Farewell, Cat

Today I learnt that one of my favourite sights at the beach will be no more. Stena Line has taken the HSS* Discovery Catamaran out of service, due to the fact that it's too costly to run now that 300,000 fewer people a year use it.

It will be replaced entirely by the two RoPax** ferries that ran the Hook of Holland/Harwich route with the Discovery. They're having £70million worth of renovations that will leave their length at 240m and double the number of cabins they each hold.

So it's goodbye dear Cat, who we waited for with anticipation and watched with excitement as she raced across the horizon, eagerly anticpating the giant waves that would come up and wet the tourists, and hello, once refurbished, to Stena Hollandica and Stena Britannica - soon to be the World's largest passenger and freight-carrying vessels.

* (High-speed Sea Service)
** (Roll-On-Roll-Off-Passenger-ship/ferry)

HSS Discovery