as I loved your accomplishment. Your planning was amazing.
Wow! I immediately subscribed This is my sort of challenge! Before budget airlines and the Eurotunnel the 1st leg of any holiday was the ferry across the English channel - So for me Ferries always have the excitement of the beginning of an adventure. Pre-covid I had anticipated checking if it would be possible to circumnavigate the Mediterranean by Ferries?
I’ve been on that beautiful island in 2018 in Bembridge. Thanks for refreshing my memories. Indeed a crazy challenge but as always a pleasure to watch. Keep going!
I last lived in Germany in 1989. Back then the trains were always on time except for the day after the wall came down. It’s wild to hear people talk about trains always being late in Germany now. I’d love to see you do a video tour of the Isle of Wight.
Well done, Tom - an entertaining enterprise but you could have saved money by return day fares on Red Funnel and Wightlink! As a fellow Islander (and ex- Southern Vectis bus driver) I was pleased that you didn't complain about our bus fares (£2max) this time! It was a good advert for the Island. I have followed and enjoyed all your adventures but discovered "Swiss Saxony" on the Elbe before in 2014.
The view of the yachts from the ferry was so beautiful 😍 even though it delayed your trip a bit 😅 keep up your amazing videos, looking forward to watching more adventures! Cheers from Kent, Washington state :))
Another highly entertaining video,Tom! I truly enjoy your adventures and your special way of filming and commenting! 😊👍🏻👋🏻 And you never curse.....at least not in your videos. 😂😂😂 I hope you still enjoy beautiful Germany. Keep bringing these videos to us! 🤘🏻🤘🏻🤘🏻
What an intriguing challenge, and chance for us landlubbers to witness a lifestyle so familiar to you. 💕 Curious what other claims to fame does the Isle of Wight have?
An actual mention in a Beatles song (when I’m 64), lots of dinosaur fossils, Bob Dylan played there instead of Woodstock, and famous megayoutuber Tom Thornton is also from there 🤓
Blackgang Chine is brilliant, despite it slowly falling into the sea. I believe it was featured in a book titled 'Bollocks to Alton Towers' which captures the spirit of the attraction perfectly. Nothing better than somewhere a bit quirky.
Pedant alert! The Hovercraft isn't actually a ferry but classed as an aircraft due to it essentially flying a few feet above the surface. So technically, you completed your challenge when you arrived back in Portmouth from Fishbourne 😁
A thing about ferries, and especially vs permanent links: the town I live in in Norway is one end of Norway's busiest ferry link, crossing the Oslo fjord. For at least a lifetime the debate on whether to build a bridge/tunnel has been going on and off, but for now, at least, there is just more focus on ferries. Electric and hybrid ferries traverse the 30 minute journey constantly through the day, and pedestrians and cyclists travel free, connecting the two towns on opposite sides of the fjord into more or less a single market for work and leisure :)
Just another example of how ferry links *can* be done well, but for some reason islanders like to accept paying these obscene prices. Idk why we ignore examples like this from around Europe of how to do it properly, and would rather carry on as usual...
A great public service you have performed there to make comparisons Tom, even if it does seem a bit mad!! I lived on the island back in the 80's but hope to return for good in the future.
Tom, My first visit to the IoW was back in the 1960s. I still recall the frisson I felt when the ferry (SHANKLIN, I think, but it might have been BRADING) exited Portsmouth Harbour entrance. further enhanced by discovering the Island's railways and those locos with their unique W numbering. That and the rolling stock was so unlike anything I'd been used to. So yes, I can understand your feelings after the first ferry departed and you were committed to your madcap escapade. Someone commented on the total cost. Well, for 6 ferreis, 3 trains and a chain ferry that's not bad for a real day out. I've been known to travel from Edinburgh to Glasgow via Newcastle and Carlisle, so madcap is a good adjective to use.
And you can still experience the original rolling stock and a couple of the original locos on the Isle of Wight Steam Railway at Havenstreet. Even by heritage railways standards they are OLD, and superbly restored. Pull up the sash windows in the compartment with a leather strap - that brings back memories! I remember travelling on the ferries Brading, Shanklin, Southsea and once even Ryde (the paddle steamer) as a kid.
@@iankemp1131 I don't know if this story is apocryphal or not, but it was related that those window straps would occasionally disappear to become someone's razor strop. That was in the day when cut-throat razors and shaving brushes and soap were the norm. I had forgotten about those.
