A giant in the Solent

One of the things I like about living close to the sea is that there is always something to look at, even if it's just big waves!  Since Sunday, the American aircraft carrier, USS Theodore Roosevelt, has been moored in the Solent as it is simply too big to berth in Portsmouth Harbour.  It's pretty big, you really can't miss it.  I walked to the end of the pier for a good view.

The red and white tanker moored alongside is dwarfed in comparison

She is nearly 1100 feet long, weighs in at over 100,000 tons, has a crew of over 5500 and can accommodate 85 aircraft, some of which can be seen (binoculars were useful) on the flight deck.

The ship is currently on a round-the-world deployment and Portsmouth was her first port of call.  She is actually much closer to the mainland; the Ryde-Portsmouth car ferry looks a similar size in the photo above but the perspective makes it very deceptive.

A couple of nights ago we went to see the Roosevelt lit up - not quite as spectacular as I had hoped, and sadly my little camera wasn't quite up to the job - but the ship's identification number - 71 - was illuminated (the very bright 'blob' under the two rows of lights).

She leaves tomorrow.  It's been an interesting topic of conversation for a few days.  As I said, there's always something to look at on the water.