"It has left a massive void": Musician launches petition to reinstate Portsmouth to Le Havre ferry crossing
The crossing has been a source of musical inspiration
A musician from Devon is spearheading a campaign to save the Portsmouth to Le Havre ferry crossing.
Daniel Weir, known by his stage name Mysterys, has set up an online petition to save the ferry route.
“Ever since a young age, I have always been on and used the Portsmouth to Le Havre crossing,” said Daniel. “I've rarely used any other route throughout my life. Because I've grown up with this crossing, I have come to absolutely love it over the years.”
“When I first found out that Brittany Ferries was cancelling the route, I was in complete and utter shock. I was speechless. I even started tearing up because that crossing is all I've ever known,” he said.
The crossing has been a source of inspiration for Daniel’s music over the years. He said: “This ferry crossing has already given me multiple inspirations for my music, including two of my already released tracks, 'Open Sea Air' and 'Here We Come Le Havre'. With the route being cut, it leaves a heavy question for me as an artist: will it now wither my inspiration?
“It's not just the feeling of being on open water where there are no worries and no crises to think about. Being an overthinker as it is, being out on those open waters allows me to completely relax, be myself, and think about everything that I need to in peace.
“It inspires me musically because it genuinely gets me excited. I'm excited to travel somewhere that is so familiar to me - somewhere that makes me feel completely free, happy, and calm.
“Now that the Portsmouth to Le Havre ferry is no more, it has left a massive void. Even though I am forced to use a different crossing now to travel, it simply does not give me the same aspiration or inspiration that the Portsmouth to Le Havre crossing gave me throughout my life.”
Making music has always been important to Daniel and has helped him battle through some tough times. At 21, he was diagnosed with a rare genetic disorder called Klinefelter syndrome and suffers with chronic full-body tremors, but he doesn’t let this hold him back from his creative pursuits.
“Where the music truly helps me is afterward—once the track is fully completed, ready to be published, and sent out to be listened to throughout the world,” he said.
“In that moment, my mind, my body, and my tremors all know that I have done great work. The tunes and the words help to completely soothe that adrenaline rush, the tension leaves my system, and I finally start to calm down. The healing comes from the accomplishment.”
Daniel is currently competing in the quarter finals of the Timbaland x Orbiiit Global Talent Search contest.
The song he submitted to the competition, titled ‘Do Better, Be Better’, takes inspiration from Daniel’s journeys on the Portsmouth to Le Havre ferry route
“Several key pieces of the song were directly inspired, processed, and thought of while I was on holiday in France and on the way home using that exact ferry service. Getting excited about going to France has always been a massive driver for my creativity,” he said.
After finding out the route had been cancelled, he decided to write a new song, ‘Le Havre Forever, Gone But Not Lost’, to capture “what the loss of this unique crossing means to our creative community”.
The petition currently has 18 signatures, but Daniel is waiting until he has “built up a massive, undeniable wave of public backing on the petition” to approach Brittany Ferries.