@@roboftherock Hadn't heard that, but it sounds entirely plausible! A similar (documented, 1920s) case was a suspicious-looking tablecloth seen flapping in a high wind on a clothes line by the railway. It turned out to be a large number of 1st class carriage antimacassars sewn together!
Haha that’s funny. When I tell people I’m goin to the Isle of Man they ask me if I’m goin to the festival (isle of white)…….. no im goin to the bike race 😂
Those fares are insane! I grew up on the Isle of Bute in the Firth of Clyde - the ferry takes 35 mins and the single fare is £3.45. The Arran ferry which takes 60 mins is only £4.20, and even the Barra ferry which takes around 5 hours is only £15.90! Obviously they are heavily subsidised and the Ferry Company is State owned and virtually a department of the Scottish Govt with all the disadvantages of state bureaucracy that brings. But then again that is the European norm - to subsidise ferries to island communities - not to serve up islanders to a couple of shyster ferry companies!
10:30 Not sure if it's been pointed out by an earlier comment, but the Isle of Man races (the TT races) are bikes, not cars. I think there is also a plan for a TT style bike race on the Isle of Wight, but I remain seriously sceptical that it'll ever actually happen!
They may be expensive. But I have a passion for ferries i really enjoy them. Edit: Unpopular opinion but I quite enjoy the red jet service announcement. the voice is calming and i enjoy the video
Great video! I've never crossed from/ to Southampton but all of the others (incuding the elusive Floating Bridge) are very familiar to me. Congratulations!
Hi Tom, my girlfriend and I are currently hiking and backpacking around the beautiful South West of England. Today we had problems with the buses trying to get to Newquay from Combe Martin. As we were stranded in a small village, this video kept my spirits high. Thanks for that ❤
Hey, thanks for your comment, it also kept my spirits high! I hope your trip goes better tomorrow, and that there’s some sunshine (maybe too much to ask!)
Fab video and you have my sympathy for the worries over connections. Earlier this year I did 5 ferries by bike: Hayling, Wightjet, Floating bridge replacemenot boat, East Cowes and then the Hythe ferry, cycling on to Beaulieu road and back to the camp site in Chichester by train. An epic day out.
This is the kind of niche content I love UA-cam for 😂
Hahaha that’s me mate
Your videos are always a pleasure to watch, such a nice vibe !
Glad you like them! That means a lot :)
That shot of the kids watching the hovercraft really got me, I did exactly the same thing when I was a kid and I was in awe. Brilliant video!
I still am in awe 🤓
As a fellow (frequently impoverished thanks to Wightlink) Islander, you captured the pleasure and pain of Island ferries perfectly! The yachts section was like a love letter to the island - beautiful!
If you don't mind me asking, is there an Islander discount for these ferries? I know Shetland and Orkney Islanders do get one, but I was just wondering if there existed a similar program for the Isle of Wight.
Well done that man! Highly original and so much fun!
Underrated youtuber ,love from Germany!
I'm always happy to see one of your videos - keep up the good work!
appreciate it! 🥺
Great video. I live in the USA now but grew up in Plymouth. Portsmouth was always our big naval base competition (and in footy) but I made several trips to the Isle of Wight by train and ferry. I took the early (even smaller) hovercraft on several occasions. They were very unreliable. Once we broke down mid-journey and the pilot and a crew member ended up rowing us across! The ferry overtook us. I also rode the hovercraft across the English Channel. Even noisier but so quick unless the swell was over 4 or 5 feet which was too much for them to deal with. WE have a chain ferry between Devon and Cornwall - Devonport in Plymouth to Torpoint and used to have another to Saltash until the road (A38) Tamar Bridge was built. I do crazy transport visits as well (e.g., to the most southern undergraound (metro) station in the world in Buenos Aires, Argentina!
Absolutely loving this „in 24 hours“ videos! Really hoping to you making a series out of it.
That's really nice! I have a lot of ideas still :)
This insane Midlander did this craziness just a few months ago. Took pretty much 12 hours setting out from Portsmouth, I headed west to Lymington, then took the ferries in order finishing with the Hovercraft home. Was nice to spend the day at sea, and all my connections went to plan. For islanders, I see how the cost can build up, and the constant stress of hoping your crossing is not disrupted can lead to a long day at work. Hovercraft will always be my favourite, but the cost of single, ouch.
