Day one started well with BH working out how to work ITV3 on our holiday television.
Then off to Yaverland to find the tide out. So parked in the council car park and walked east along the beach towards Culver Down. Snooze under the cliff somewhere, walk back and take our first swim of the season. Picnic. Second snooze. Lots of sailing action on the horizon - hundreds of them - to do with the round the island race. Nothing notably large or ocean going, at least not without ocular assistance, absent on this occasion. Beach mainly patronised by the sort of people who would be keen on football, so quiet later in the afternoon when there was some World Cup action.
Day two, more or less a repeat of day one, but getting a bit further along the beach.
Large party of children from China on a three week holiday here, ostensibly to learn some English, but the ones that I spoke to had very little. Their leader agreed that they must have come from rich families.
Low tide race on from Shanklin to Yaverland, around 5km, with the winner doing it in around 25 minutes. A couple of hundred entrants, few of whom looked like serious runners. One of the few days in the year when, at low tide, one can run on the seaward side of all the breakwaters in between. Told all about it by the communicative deputy mayor of Sandown - but he did not seem to understand that Brading, being a town of much longer standing, ought to have a mayor rather than a chairman of the parish council.
Further entertainment provided by a chap standing on an erect water hose, powered by the pump on a jet ski. Clearly required some strength in the legs and a good sense of balance, but seemed a bit pointless otherwise. Google tells me, on the search key of 'standing on water hose jet ski', that the technical term for this is flyboarding, providing plenty of pictures and a pointer to the relevant entry in Wikipedia (reference 2).
Day three more or less a repeat of day two. Arrived to find the beach café shut, just when we had been working ourselves up to take a tea-time rock cake - something which this café does rather well. Whole place much quieter, being a Monday and all the locals had gone back to work.
One naturist, male middle aged, strolling along the beach while we took our first snooze. One naval representative on the horizon. Not quite as hot as the day before, so more birds, but none of the kestrels we often see over the cliffs. Third swim. Thought about, but did not go for the second swim of the day.
Tea in the café attached to the zoo, which one can do without paying entrance. One tiger and one monkey visible. Lots of crows hanging around for scraps.
Day four more or less a repeat of day three, except for a change of car park, having discovered that the car park attached to the Isle of Wight Zoo (specialising in rescue tigers) was about half the price of the council car park and maybe fifty yards further away from the beach. Fourth swim. No naturists and no jet skis, but a rather larger naval representative than the day before.
Small raptor in Cross Street on return from Yaverland. Much flapping and fuss in the bushes, followed by what I took to be a sparrowhawk heading fast for open country. Pale bars or spots under the wing tips.
Day five we took a rest from the beach proper, although we parked for the second time at the zoo. Strolled along the promenade to Sandown, taking in the shops - including an interesting curio shop, the pleasant owner of which was trying to sell off his stock and shut up shop. He told us that foot fall had fallen off badly over the ten years he had been at it. Also that he was amused by all the children from China buying souvenirs of the Island which had been made in their homeland - it seems that there are quite a few of them over the course of the summer season.
Crab sandwiches for lunch at the beach shack at the south western end of the Sandown section of the promenade, a place we had discovered last year on the occasion of our birthday excursion, by rail, to Ryde, and noticed at reference 3. Sandwiches as good as last year. The youngish man who owned the place must be doing fairly well as he ran to a bevy of pretty & pleasant waitresses and was building an expensive looking deck on the roof of his shack. Lots of expensive looking galvanised iron in the nearly finished steps up.
The snap taken from a bus shelter on the promenade, marking the boundary between Yaverland and Sandown. Providing a welcome break from the sun. We decided against swimming on this occasion. The naval representative having just sailed off-snap to the left. Various large cargo ships parked up, waiting for their tide or their slot into Southampton. One assumes that 95% or more of their very modest crews came from somewhere east of Aden, that touchstone of empire reach back in the 1960's. See reference 4.
Reference 1: https://pumpkinstrokemarrow.blogspot.com/search?q=yaverland.
Reference 2: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flyboard.
Reference 3: https://psmv3.blogspot.com/2017/10/last-chance-saloon.html.
Reference 4: https://psmv3.blogspot.com/2018/06/marine-engineering.html.
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