Sunday 29 September

A day of pure indulgence of all kinds.  Up fairly late.  Managed to get just enough free WIFI to download the main parts of the Sunday Times.  So spent the morning reading the paper and just mooching about.  At about midday all hell broke loose weather wise.  The forecast was for thunderstorms and indeed that is what we got.  Over an hour of torrential rain, and constant thunder and lightning.  At one stage the lightning was just overhead and kept making the lights blink.  I was sure we were going to be struck by a bolt of the stuff.  Richard calm as usual pointed out that our mast was smaller than most, so the higher ones were much more likely to get hit then us.  Anyway, nothing untoward happened except that we found a leak.  Water started to drip from the place where the wires come down the mast and into the boat – a leftover from when we put the mast back up, showing that the weather since mid July really hasn’t been so bad. It was pouring down through the wiring.  We did think that the wiring to the mast needed sealing after it was put back up.  We have not had such heavy rain (which is good) to prove that there is a problem.  Richard can’t find any sealant, but we will need to do it after the rain stops in any event. 

With the terrible weather we stay in and have a light lunch.  We then get ready to go to the Thalasso.  Luckily the rain stops and the sun actually comes out and we set off.  The treatments are fun.  We each have a bath with different additions which is sort of like a jacuzzi, but instead of bubbling all the time it works its way around the body sort of massaging you.  Then we each have a wrap.  It was somewhat different from wraps I had before in that you rested on a water bed that was collapsed about your to form the wrap.  Last Thalasso treatment was for me a funny massage lying on a water bed that had pressure put through it to form a massage.  Richard had the jets of water sprayed on him.  Then we each had gentle massages under a spray of sea water.  All very relaxing and very wet!  After our treatments we went into their Thalasso pool, which was just a big set of different kinds of Jaccuzzi, rather fun.

So, well washed, we set off back to the boat.  Stop for a drink on the front, and have a local Sangria.  On the boat I start reading a new book.  I miss old Leopold Bloom!  The sun is now out and it is quite a pleasant afternoon.  So we spend a lot of time in the cockpit.

Then out to dinner.  We have chosen a restaurant recommended in the Michelin guide.  It has no rosettes, but does have a very good write up.  And it really comes up to its reputation.  The food is as good as some of the one rosette restaurants we have eaten in.  The service, which is all done by one waitress (but it is a small restaurant with only about 15 people in for the evening), is excellent and friendly.  We have a lovely meal and are now back on the boat.  The wind has dropped and it is a nice quiet evening.  However, the weather forecast for the next two days is for fairly strong winds (5-6) so our original plan of anchoring tomorrow night is looking doubtful.  We will leave in the morning and see how we get on.  At least the wind is predicted to be in the right direction for our next two sails (westerly when we want to go east and vice versa).

Saturday 28 September

Up fairly late.  The weather is not great.  Certainly it will not be a beach day.  It is overcast with some breaks in the clouds.  Also the wind is getting up, keeping it quite cool.  So we just have leisurely French breakfast.  Then we manage to download the Times, though not from the free WIFI, which only seems to work intermittently and only really for the internet and e-mails, not downloads.  We then decide to go out and try to provision the boat for the rest of the week.  We have dinner on board for tonight and will eat out tomorrow and on my birthday on Tuesday.  Monday will be a fasting day, so really there is not too much to buy.

Back to the boat and read the papers.  We have something new for lunch.  Instead of bread we have bought a Fougasse, stuffed bread specialty of the area.  It is a sort of cross between a loaf of bread and a pizza.  Very interesting, though Richard did find it a bit heavy on the black olives which he doesn’t eat!  We have decided to just have a quiet day today.  The weather forecast for tomorrow is bad.  Rain and thunderstorms with high winds.  We have found that there is a Thallassotherapy hotel here and we will try to book a session for tomorrow.  First however, Richard is going to use the free internet to get us organised for when the boat comes out.  First he books us into the best hotel in Vence (just inland from Nice) with a two rosette restaurant.  That will be my delayed birthday treat.  Then after a lot of effort he manages to book us a car to go from Toulon to be returned to Nice airport.  Then he books us an hotel for the last night at the airport, as we have a morning flight.  Finally he books us into the one rosette restaurant at Porquerolles which we couldn’t get in to the other day, for my birthday.  We find that they include a lift to the place from the port!  So we hope our last 4 days are now all sorted out.

