Philip’s hull and deck were in fiberglass and were delivered as two separate pieces in 1975. From there he started work on his boat with engineering advice from Patrick. The boat took two years of evenings and weekends to complete with about 200 gallons of polyester resin.

Myrdhin was launched in 1977 and in late 1979, Philip and his new wife Alice set off down the Thames to sail together to the USA, via Brittany, NW Spain, Madeira, the Canaries and Barbados. The was before GPS and the only way to navigate was with paper charts, a sextant, chronometer and sight reduction tables. They arrived safely in Port Canaveral early in 1980 to start their new life in the USA.