When we board, the midweek hovercraft departure from Portsmouth at 12:30 p.m. is already fairly half-full. The vehicle, adorned with the Union Jack, is marketed as the only year-round scheduled passenger hovercraft service in the world. It hovers just inches above the water’s surface for an exhilarating 10-minute flight. It’s the quickest route to Ryde on the Isle of Wight, an English south coast island the size of Detroit. The FastCat ferry, a competitor vehicle, travels more than twice as long—roughly 22 minutes.
As the hovercraft’s robust cushion expands and raises the vehicle softly five feet (1.6 meters) into the air, its engines roar—no louder than an aircraft taking off. Then, on its dash to Ryde, it turns and slips smoothly into the sea.