Oh hey, fellow ferry nerd 🤓
@thornton for a landlubber I do like my ferries 😆
Appreciate your videos, started enjoying making videos more, when seeing people like you delivering in your own way with out the need to be hyper and over energetic, as I to am more on the chilled side too, thank you!
🌞 thank you
Having been born and raised in Southampton and only been to IoW once due to the cost of the ferry, I understood the pain every time you bought a ticket. Strange but lovely to see the city in a video!
I just don’t get why it’s so expensive 😭😭😭
@@thorntonI used to live about 800 yards from the hovercraft terminal in Southsea, seeing them ask £26 made my jaw hit the floor
I loved this video. Although technically you didn't go far, it was a splendid adventure. I didn't know it was the place of your birth. It became very friendly and personal. I love the Jane Austen quote at the end. And what an auspicious day you chose. Truly a day that can not be replicated. I was smiling all the way through. Thank you.
At 7:10 you can see SS Shieldhall in shot, a 1950s sludge boat which now runs trips out of Southampton. She's fully staffed by volunteers, and can frequently be seen from the ferries. Would recommend a trip if you can bear more time on the water!
EDIT : I'm also curious why you didn't buy combined train & ferry tickets where you could've? Those are so much cheaper!
Super cool! My Dad lives in the Isle of Wight so I get the cat over often! I know you'll know this, but anyone reading - always try to book a boat via a train ticket. It's soo much cheaper! Especially if you have a railcard. I made the mistake of turning up to the hovercraft without a ticket not long ago and was as shocked as Tom when I got there. Madness.
Yep definitely use a Railcard and get tickets to the final destination on the island, then you save 1/3rd on the ferry part as well :) I even do this when I’m not getting the train haha, like a ticket from West Cowes to St Denys and just don’t go to the train afterwards
Can you still book through tickets on Wightlink (Portsmouth Harbour - Ryde PH) via the train? When I looked at the National Rail website recently it was only showing tickets via the hovercraft! Even if I put in "via Portsmouth Harbour" it wanted me to take a bus from there to the hoverport. Ridiculous.
@@iankemp1131 It depends on strikes etc, but yes you can still book from any station to Ryde Pier Head. You can't book from Portsmouth to Ryde Pier Head, but stations before those, like Fratton, you can. So Fratton to Ryde Pier Head would work.
@@richardu Thanks very much. Have now played around with the National Rail website and, thanks to your advice, I can now also get it to give me a through ticket to anywhere on the Island Line, but only by forcing it to go via Ryde Pier Head. And it assumes that the 7 minute connection from the ship is too tight and that I will need to wait an extra hour at Ryde.
@@iankemp1131 Glad to hear it! I think you can book any ticket generally, as they're not usually tied to a particular service.
Nice trip! The challenge has a ‘travelling turtle’ feel to it. You should do a collab with him!
Oh man, your videos are like compact mini-vacations from the all-day-everyday stress. Thank you so dearly!
A fellow Islander who has also emigrated to Germany here. Really enjoyed the video - a complete blast from the past for me. For some reason I thought the Lymington ferries had been eliminated!
This was excellent. Partly because there is nothing like watching people race through places you’ve been (I’ve done all of the ferries covered, but rather sensibly spread across different days) but also because it is so refreshing to have a travelogue with genuine suspense and authenticity.
But… I think that technically hovercraft are not considered ferries (or at least boats), and that they are flown rather than sailed… so, that’s five ferries, one floating bridge and a plane of sorts.
pretty awesome, and now I want to ride the hoover craft to Ryde and back!
Well done! Let's see if anyone picks up the gauntlet.
We were on the Isle of Wight on a Saturday, about 1.5 weeks ago! Used the ferry between Portsmouth and Ryde Pier Head, everything worked like a charm and the sunset during the return journey was breathtaking. We actually came with the train from London, and also made use of the Island Line on the island itself to go to Lake for some hiking along the cliff path. Certainly very happy everything worked out!! 😅
a perfect weekend :)
10:00 "you cant stop a good Brit from being miserable about stuff". Pricesless. Just goes to show what a good idea it is for everyone in the world to live in a different country for a while if they have the chance. And by the way - I love your videos overall but one thing that is really next level is your voice and narration. Have you considered doing voice-over work on the side?
