Isle of Wight Day Tripper - Day 80

Isle of Wight - Day Tripper - Saturday 30th July 2011 - Day 80

Cowes High Street

We would be tourist's today but first went off to a local engineering business for boat parts for the loo and chandlers for more navigation charts.
Cowes is the centre of the world's sailing community so most of its shops are very much oriented towards them.
I caught the 11.30, No.1 bus from the ferry terminal to the main town of Newport and used my bus pass for the first time on this trip.
On the half hour bus trip you pass the infamous high security Parkhurst prison which I was surprised to see how close it was to some of the private houses.  Also along the way there is complex at Northwood where they make the radar masts for warships and it is quite a sight, seeing these sitting in a field.  Newport is a busy town with lots of other tourists enjoying their holiday in the bright sunshine.  I went off to the classic boat museum while next door there is the bus museum which I would of visited but was closed.

Classic Boat Museum

There are some wonderful boats within the museum, mostly pre-war and tell of the early fast motor boat designs.  The beautiful lines of the other wooden boats compared with today's plastic versions.  In amongst the exhibits is 'Cowslip' the flying fifteen which was presented to the Queen and Prince Philip when they were first married by the people of Cowes and in their younger days they used to race her.  A stroll around the museum workshop next door gave an insight into how their work continues with the help of the volunteers

The Medina river which runs through Cowes has its head at Newport where the Bargeman's Rest pub is situated and has the memorbelia of times gone by.
I came back to Cowes very pleased I had seen more of the island by bus. 
Ashore in the evening to the Island Yacht club where they were nice about it but would not serve us any meals, as they had a big function on, though we had asked  the previous evening if it was possible to eat there and the reply was yes.
We headed next door to the Union pub where we had a very good pork dinner.  In the Royal British Legion club they also have wonderful views over the river but the mini disco was not to our liking and we retreated to the Pier View pub which was a little quieter and finished off the Cowes Corinthian yacht club.  A nice change and enjoyable day.