Clay shooting from ferry

[chippy]

I was talking to an old boy on sunday and he told me he used to shoot clays on the P&O ferry from portsmouth to cherbourg. it must have been trap as they shot from the back of the boat.it was a competition sponsored by P&O.anyone else heard of this?

 

[Hotshot100]

I know that they used to do it on the ferry from Newhaven to Dieppe many years ago. I think that was with Sealink before P&O took them over.

 

[Gene Holmes]

I remember my uncle telling me about a shoot on a ferry a long time ago.
Can't remember what ferry or where it went from/to.
I do remember him telling me that in the afternoon the wind was so bad that what started out as going away birds out to sea. Became driven over their heads.

 

[PaulH]

You are right, many moons ago the the cross channel ferry, can't remember which company ran the ferry, from Portsmouth to Cherbourg did allow clay pigeon shooting off the stern of the ferry. The gun club I belonged to at the time arranged a day trip to Cherbourg with added attraction of a shooting competition on the ferry.

As I remember the weather was pretty rough with a strong wind so with the pitchng of the boat and the wind lifting and dropping the clays it was to say the least interesting. Unfortunately the weather got progressively worse so shooting was curtailed. Have never felt the need to try it again.  

 

[Hamster]

We used to have fairly regular ferry clay shoots back in the day as members of Cinque Ports GC which was primarily a pigeon shooting club. Out of Dover bound for Calais if I recall correctly although we never left the vessel; the shooting took place at going away pairs off three hand operated traps left, right and centre of deck  and the Captain used to announce it and invite members of the public to go and watch it taking place. B)

I simply cannot envisage anything like it taking place today. The guns used to get loaded into the mini bus along with the rest of us with one person responsible for their safe keeping when not in use. 

 

[jasper]

yep did this a few times . you used to get litre of whiskey on way back included.in price. Was P+O portsmouth -cherbourg winners used to get invited back for a final in october.usually freezing. great fun.and a couple of hours in frog land. We even had one chap get to france and back with his gun and no passport.

jasper

 

[chippy]

Yes he told me it was a day trip, shoot on the way out then a couple of hours shopping in cherbourg and prize giving/piss up on the way back.he also said because so many shooters used 5 shot remmys they used to put out 5 clays simo and if you hit all 5 before they hit the sea you won a bottle whiskey.

 

[** Pending Removal **]

We had our guns taken off us when shooting on a private yacht in Cardigan bay.......!!

.....true story...!!

If you are thinking of that......inform the coastguard first.....then they don't send the police launch......just saying.

 

[chippy]

We had our guns taken off us when shooting on a private yacht in Cardigan bay.......!!

.....true story...!!

If you are thinking of that......inform the coastguard first.....then they don't send the police launch......just saying.

i had a very similar problem shooting on an inflatable dinghy on the municipal boating lake.plus the trap legs went through the bottom.

 

[** Pending Removal **]

Jajajaja

 

[jake.keeling]

Apparently this used to happen on the Ferry to the Isle of Man back in the day.

 

[Richard59]

Also did one of these late 80's early 90's organised by a gun club running out of Farmington Quarry (near Westfield) I made the mistake of looking over the stern before I shot, not too good with heights, trapper reckoned if I was standing / pressing any further back in the cage I'd pushed it off its mounting.

In those days the drink and the fags really were cheap,

 

[DAG]

Some cruise liners still have clay shooting on them, in my line of work of specialist on site machining, i have done work in the Caribbean on cruise ships that have the facility (nice work when you get it ).

 

[Dog Tyred]

yep did this a few times . you used to get litre of whiskey on way back included.in price. Was P+O portsmouth -cherbourg winners used to get invited back for a final in october.usually freezing. great fun.and a couple of hours in frog land. We even had one chap get to france and back with his gun and no passport.

jasper

You're dead right. I'd forgotten about the free litre of Whiskey. Ever other part I remember really well.

I did this a couple of times (probably 20 years ago) with Tamworth Shooting Ground (previously Park Farm Gun Club - I think).

Coach down to Portsmouth. When the boat was clear of the harbour assemble on the car deck at the stern. Two fixed traps (one mounted on the railings each side of the gate) firing targets behind the boat. Two shooters at a time shooting.

I recall one particular trip where the sea was so rough, with the boat pitching back and forth that you actually became weightless for a fraction of a second as the stern came up and then dropped away suddenly. Bit scary holding your pride and joy over the back of the boat I can tell you.

In the rough windy conditions the targets were a bloody nightmare as their angle was affected by the pitching of the boat. One target would be thrown in the sky while the next one was thrown at the sea. The wind also made them zip up and down so they were a bitch to hit.

One additional hazard on that particular trip was the rough seas were playing havock with the other passengers keeping down their breakfasts and of course they would eject the recently consumed contents of the stomachs over the side of the boat but at a considerably higher level than us on the car deck! One poor lady in our party (who was the wife of one of the shooters) was hanging on to the railing at the side of the car deck suddenly started screaming hysterically and when she turned around the whole side of her face was covered in someone elses full english!! Fried egg, bacon, beans, the lot!!

I also recall that on that trip that having arrived in Cherbourg at lunch time on a Wednesday we then found out it was early closing day with four hours till kill until the boat sailed!!

I think that was the last one I did! Go figure.

DT