Starting the Day on a Boat

Collage of Red Funnel Ferry photos

Setting off on still grey waters, with a cup of strong coffee and a good book is not a bad way to start the day. I may have a longer commute now, but there is something quite delicious about the way travel creates a chunk of time to do nothing but sit.

It’s just as well I have some extra time as I’ve taken on a big social reading challenge and I’m a slow reader. I’m too easily distracted and on this, of all weeks, I have lost my iPod. So, instead of Joanna Newsom’s clear tones and James Yorkston’s easy turns, I have enjoyed a ferry soundtrack of business calls and tv show debriefs. I’m only surprised by how sociably inclined other people are so early in the morning.

Southampton’s big industry port and busy shipping lanes sets a different pace from Cowes’ sailing boats and quiet marina. City rush hour traffic is a shock to the system, and I’m suffering from bike envy, seeing those wheels nip off down a speedy side road while I join the slow-moving rank of cars. In comparison to that, a boat is a most civilised way to travel!

Red Jet in the evening

1 thoughts on “Starting the Day on a Boat

  1. Just catching up (in a bossless afternoon at work) after holidays! Congrats on the new job. Just FYI I did almost my entire OU 6 year long degree on my commute from Sunbury into London. Unlike the ferry, it’s a couple of hours when you can pretty much guarantee that NO ONE will speak to you at all!