On Wednesday evening I made the short journey up to Plymouth, to catch my overnight ferry towards Roscoff. There is somthing particularly sad about treating yourself to a beer and sitting entirely on your own in the middle of a crowded bar, aboard a mini cruise that hasn't even left the dock yet. After that I thought I would save any more embarrassment a retreat alone to my 4 berth cabin.
Thursday arrived very early and before I knew I had been kick off the ferry and was on the road heading south for La Grande Motte. It wasn't very long before the day time sun started the baking process, almost simultaneously I realised the air conditioning had entirely packed up. As the heat rose my clothing proportionally declined. By midday I was down to the boxers and decided I should probably stop there. after a full day of driving, copious amounts of water and a very awkward lunch break (my French needs work) I finally rolled in to the boat park. Having parked the boat I met up with Tom and Alicia at the accommodation. Time for a quick beer and then sleep.
Friday (today) in true Phipps style the day of boat building was forecast to be very windy and torrential rain. It wasn't quite as bad as it was originally thought, but I did dodge a few showers as I slowly bimbled my way through rigging the boat. It was good to see the other guys, had been a while since. By the end of the day I have pretty much finished the boat with a few final bits to finish tomorrow morning. Mary arrives at some stage during the day, we aren't sure exactly when yet, but the plan will be to measure, finish registration and hopefully get out for a cheeky sail in the evening maybe.
Racing starts on Monday, more updates before then.
TP
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