Hi All, our plan today is to go to St Raphael. It is approximately a 2 hour sail.

The lady has just dropped in the washing, so the girls are frantically sorting things out. I have just heard Marty yell out at the top of his voice, 'I can't find my undies". I think it was Cheryl who answered "Marty, edible one's dissolve in hot water" …and now for the Diannism of the day. A bit of background first: Those who have travelled with Brian and Dianne would know that you are commissioned to bring over bottles of HentyView wine in your luggage. We all brought 2 bottles each. However, one seemed to be missing? So, what did we hear? Dianne yelling at the top of her voice "BRIAN! I found a bottle of white wine in my undies! " Now we know why Brian is so interested in white wine.

We managed to leave Port Grimaud without doing too much damage. St Tropez is certainly classy, more big boats were pouring in as we were leaving, Lear jets and helicopters above us. Surreal is probably the word I am looking for.

The trip to St Raphael was smooth, which is good as Trish is still struggling a little with the sea sickness. Either that or she is laying down stairs to get away from her annoying husband.

St Raphael is an extension of Frejus, (a new marina 1 mile south, which is where we stayed) which in Roman times was by the sea. Due to global warming, it is now a mile further away. It was once big enough to hold 100 galleys in Augustus's time. The local maritime has a collection of ancient artifacts from the 5th century BC. (probably the remnants of the grey nomads who sail up and down here).

There is also a very famous Australian connection to Frejus also. The well-known Bunbury mariner Stuart Thompson visited about 8 years ago. He made a name for himself diving for Captain Brian's spectacles when they disappeared overboard. A Nobel gesture we all thought. But really it was ugly, diving into the mariner in your white underpants is not a good look, particularly when you surface with lots of brown streaks in the wrong places. The spectacles are still at the "bottom of the harbor" but there are now 'Australians not allowed to dive" warning signs all over the place to prevent them ever recovering the spectacles, and stopping visual pollution.

We made good time and tied up with only a couple of minor dents. We did all our housekeeping, located the toilets and showers, checked in etc, then looked for some lunch. We had arrived during the towns lunch break, so there weren't many places open. We did find one however, and had a guy who could speak good English. (which is just as well, because if Libby had kept ordering in French, we would have had more ice-cream than we could poke a stick at). There is a BIG difference in ordering a glass of ice, and a plate of ice cream). Our meals were reasonable, Brian managed to find a glass of beer bigger the him. Also, (we never seen this happen before) Brian did not order a hamburger, he ordered what Libby ordered, a sausage crepe.

After lunch Brian & Dianne and Cheryl and I decided to go walking, and the rest of the crew decided to relax and read etc back on the boat. Our walk was great, and we made a very special effort not to look at those topless bathers on the beach. We could revisit the sites we saw a few years back. St Raphael has a very large frontage/boardwalk, and we were about three quarters of the way when Brian's sausage from lunch seem to be working its way through. Brian needed a toilette very quickly. They recalled a toilette in the Port further on (it felt like just this side of Cannes). We finally made it there, but they were locked. By this time Brian was starting to waddle like a duck, we decided have beer (as you do) and use the toilette in the bar. I have never seen Brian order a beer so fast. The Barman brought the beer back to us, and soon as they hit the table Brian says "Do you have a toilette?" and the barman says NO! Well the look on Brian's face was priceless. Then the Barman cracked up laughing and said YES.

Then the Barman cracked up laughing and said YES.