Epic video Tom. Thank you for taking us along on the journey.
Well done, mate! Some people take vacation on a fancy island, you...just take six ferries on your home island. 😎 A random day in the life of Tom Thornton. Love it! 🙃👍👍
Hahaha that's me! One day I will do something normal
@@thornton One day I wanna do some normal, random stuff and take the train from my home in southern Austria to Thurso in the north of Scotland and than the ferry to the Orkney Islands. 😊😎
Epic! Haven’t been to the island for at least 10 years. I was tantalisingly close last week as I stayed overnight in Portsmouth.
My condolences that you had to spend time in Portsmouth, rather than our wonderful isle 🫡
@@thornton nah, I quite like Portsmouth. At least I got my ferry fix by shuttling over to Gosport for a few hours.
A real-life achievement unlocked! Great video as always Tom, and beeeautiful shots of the yacht race from the boat 😍
Thanks Lewis 😍😍
Great challenge and great content for youtube. For next week, I actually also planned an Isle of Wight fastcat vs. Hovercraft video, haha.
And you made it... so great.
Ah that's great, enjoy your time on the island!
@@thornton we did, it was in April. Great escape during Easter from the Netherlands.
They should build an underwater tram service from IoW to the mainland, that way you can enjoy visiting the various wrecks and so forth on your way.
Great to see the Island again. My Dad was born in Newport IW, and we used to holiday in Totland as kids. Sadly I haven't ever lived on the IoW myself.
Glad you liked it :)
Sweet attempt! Bravo!
Loved it! However it would have been extremely useful if you added details such as crossing time (in all cases) is it passenger only, etc. I am just trying to work out what is the best way to get to the Isle of Wight and your video is very useful!
Nice idea for a video - I didn't realise there was such a choice of IOW ferries.
This is a great watch! Being a Jersey resident myself, I feel your ferry pain :(
Fixed link to the Channel Islands let’s goooo
That was BRILLIANT! I was on the edge of my seat. What a fun way to spend a day. Thanks for sharing.
Great challenge, really enjoyed it! Very well edited too. Definitely want to take a journey on the hovercraft and visit the island some day...
thanks! yeah it's definitely worth trying :)
The art in which
Congratulations, Tom, on completing your very silly quest. I love the island very much and do at least annual summer visits (because it's pants in winter). I've done every possible bus on the island in one day, but all the ferries just did my head in. 😀
Great video Tom..well done.
Thanks 👍
I did the commute between Ryde and Portsmouth 5 days a week for 10 years so I have had more than enough of crossing the Solent,. however, more power to you. Partly spent the video partly thinking how would I do it, then realised who I am kidding I would never do it, not at those prices.
The Island is my ancestral & spiritual home but amazingly given all my trips over the years I've only used anything other than Portsmouth to Ryde Pier Head a handful of times. I've also never been on the roro ferry from Southampton to Cowes. I'm such a creature of habit! Very tempted to accept your challenge, maybe he's summer
Now I want to visit Isle of Wight and do this Tom!
Please do!! We’re a welcoming bunch
Tom you DID well under the situation. For the “floating “ crossing I remember it way back in the mid 1950s and I think it was wooden. Here in Australia we have quite a number of them crossing our major river which is over 2,000 kilometres long, River Murray.
Thanks for your comment :) I would love to do a tour of all the floating bridges in Australia 😭
Awh, thanks for the little story about your grandparents- I needed that. Cheers dude
🥹🥰
Thanks!
Thanks for your support!! 👏👏
I love that there's still a Hovercraft Ferry in the UK. I have fond memories of crossing the channel with its big brother when i was a little kid. 🥰
That’s a longer crossing, must’ve been loud!! Come back and try our mini one somewhen
Great video and I was actually on holiday on the island that day watching the yachts from yaverland and then ryde
Another fun crazy video Tom. Makes me want to give it a go.
Great job.⭐⭐⭐
I just started watching the video about halfway through. This seems to be the most happy I have seen you. I now want to visit Cowes on the Isle of Wight. Your day reminds me of our trip to Wolfe island in Kingston Ontario,which, oddly enough, is less saturated with development. I loved your floating walkway story of your grandparents' relationship. Great video!
thank you ❤ I have a few happy places on that rock!
