A beer by the beach

I am back in Portsmouth for work and staying on Hayling Island again. We have tended to eat at the hotel or nearby pubs, but I like variety, so I looked to see what else was available nearby. I had not been to the south of the island where there is a fair sized town. I found The Inn on the Beach that looked nice and persuaded my colleagues to try it.

It really is on the Beach sitting on a big concrete base to stop it washing away. It is a big place with lots of seating. We got a table of on the balcony as it was a gorgeous day.

You have to order at the bar, but I wanted to see what beers they had. I am getting over my COVID and not having much beer, but I fancied one today. Frigate looked interesting and I prefer a hand pumped beer. I ordered haddock and chips. This was not too expensive. The beer was good.

It was a decent bit of fish in good batter with a little pot of mushy peas.

The view was great too with Portsmouth, the Isle of Wight and the Solent forts. There were some big ships around. People were swimming and paddle boarding. I think some had been kite surfing. I was puzzled by a couple of guys were whizzing around the water with no visible jetski. They were either standing or lying down. We think they were on some sort of powered surf board with a hydrofoil. I had not seen that before.

After dinner we went down onto the beach. I wanted to check how cold the water was. I only dipped in my hand, but it did not feel too cold. I also had to skim a few stones. The beach was a mix of sand and shingle. It was quiet then. I saw hardly any rubbish, which makes a nice change.

One of my colleagues was given a Mini convertible as his hire car, so we had to have the roof down. That made it easier for me to get into the back. Not a lot of leg room, but reasonably comfortable. That guy always drives fast, so it was a bit of a thrill ride.

It was a nice evening out after a long working day. Went back to the hotel to chill before bed. I caught some of the news covering the current political turmoil in the UK.