We take the long way around walking to the hotel that does the Thalasso, and yes they can book us in for tomorrow afternoon.  So we have chosen three treatments and a massage each.  We don’t think we will need to shower tomorrow!  On the way back stop at the posh Italian ice cream parlour and indulge in good sized cones!  My weight is not going to appreciate all this indulgence.

Back to the boat and I spend the afternoon finishing off Ulysses!  Yes on the fourth attempt I have finally finished it.  I don’t think I understood more than half of it and I shall probably have to read it again, but I do have a great sense of achievement.  Richard suggests a glass of champagne to celebrate, but I will save that for my birthday.  Dinner on board.  Made a cote de boeuf with pommes Lyonaisse.   More calories! 

The wind has really got up this afternoon.  Here in the harbour it is blowing a 6.  Hope it gets better when we want to move on Monday. 

Friday 27 September

In accordance with our plans we left le Ciotat for Bandol at about 10am.  The weather was cloudy, but warm.  It seemed to be in line with the forecast.  Even going out 3 miles to dump the holding tank, we only had 9 miles to go.  Not exactly a long journey.  We couldn’t sail.  There was only about 2-3 knots of wind, so again we just motored.  What they say about the Med is true, there is either too much or too little wind.

I forgot to mention in my log before the bit of interesting wild life I saw the other day when we went to le Ciotat.  I kept seeing splashes in the water.  I thought at first it must be a diving bird, but it seemed too big for that.  Finally there was a fish that jumped right up out of the water.  I thought at first that it might be a dolphin, but it was the wrong shape, not quite large enough and did not have the proper dorsal fin.  In the end, after looking at the book I am convinced that I saw a tuna!  Very exciting.

Nothing like that today.  Nothing at all to see really.  We get in to Bandol just after noon and are directed to the visitor pontoon.  Richard again does a wonderful job of mooring us stern to.  He is getting very good at this.  We decide to go straight over to the Harbour Office to sign in and then have showers.  It is a very long walk even though our berth is directly opposite the office.  The problem is that the only way ashore is in the opposite direction!  We are therefore very disappointed to find the office closed for lunch (from 12:00 to 13:30)!  So we trudge back searching the back streets for a bakery, which we eventually find.

Lunch on board is whelks and crab claws bought in the Hypermarket yesterday.  Very nice.  But we are a bit surprised to realise how good the weather is.  It has got quite sunny and hot.  Had we known it would be like this we would have found an anchorage for the night, but hey ho here we are.  The town seems quite nice and sophisticated.  But we can’t find much in the way of shops to provision.  There are a few butchers, but no grocery stores, greengrocers or even small supermarkets that we can see from our limited search so far.  A trip to the tourist office does tell me that the only launderette is too far away to walk to, so any plans to start the laundry have to be scrapped.

So we have a quiet afternoon.  We go back to the Harbour office when it opens, but this time we take the dinghy.  It is only a very short row.  Much better way to get there so long as not too many boats moor along side us so we can’t get the dinghy to the pontoon to get into.

I spend most of the afternoon in the cockpit under the bimini ready Ulysses.  I have got to the last chapter, Molly Bloom’s soliloquy.  So it looks like I shall finally finish the book, but wait and see….

This evening we walk around the town.  We couldn’t get in to the restaurant we wanted as it was fully booked, so we have booked for Sunday night (if we stay that long).  We therefore just look for somewhere to have a light bite.  We find a very busy place and stop there and have Moules frites, which were quite good. 

The harbour has free WIFI, but it is very weak.  However, it is free and I am now listening to the BBC online.  It does stop every once in a while, but better than the French oldies channel, Nostalgie, which is the other alternative. 

We don’t know what we will do tomorrow.  I would like to try to find a coach tour of the vineyards, but I don’t think there are any.  We shall see what the weather is.

Thursday 26 September

Yesterday when we tried to use the toilet block we found that they had locked the ladies part with a key even though it has a keypad and code.  So it was with some trepidation that we walked all the way over to it again this morning to take showers.  However, this morning it is open and all is well and I join the ranks of the clean again.

We have found out that there is a large commercial centre just out of town where there is an Orange shop.  There is also a local bus that goes there.  So off we go on the bus.  It takes us quite a time to find the Orange shop which is hidden up an alley, but when we do we find that we have indeed used up all our credit.  We can’t understand why it is being used up so much more quickly than it was in June and July, but there it is.  We put on another 20 Euro and hope that will keep us going for the next 2 weeks.  While we are there we go in to the large Carrefour.  We really don’t want to buy too much, but I get something for lunch tomorrow and a large piece of beef to eat in the next day or two.  That is really the only dinner I have left on board.