It made me very happy to see your challenge.
Reminded me of challenge videos I have seen by Tim Tracker. I just had to watch. Please do more as I loved your accomplishment. Your planning was amazing.
Wow! I immediately subscribed This is my sort of challenge! Before budget airlines and the Eurotunnel the 1st leg of any holiday was the ferry across the English channel - So for me Ferries always have the excitement of the beginning of an adventure. Pre-covid I had anticipated checking if it would be possible to circumnavigate the Mediterranean by Ferries?
This so funny i am going on the hovercraft today I have been on the first ship
Yay! New Tom video!
thank you 😭
You should have named this the 'go bankrupt quick in just 24 hours challenge'
Tom’s Ferry Tale…😁
👏👏 Ferrytale of Newport
It's a silly challenge, but kind of addictive to watch. I found myself challenging myself to watch till the end, glad that you managed to ace it. ☺
I've always wanted to go on a hovercraft 😃😃
What a fun challenge! All this yacht s were a beautiful sight! I think you earned that Guinness!
I’ve been on that beautiful island in 2018 in Bembridge. Thanks for refreshing my memories. Indeed a crazy challenge but as always a pleasure to watch. Keep going!
I love Bembridge!! Thanks for the kind comment :)
I last lived in Germany in 1989. Back then the trains were always on time except for the day after the wall came down. It’s wild to hear people talk about trains always being late in Germany now. I’d love to see you do a video tour of the Isle of Wight.
Excellent vlog!!
Relaxing video, in a weird way.
Oh God… insane!!! I definitely want to do this one day 😍😮
As we say in Germany "Der Weg ist das Ziel". Well done mate.
Well done, Tom - an entertaining enterprise but you could have saved money by return day fares on Red Funnel and Wightlink! As a fellow Islander (and ex- Southern Vectis bus driver) I was pleased that you didn't complain about our bus fares (£2max) this time! It was a good advert for the Island. I have followed and enjoyed all your adventures but discovered "Swiss Saxony" on the Elbe before in 2014.
The view of the yachts from the ferry was so beautiful 😍 even though it delayed your trip a bit 😅 keep up your amazing videos, looking forward to watching more adventures! Cheers from Kent, Washington state :))
Why did you get off at quarr Abbey? There i s abus stop for the ferry terminal (Fishbourne lane)
Oh I thought you meant all the vessels/ships in the fleet. Not the routes. Still looks like a amazing journey!
Very fun video (first of yours I've seen). Pedant's corner though, the Isle of Man is a bike race, not a car race!
Another highly entertaining video,Tom! I truly enjoy your adventures and your special way of filming and commenting! 😊👍🏻👋🏻
And you never curse.....at least not in your videos. 😂😂😂
I hope you still enjoy beautiful Germany.
Keep bringing these videos to us! 🤘🏻🤘🏻🤘🏻
Thank you boss man!
@@thornton how many pints do you need to come up with these crazy ideas?
Boss Man.....😬😬😬 Bruuuuuuuce......😉
The car alarms are also always included on the ferry to the German island of Norderney where we go at least once per year.
What an intriguing challenge, and chance for us landlubbers to witness a lifestyle so familiar to you. 💕 Curious what other claims to fame does the Isle of Wight have?
An actual mention in a Beatles song (when I’m 64), lots of dinosaur fossils, Bob Dylan played there instead of Woodstock, and famous megayoutuber Tom Thornton is also from there 🤓
Blackgang Chine is brilliant, despite it slowly falling into the sea. I believe it was featured in a book titled 'Bollocks to Alton Towers' which captures the spirit of the attraction perfectly. Nothing better than somewhere a bit quirky.
Pedant alert! The Hovercraft isn't actually a ferry but classed as an aircraft due to it essentially flying a few feet above the surface. So technically, you completed your challenge when you arrived back in Portmouth from Fishbourne 😁
What a phenomenal trek, thank you for sharing sir…👏🏻
Thank you Kyle!
A thing about ferries, and especially vs permanent links: the town I live in in Norway is one end of Norway's busiest ferry link, crossing the Oslo fjord. For at least a lifetime the debate on whether to build a bridge/tunnel has been going on and off, but for now, at least, there is just more focus on ferries. Electric and hybrid ferries traverse the 30 minute journey constantly through the day, and pedestrians and cyclists travel free, connecting the two towns on opposite sides of the fjord into more or less a single market for work and leisure :)
Just another example of how ferry links *can* be done well, but for some reason islanders like to accept paying these obscene prices. Idk why we ignore examples like this from around Europe of how to do it properly, and would rather carry on as usual...
