For the boy in us all

There is a lot going on around us and Queen's Harbour Master Portsmouth is a great source of news - both of general interest and for navigation and safety. The last three have been particularly interesting for us grown-up boys. Local Notice To Mariners 11/09 tells of a visit of a nuclear submarine from 4th to 8th April - hurry up or you'll miss it. 12/09 advises that HMS Endurance (presumably the one that got mixed up in the start of the Falklands war) is arriving on the back of heavy lift ship MV Target, and will anchor off Spithead to offload her between 8th and 12th April. That will be a sight - it will take up to 20 hours to ballast MV Target down so Endurance can float off (which by then will be over near Sturbridge). Finally there Might Be Something Down There. Reading between the lines of 13/09 someone has picked up an odd echo under the causeway to Fort Blockhouse which might be a thumping great bomb. Seems like they are going to burrow down and find out, and in case it goes bang at the wrong moment there will be a sizable exclusion zone. Fingers in ears between 5th and 10th April! If you want to subscribe to these Notices, visit http://www.qhmportsmouth.com/

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P.S. Nav Warn 13/09 has just been cancelled. Perhaps it was a lump of rock after all.

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