Skipper's log: Halvard Mabire and Miranda Merron - Campagne de France (IMOCA)

Hello,

If the exit from the Channel was pretty well arranged by the nice organisers of the Transat Jacques Vabre Normandy Le Havre, we have something to complain about to them for the motorway to the South! Indeed, it seems to be well and truly closed for temporary roadworks, whose finishing date seems rather poorly defined. Therefore, the fleet is lost in multiple diversions, either poorly signposted, or not all. The North Atlantic Highways Agency must be on a break, or otherwise overrun. As a result, the whole fleet of the TJVNLH is a little scattered, “façon puzzle” (like a jigsaw puzzle), as our late Michel Audiard would have so well described.

Apart from that, on Campagne de France we deplore the state of the ‘B’ roads, because the various potholes are not very beneficial to the on-board computer. Indeed, it seems that there are slight connectivity problems (that’s a euphemism), and with every slightly more brutal wave, we lose all connections with the PC. Therefore, a black screen, loss of the keyboard and mouse, and the Adrena dongle freezes - in short a total black out. Whenever everything starts working again, it seems like a miracle and we cross our fingers for everything to keep going for a little bit. It won’t be long until we get the screen back, because for now the conditions are clement. But I don’t think this situation will last as long as taxes. Be in no doubt, computers are only reliable when there are mechanics or (server) farmers to take care of them, if they’re not there you find the perfect demonstration of an unstable equilibrium. A stable equilibrium arriving only when everything has crashed. So, I hope we will not be completely deprived of communication too quickly, it would be a shame not to hear from you.

See you soon, if the craputer is willing!