Brilliant well done.
Brilliant video
Vectis is the sexiest name for a bus company ever! Great video.
Hahaha nobody has ever described it like that before 😭
A great public service you have performed there to make comparisons Tom, even if it does seem a bit mad!! I lived on the island back in the 80's but hope to return for good in the future.
thanks for the video Tom - really enjoyed that!
Tom, My first visit to the IoW was back in the 1960s. I still recall the frisson I felt when the ferry (SHANKLIN, I think, but it might have been BRADING) exited Portsmouth Harbour entrance. further enhanced by discovering the Island's railways and those locos with their unique W numbering. That and the rolling stock was so unlike anything I'd been used to. So yes, I can understand your feelings after the first ferry departed and you were committed to your madcap escapade. Someone commented on the total cost. Well, for 6 ferreis, 3 trains and a chain ferry that's not bad for a real day out. I've been known to travel from Edinburgh to Glasgow via Newcastle and Carlisle, so madcap is a good adjective to use.
And you can still experience the original rolling stock and a couple of the original locos on the Isle of Wight Steam Railway at Havenstreet. Even by heritage railways standards they are OLD, and superbly restored. Pull up the sash windows in the compartment with a leather strap - that brings back memories! I remember travelling on the ferries Brading, Shanklin, Southsea and once even Ryde (the paddle steamer) as a kid.
@@iankemp1131 I don't know if this story is apocryphal or not, but it was related that those window straps would occasionally disappear to become someone's razor strop. That was in the day when cut-throat razors and shaving brushes and soap were the norm. I had forgotten about those.
@@roboftherock Hadn't heard that, but it sounds entirely plausible! A similar (documented, 1920s) case was a suspicious-looking tablecloth seen flapping in a high wind on a clothes line by the railway. It turned out to be a large number of 1st class carriage antimacassars sewn together!
@@iankemp1131 😀😀😀👍
Haha that’s funny. When I tell people I’m goin to the Isle of Man they ask me if I’m goin to the festival (isle of white)…….. no im goin to the bike race 😂
Hahaha reverso!!
Absolute champion😂
Next video: taking every ferry on the Lake of Constance… in one day! :D
Not a bad shout!
That was really fun!! I love the Isle of Wight and will be there fir 10 days in September! X
Those fares are insane! I grew up on the Isle of Bute in the Firth of Clyde - the ferry takes 35 mins and the single fare is £3.45. The Arran ferry which takes 60 mins is only £4.20, and even the Barra ferry which takes around 5 hours is only £15.90! Obviously they are heavily subsidised and the Ferry Company is State owned and virtually a department of the Scottish Govt with all the disadvantages of state bureaucracy that brings. But then again that is the European norm - to subsidise ferries to island communities - not to serve up islanders to a couple of shyster ferry companies!
10:30 Not sure if it's been pointed out by an earlier comment, but the Isle of Man races (the TT races) are bikes, not cars. I think there is also a plan for a TT style bike race on the Isle of Wight, but I remain seriously sceptical that it'll ever actually happen!
🙈🙈
Great video 👍 and, if I'm not mistaken, posted when the floating bridge was again....out of action!!😅
I love your amazing and exciting videos! Best regards from Germany :)
Thank you so much!
Wow! Nice Video, please more
7 ferries adding the chain ⛓️ ferry!
They may be expensive. But I have a passion for ferries i really enjoy them.
Edit: Unpopular opinion but I quite enjoy the red jet service announcement. the voice is calming and i enjoy the video
great video! your content is always super enjoyable and makes me feel better when i had a bad day. thank you tom! keep it up
Thank you 😊
Great video! I've never crossed from/ to Southampton but all of the others (incuding the elusive Floating Bridge) are very familiar to me. Congratulations!
Great video, loved it.
Salty sea air and very salty ticket prices. Great video Tom.
Hovercraft are a wild ride…
As a kid, having taken the hovercraft to the Isle of Wight, I presumed it was normal way to run a ferry service. How wrong I was...
Great adventurous challenge. 🎉
Well thank you 👏😆