Back at the boat we find more people struggling to berth.  We have a little relax after our efforts.  I am doing well with Ulysses.  I only have 200 pages to go.  I don’t think I have understood half of what I have read, but I may finally finish it.  We shall see.  The introduction to the book suggests that the chapter I have just started is the most difficult for first time readers and as it is 100 pages long, I’m not counting my chickens yet!

After our little sit down and read we take a walk in to the town.  It is really cute.  There is also a general mobile phone shop which says it sells Orange products, so it may be that we didn’t need to go out to the commercial centre after all, but it was an adventure.

The weather forecast is not good.  There are likely to be showers tomorrow and rain on Saturday. So we will just go to Bandol, which even with a three mile detour to sea to empty the tank is only 9 miles away.  We may be there fore a few days, but what the heck, the wine is supposed to be quite good.

It is late now, so to bed after finally posting this online with our recharged Domino.

Wednesday 25 September

We get up fairly late and have a lazy morning.  We don’t think the weather is suitable for another night in the Calanques.  It is supposed to get very cloudy.  Anyway the constant rocking of the boat in the swell is beginning to get to me.  So we decide to go on to le Ciotat, where we had thought we would go when we wound up in Cassis.  We phone them up and they assign a pontoon space to us.  We are in no hurry, so we decide to sail.  The wind is on the nose, but we want to go out to sea to pump out the holding tank, so we just do a huge tack.  It is slow going, but pleasant enough until the wind dies on us completely.  So we have to put the motor on and at first we go direct into the wind.  The wind dies down to between 2-4 knots and is all over the place.  The sea has a very gentle swell.  But despite this, after about an hour I am feeling rather queasy.  I don’t know why such low wind and benign sea is doing this, but it is.  Maybe it is just the cumulative effect of being rocked around for the last 24 hours!

So we make it in to le Ciotat.  We are in the Vieux Port, in the centre of the town.  The visitor pontoon, where we are is at the end of the harbour near the entrance.  It is about half a mile to the Harbour office and the toilet block!  But it is a cute place and we berth without problems.  That is more than we can say for other boats that come in after us.  One tries to berth next to us and swings around so that he is side on to the pontoon!  He has a bit of an excuse because apparently he has engine trouble.  We know what that is like.  He moves to another berth and then a smaller boat tries to moor up next to us.  They too get into all sorts of difficulties before they finally are able to tie up securely.  Luckily we have no damage to the boat from all this messing about.

The place has developed into a boatyard to build and repair super yachts so there are some huge beasts here on the other side of the harbour.  These contrast with the small local classic fishing boats all around the edge.  The town seems to be very old with small streets and alleys.  Allegedly the Romans were here, but there are no obvious Roman ruins.  There is no harbour WIFI and the tourist office doesn’t have the free WIFI we have been used to.  Richard finds an Italian ice cream parlour which does have free WIFI.  So we indulge in an ice cream and get connected.  We can now download the times and the Archers!  But we must do something about WIFI.  We need to organise car hire for next week and hotels for when we are on our way back to Nice to catch our flight.

We have dinner on board- Couscous Royal from a tin which needed eating up.  I have spruced it up with some fresh veg and merguez sausages.  Nice enough.  I am trying work our way through all the food that would otherwise need to be thrown out when we leave the boat! 

So to bed in a nice quiet and stable berth!

Tuesday 24 September

The weather seems better than we thought it would be today, so we have decided to go to the Calanques.  Richard has identified a rather wild looking calanque called de Figuerolles.  So we make our way there.  There is very little wind 5knots maximum, but on the nose, so it was a day of motoring.  When we got to the Calanque it was very beautiful, but despite what the pilot book said, totally unsuitable to anchor in.  In fact, in the centre was a buoy when had a ‘ no anchoring’ symbol on it.  A small motor boat was anchored near to it, but I’m not sure if he was policing the place or just taking the Micky.  Anyway, we could not find anywhere shallow enough to anchor where we could swing and could see nothing to tie a line to on shore.  Also the wind was howling down the water and it looked pretty uncomfortable.  So we went away to find another.  We were not the only ones to do that.  We saw at least 2 motor boats and another sailboat do exactly the same thing!

