River Dart

It was just wonderful to be back in Dartmouth for the Regatta Weekend. The displays laid on by the various forces were exciting and dramatic. Chinook helicopters, rescue helicopters. Pairs of army Helicopters doing “dance routines“ over the river.

On Saturday, we had more of the same, plus a Harrier Jump Jet and the New European Jet fighter. This plane looked very futuristic, and incredibly noisy. The turns and climb rates it displayed were just amazing.

But the star turn as ever were the Red Arrows. Just nothing to beat them. Each year the display gets better and better. This year one of the “effects” was to weave a four stranded coloured smoke trail right down the river at a rather worrying low height! Photographing the Red Arrows is a bit like taking pictures of moving Dolphins. But in between pictures of blank sky, masts and flag poles, I did manage a couple of good shots as the attached picture shows.

Tina, Graeme and two of our Grandchildren, Tom and Oliver had joined us for the Saturday evening. After the aerial displays, I took the kids out in the dingy for rides on the river. This was much fun, as Oliver did his best to crash and capsize the dingy. This was followed by lifts up the mast in the bosons chair.  Then dinner.

The finally of the Regatta is the Fireworks Display. This year was once again a spectacular event. Afterwards the many hundreds of boats in the Marinas and on the river let off their air horns in a deafening cacophony of sounds for several minutes.

Then this armada of small boats drifts back up the river, in the dark, to their moorings. Just a sea of navigation lights on the move. This was a display in its own right.

Wow, what a night!