Friday 4 October

We are out of the water!  Having been told that the wind would be too strong to take the boat out, when we woke up we saw that the wind was only blowing 5 knots where we were.  So Richard decided to immediately set out to La Seyne to see what could be done.  The wind picked up a bit as we went over, but only got to 10-11knots.  We phoned the boat yard as we arrived and then Alex arrived and said he would lift the boat then and there.  There was a lot to do to prepare it.  We had to emptly the water tank, take off the lazy jacks and bag and remove the back stays!  But all went well and the boat came out just fine.

However, there was a shock when it came out.  We found that the starboard rudder was broken.  The bottom was worn away and it is split about a quarter of the way up.  Worse was to come,  When the boat was cleaned off it revealed that the hull below the water line is badly scratched, one large gash of about 12 inches is quite deep.  We can only imagine all this happened when I hit the side of the canal trying to let another boat pass.  It sounded like we hit rocks, but Richard thought at the time we only touched the keel, which being a huge bit of metal, causes no problem.  But it seems we hit the side of the boat and the rudder.  This will be an expensive repair.  I suspect we will need Southerly to make a new rudder.  Probably will have to make an insurance claim.  In the circumstances we are very glad that we have had the boat taken out of the water for the winter and that we were there to see the problem when it came out.

We finished off cleaning and clearing the boat.  We tried to find a sail maker who could valet our sails and store them for the winter, but without luck.  The only local one wanted 70 euro for each sail just to store them.  We will just keep them on board.  Also the sailmakers said the could not alter our stackpack bag to make it larger to take the bulkier sail.  Arun said they probably could do something if we took the cover back.  So I have made room in our luggage to bring it back!

By midday the boatyard shuts for lunch.  We go off to the town to check in to our hotel and have a bite of lunch.  Then back to finish off the boat.  By this time I am exhausted.  My Nike band shows that I have walked over 10,000 steps today and overran my goal, which is designed to be met when I do serious exercise.  This is not good for my knee which really aches.  So I leave Richard to it and return to the hotel and have a rest.

Richard goes back to Toulon by ferry and gets our car.  We then decide to go out to dinner.  I find a restaurant that is recommended in Michelin.  It is said to be 4km from the town on the road to St Mandrian (where we moored when we first left Toulon).  So off we set, but we cannot find the restaurant.  We ring them for directions, but they are not very specific.  Finally we stop and ask someone on the street.  The restaurant is supposed to be in a place called Fabrigas (I thought he used to play for Arsenal!) but we can find no signs to show us where it is.  However the instructions given to us by the person who asked turns out to be correct (despite our suspicions).  We finally find the place at the end of a dead end road right next to the beach.  When we get in there we are really uncertain we have come to a good place.  It is Friday night and now 8:30pm and there is no one else in the place. But two more tables turn up and the food is really good.  They do a mussel dish, which is particularly nice.  The only problem is that service is slow.  There is only one person serving and we are not convinced that she isn’t also doing the cooking.  But it is a nice evening meal.

On the way back to the hotel we get caught in a huge thunder storm.  We both get soaked just running from the car to the door!  The lightening is spectacular.  Now planning our nights stay for tomorrow.  It is nice to have only that to worry about (Well other than waiting for the quotes for the repairs to the boat- We now have two boatyards pitching for our custom).