I can definitely recommend the bivvy recce - my avatar is taken on the summit of Sca Fell just before I got into my bag.

Parking in Whitehaven for anything longer than a 2 hour shopping trip is a bit of a nightmare (not that you'd want to spend 2 hours shopping in Whitehaven.....) but if you speak nicely to the harbour master he might let you park right under his look out tower like we did.

Good luck with the training and the race - hope your sea legs are sturdier than mine........