So well on past Cassis and to the Calanque de Sormiou.  This is a much wider inlet and there are already three or four boats anchored including a large catamaran, which is clearly a party boat that will leave before nightfall.  Anchoring here is something of a problem because it is quite deep.  The most shallow place we can find is 10meters deep.  That means putting out 30 meters of chain.  Also all the other boats are swinging, and there does not seem to be a convenient way to tie to the bank in the available space.  So we need a 60 metre turning circle!  Well, we shall just have to see.

We put out the anchor and we seem to hold well.  The boat closest to us is swinging and we seem to be swinging exactly the same way.  Therefore it does not seem that we will swing into each other during the night.  It is lovely and hot and we both put on bathing suits.  I put on a bikini!  But we soon become a tourist attraction.  The boats taking trippers to see the calanques all come in here.  They come right up to where we are anchored, turn around and go out again.  In one 15 minute period we had 4 boats come and go.  They are all looking at us (and the other boats) and taking photos.  Why they want a photo of fat old me in a bikini, heaven only knows!  These tour boats also travel at a fairly good pace which means we keep getting rocked around by their wake.

Despite all this it is really a lovely spot to stay.  By dusk the party boat has gone, and the tour boats seem to give up.  It is quite peaceful although there is a slight swell which means the boat does rock back and forth.  Well that will put us to sleep!  The Swiss party on the boat next to us go in the water.  We think about it, but the instruments show that the water temperature is only 18C, and we will soon lose the sun behind the high cliffs of the calanque.  So we don’t swim.  We just have a two course dinner on board and a nice bottle of white wine, so who can complain!

Monday 23 September

I didn’t post for a couple of days, just out of laziness, I guess.  We spent a second day in Porquerolles harbour.  It was very congenial.  A typical French holiday island.  We had a nice walk around the town and to the beach.  We sat on the beach for about an hour and although we got quite warm, not warm enough to go in the water, which is surprisingly cold, especially for the end of the season when I would have expected it to have warmed up.

Back at the boat we watched a super yacht moor.  They need all that crew in matching tee shirts!  Then we went out to dinner.  We found there is a one Michelin rosette restaurant on the island, but decided not to go because the main dinning room was booked with a private party and, although they said they were serving their gourmet menu in the other restaurant, we weren’t keen.  So we just chose what looked like the most popular restaurant in the town close to where we were.  It was quite expensive, but an interesting meal including raw sea bream and spaghetti with squid. 

On Sunday we decided to go wild as it were.  We have been staying in marinas all the time and decided that with the weather being very settled and there being no wind to sail, we should anchor out for a night.  We were going to go over to the mainland, but at the last minute we decided to go into a bay just around the corner from the marina.  It was very crowded during the day.  Reminded us of East Heat in that way.  But it is lovely.  It is overlooked by the Fort St Agathe, the local monument.  We even got into the water!  It is only 19c, but it was a very hot afternoon and it felt good once you got in.  We had a nice dinner on board and sat out to watch the sunset.  The sky turned the most wonderful colour red.  The bay has cleared out a lot and there are only about a dozen boats staying the night.

This morning we were fairly lazy in getting going.  We weren’t sure where we would go.  We can’t sail because there just is no wind.  I think at the highest it got up to 5knots!  So we motored west for 20 miles and have wound up in a pretty little town called Sanary sur Mer.  The harbourmaster directed us to a rather strange berth.  We are on the inner end of a pontoon and surrounded completely by classic boats!   Next to us is a 1935 Nicholson.  There are a few local boats said to be over 100 years old.  Of course, they have all been restored.

We have managed to get hold of some free WIFI from a local bar.  Mind you to get the password we had to buy 2 very expensive bottles of Perrier.  It might have been cheaper to buy internet access, but then there is none here and we are wary of using the Domino for fear it will run out of credit again and there will be no where to top it up.  With the free WIFI Richard has downloaded some Radio 4 programs, so I am now listening to the radio!

The weather is going to turn a bit.  It looks like it will get cloudy and maybe even rain.  We have yet to decide where to go to best use up our last 10 days before the boat comes out of the water.

Friday 20 September

We are woken up by the telephone.  It is the boatyard about our winter storage.  The bad news is that he cannot put our boat in his boatyard.  However the good news is that he has agreed for us to have our boat on shore with another yard that just does storage.  He will do the maintenance work.  But we must go to the other yard today to organize it.  The weird part is that the yard who will now take our boat was one we contacted before who told us that had no room to store the boat.  I guess it helps to have influence.

