September 10th—Portsmouth

Historic dockyard today. HMS Victory and HMS Warrior both great for background on Naval life. They bracket the time I am researching (1815 and 1860), but close and I'm considering creating a backstory set at Trafalgar. The figurehead I'm beside (I'm the one on the right), is the original from HMS Bellerophon, upon which John Franklin was a young Midshipman at Trafalgar (the only unwounded one at that—he was lucky in those days).
Other highlights were the Mary Rose museum, although the ship itself is hidden by the new museum they are building around it), and Monitor 33, one of only two surviving British warships from WWI. Both of these vessels may well show up in future novels.
A minor gem was the Pique stone. HMS Pique ran aground on the Labrador coast and almost sank. She made it back across the Atlantic pumping madly all the way. When they put her in dry dock they found a piece of Labrador (4 feet across), wedged in a major hole in her hull. Had it not stuck there, the Pique would have sunk quickly.
Back to the dockyard tomorrow for the Royal Naval Museum and then the museum in the house where Charles Dickens was born.