Big excitement today. As the 'classic' yachts manoeuvred in the bay, waiting for the starting gun of a race, the uniformed crews struggling with outsized jibs and stays, yours truly was pottering along the quayside near the Bastion Saint Jaume. For some reason, probably connected with the Voiles d'Antibes, the Antibes lifeboat, the Notre Dame de la Garoupe, was tied up there instead of at the lifeboat station. You don't get this opportunity often, so I went and had a closer look.
As I was inspecting her from the dockside, one of the crew asked whether I would like to take a trip with them, as they were about to show their presence to the yachtsmen. I jumped at the chance, and was handed one of their very technical lifejackets (the ones for crew, not for shipwrecked mariners). Quite a fumble to get it on, and adjusted.
Then out it was into the bay, in glorious sunshine and a slight chop to the sea. Perfect. We sailed past quite a few of the gaff-rigged yachts, as various lifeboatmen (and a lifeboatwoman) took photographs. The crew were very friendly and chatty, and indicated I was doubly welcome, as a Welshman, since their twin station was the Mumbles, in Swansea, where they had been very well received a year or so ago.
Finally, and all too soon, it was time to come back (you can't make Frenchmen, even lifeboatmen, miss their lunch). Sacred lunch-time was ticking by, so the cox'n revved up all one thousand one hundred horsepower of diesel. The stern dug in, the bow rose out of the water, and with a tremendous surging sensation all seventeen metres of lifeboat careered, bucking madly, towards Antibes at twenty-five knots. Magic....
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