River Mersey Festival

So far the River Festival has been fantastic!  We’ve been really lucky with the weather because although it’s incredibly windy we’ve only had one shower (and we were in a restaurant at the time) and it’s actually been quite sunny.

We saw the Isle of Man catamaran ferry the "Manannan". It’s very impressive and you can see right through it between the hulls. We were told that someone had once jet-ski’d  through it - and been jailed for the privilege.

We took a tourist trip on the Yellow Duck and although I was sceptical at first thinking it would be the usual rip-off I can’t recommend it enough!  We started with a road trip around all the sights of Liverpool and the guide was entertaining as well as a mine of information.

The ‘bus’ then took a dive into Salthouse Dock, right by our boat, and we had a tour of the docks.  It lasted an hour, cost just under a tenner and was worth every penny.

Yesterday saw lots of things going on all round the waterfront.  There were jet skis in Albert Dock, although the practice sessions were in Salthouse Dock right beside our boat. There was P1 power boat
super stock racing out on the River Mersey and wakeboarding, also in Salthouse Dock.

There were a few street theatre acts performing throughout the day, mainly around Albert Dock, and then in the afternoon there was an aerial display by the Russian Yakovlevs display team over the River Mersey.

we came through this tunnel on our way into the docks
(minus the fish of course)

The main stage over by the Pier Head had live entertainment on all afternoon with a concert by soul singer Beverley Knight rounding off the evening. By that time it was getting quite cold and was still very windy but I was surprised how few people were there, especially as it’s all free.

Most of the narrowboats in Salthouse Dock have put up bunting and quite a few, including us, also have fairy lights so it all looks quite spectacular.

Salthouse Dock by night

I looked out of the window on Wednesday evening and someone was swimming past the boat!  I looked closer and about 40 people were swimming past the boat!

the floating stage just behind our boat
- swimmers changing room?

one of the many swimmers

It was Liverpool Open Water Swimming Club having a training session by swimming round the perimeter of the dock. They must be mad, as although the water is very clean it’s really cold.

The Queen Elizabeth cruise liner was docked in Liverpool for the day yesterday so we walked over for a look. If you're interested you can find out more about the ship HERE

It was due to leave at 21.50 with a spectacular fireworks display to see them off. We went down to the dock to watch but unfortunately there was a problem with the electrics on the pyrotechnics barge and after 3 fireworks went up they suddenly stopped. We hung about for half an hour and then everyone gave up and started to walk back and wouldn’t you just know it….. they started again!  Not the best display I’ve ever seen but pretty good considering the problems.

On the way back the wind dropped away to nothing and the water in the docks was like a mirror. The views were spectacular and I hope the photos do them justice.

"Mercedes" one of the tall ships

"Mercedes" from the other side of the dock

Salthouse Dock by night, our boat on the left