Up fairly early and start to
get ready to leave. The forecast
doesn’t look bad. WNW 5 gusting 6
and then going to W5 in the afternoon with no gusts. The sea will be a bit big, but that shouldn’t be too much of
a problem with a following sea. It
is also very nice and sunny with clear skies. We pay the bill (not as bad as we feared) after filling up
with water and by 9:45 we are off.
We will see what it is like at sea before deciding where to go. We would have liked to stop at Bandol,
but that is only 10 miles away and doesn’t really give us sufficient
progress. Le Lavendou is too far
to go in one day. So the plan is
to go to Bandol if the weather is worse than expected, but if not go along
probably to the Porquerolles.
The weather starts out very
benign. It is only a force 2 as we
leave the harbour. However the
wind does build up to the expected 5 gusting 6 as soon as we get past the first
headland. We are going well, but
decide to take a reef in and we continue on our way. When we pass Bandol we both agree not to stop. The wind should be going down a bit
soon and at this rate we can make good progress.
It is only about 45 mins
later that all hell breaks loose.
Instead of lessening the wind keeps building. It is now blowing a continuous 6, gusting 7. Finally as we try to turn the corner
around one headland it is gusting 8.
We have seen 34kn of wind on the instruments. The sea is also getting bigger and bigger. The waves are at least 2 meters
high. We now have to take a second
reef in. I can hardly hold the
course while Richard reefs because there is so much weather helm. It now definitely seems to have been a
mistake not to stop at Bandol!
And yet it goes on. The wind is now blowing at about 26-29 knots
regularly with gusts up to 34 knots.
We have to find somewhere to stop.
The Porquerolles do not seem a good idea. They are islands off shore and not that well protected. There is a marina, but most berthing is
on bouys or anchoring. In this
wind that does not seem to be a very good idea. So we make for Toulon.
This is not a place we particularly wanted to stop at, but we are fairly
close. When we finally get around
the last headland we hope to find some shelter, but although the sea is a bit
smaller, the wind is still blowing full force. We manage to get the genoa in, but as we enter the Rad
(outer harbour) of Toulon we are worried how we are going to get the main
down. Richard very cleverly spots
a little patch of calmer waters around one corner and we do safely get the main
down. Now all we need to do is
find our way around the harbour, which is very large and full of navy stuff you
are not allowed to go near.
We expected the winds to
fall in the harbour, but were we mistaken. We knew we would be turning into the wind to get up the
harbour, but we cannot believe what it going on. We are heading straight in to a steady 8! The wind instrument is showing up to 36
knots of wind! We had the spray
hood down, but have to hurriedly put it up and waves start breaking all over
the boat. We can barely see where
we are going and we are now exhausted.
Finally we wind up in a sheltered corner of the harbour. This is not where we want to be; in
fact we are on the wrong side of the harbour. But we just don’t have the strength to go back into the 8 on
the nose. So we drop anchor behind
a row of buoys. It is a little
rocky, but next to what we have just been through it is comparatively
calm. The wind here is only about
a force 3 and there are no breaking waves. We just make ourselves a hot drink and try to sort the deck
out before working out where we should try to stay for the night. As we are in the cabin a special
weather forecast is broadcast on the VHF.
It now is saying that the winds are WNW 6-8. Not only that, but they are predicting worse for tomorrow
with gusts suggested to be going up to 45knots! So we have to find somewhere safe to stay for at least the
next two nights.
Richard now rings the marina
on the other side of the harbour which is near to the town. They say they have room for us. So having had a bit of a rest, we
decide to face the wind again and get to the marina. I do insist that Richard puts out all the fenders and lines
before we leave. I am not willing
to run up the decks in this wind to do so as we near the marina.
So off we go. It is slightly better than before. It is only blowing a 6-7! We cannot see the entrance to the
marina until we are nearly upon it.
But we get in safely. Now I
can’t raise the Harbourmaster for berthing instructions. Also we really can’t manage to berth
stern to in these conditions without some help with lines. Finally I get through on the telephone
and we are helped into a large space where we can stay. We are just very relieved to be safely
moored in this weather.
The marina is a bit of a
mess. The toilet block, which
looks quite new is in a mess. The
ladies side apparently is kaput (the harbourmasters exact words). So everyone has to use the mens. It has one toilet cubicle, one disabled
toilet cubicle, one shower cubicle with no hooks to hold your clothes and one
disabled shower cubicle! But at
least there is something. We are near
the centre of town and a short walk from a large commercial centre. So we take a walk there and finally
find an Orange shop and top up our internet gizmo. So we are now connected again! Another relief.
There is also a huge Carrefour selling everything. The town guide we were given says there
is also one of the best Provencal markets just outside the marina. So if nothing else, we should eat well.
We expect to sleep well
after the stress of today.
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