Tourists catch commuter boat to Cornwall instead of ferry to Spain in sat nav fail
A couple from Leeds made an epic sat nav fail - when they boarded a 10-minute commuter boat to Cornwall from Plymouth instead of their 20-hour crossing to Spain.
Bob and Pat Banks managed to find themselves on the local Torpoint ferry, which takes 73 cars at a time across the River Tamar to east Cornwall.
The embarrassed pair were actually meant to board the £100 million Pont Aven vessel, operated by Brittany Ferries, which was carrying around 2,400 holidaymakers to Santander in Spain.
Mr Banks told the Metro: "We'd had some hold-ups on the drive down and got to Plymouth only 40 minutes before the departure.
"So we were more than relieved when our sat nav announced we had reached our destination and we got ushered on to the ferry."
The two couldn't be more different. While the Pont Aven boasts 652 cabins, a spa, and a swimming pool, the Torpoint ferry costs £1.50 per crossing, and has the odd coffee machine.
Bob told the Daily Mail: "When the truth dawned on us we had to accept the worst. It was impossible to drive off - we were jammed in.
"Feeling very embarrassed I got out of the car and explained the situation to the attendant.
"Expecting him to take one look at us and think that we were a couple of confused old codgers, we are in our mid-seventies, I would never have believed the response."
Staff radioed the ferry port as the couple were taken straight back to Plymouth on the return crossing, and were allowed to disembark first.
A "good samaritan" then showed them the way to the right ferry, and they made it just in the nick of time.
Bob added: "We arrived by the skin of our teeth and were the last car to board."
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