Arriving in Lyme Regis

Having shaken off a slightly cloudy head with the help of a lovely full English breakfast I finished packing my bags and said goodbye to my Mum before Katrina arrived in her car (Brum), to take me down to Dorset.

The journey was fairly straight forward and as the urban sprawl was gradually replaced by green fields and trees sporting the first signs of blossom I became genuinely excited about my new adventure.

Arriving in Lyme Regis we eventually found the house in which I would be staying for the next 6 months or so. I had spoken to my new landlord on the phone a number of times since the New Year but I never thought to ask one important question. . . "Do you smoke?". I also forgot to ask if my landlord drank or if they needed medication for their bi-polar/ paranoid schizophrenia. The answer to these questions was unfortunately "YES". We stayed for all of half an hour by which time it was clear this was not going to work out so we made our excuses, left and began forming an action plan over a pint in the local beach side pub. We had a look at the Boat Building Academy and a little walk on the beach outside. we even dipped our feet into the frigid water to mark our arrival on the coast

It was late and I wasn't going to find anywhere at this time so Katrina and I headed to her fathers (Ian) home just outside Exeter and we were met with a smile, a hot seafood meal and a glass of wine- just what the doctor ordered.

The next day after a cycle ride with Ian and a couple of pints in the local we settled down to watch a fairly dismal match of rugby and then drove back to Lyme Regis to a B&B I had organised earlier in the day. This would be my stop gap until I found somewhere more permanent so at least I could start the course on time.

We had one more walk on the beach and a pint in The Standard before I waved Katrina off as she headed back to London and I headed back inside to get to know my fellow trainee boat builders who were ordering pints and food at the bar which would become our local for the duration of the course.