The next problem is the shore power line.  But that too sorts itself out.  Richard first tries to contact Southerly and find someone who can talk him through re-wiring the end.  But they are all at the boat show.  So he goes to the chandlery where he bought all the stuff and they find someone who can wire it up.  He comes back with an intact wire and when he connects it to the electricity it works!

So after a real French breakfast (we decided that we needed cheering up) we motor round to the other side of the harbour and find the boatyard that will store our boat.  We were told that we could put the boat near the Harbour office, but there does not appear to be any room there, we just moor up in the first empty space we see.  This marina is full of very large boats, almost super yachts and they had told us yesterday they had no room for us, but they don’t seem to mind our plonking ourselves down for a while.  Richard goes to the office and comes back and everything is agreed.  We will bring the boat back on 4^th October.  It will go the in the yard next to the boatyard we went to yesterday who will do the work we need.  It will be more expensive than if the boatyard stored it, but at this stage we are just so relieved to have organized everything.  Now we can be on holiday!  We have two weeks to ourselves.  And the weather is now lovely.  The sun is shining and the wind has dropped to next to nothing.  So off we go to Ile de Porquerolles.  It is one of the Hyeres island groups.  We are told that there will be no trouble getting a space in the marina.  I am looking forward to some creature comforts for a change.

We put up the sails and as we get out of the inner harbour the wind is blowing about the top of a 3, so we start to sail.  But it doesn’t last long.  After a while we are only making 2 knots, so the engine has to go on. But after our last trip out this is heaven.  It is even smooth enough for me to make sandwiches for lunch under way.

We get to the Island and are directed on to a berth.  There is even an Englishman on the pontoon to take our lines!  Now I do really feel like we are on holiday.  The place is like many French islands, very much a holiday place, with loads of people coming and going on the ferries.  But it is all very jolly and the afternoon is lovely.  The only problem is that the Harbour Office is a long walk from our pontoon (although we could just take the dinghy there direct) and the facilities are far away and shut at night!  So it seems that we will be showering on board again.  But as we are now connected to electricity and have water on the pontoon, it makes no difference.  We book in for two nights.  Not sure what we will do, but it seems a nice place to be for a while.  A walk around the town finds us some ice creams and a shop to buy ice cubes, so we can have iced drinks tonight!  The weather report looks settled for tomorrow.  Then the wind will pick up, and go easterly.  So we may go back towards Bandol after all.  My only concern is that with our luck we will have trouble getting back to Toulon for the 4^th Oct, but then it is a fortnight away.

Back on the boat we have a go at cleaning the outside of the boat and get it looking quite respectable.  Have our showers on board and then sit down to a civilized pre-prandial drink of run and Coke and canapés of tapenade.  Now this is more like it.  It is warm in the sun, but when it goes down it is quite cool.  So back inside for dinner- duck breasts a l’orange with the good claret left over from the other night.  Very soothing. 

I am now working on my tapestry.  Better than just playing games on my I-Pad.  I just miss radio 4.

Thursday 19 September

I did not write anything yesterday because there was little to say and what there was is depressing.  The wind was still howling and the forecast continues to give warnings of 45 knot gusts of wind.  So we stay in town and do laundry.

The real worry is winter berthing.  Richard spent the whole of Wednesday phoning and e-mailing ports to find out if they could put us up and we had absolutely no positive responses.  Out of desperation we speak to the harbour here. They can’t do anything for us.  There is a classic boat show here next week and until it is over they don’t know what availability they have.  By then it will be too late for us.  The office does however give us telephone numbers for three local boat yards who may be able to help.  But it is now late and we will have to try to contact them tomorrow.

We are both feeling rather low.  The boat is lurching around in the wind and is getting most uncomfortable.  So we go out for dinner.  It is OK, but not very exciting.

Thursday dawns and we are still feeling fairly down.  However, the wind does seem to have gone down a bit.  We can’t work out the weather forecast; it is all over the place.  First they say there is a strong wind warning with gusts of force 8 and then they say it will go down to force 2.  We guess it is all very localized, but we can’t work out where the bad weather is.  Richard has made contact with the numbers the Harbour office gave us.  We get one positive response.  It is from a small boatyard who says they can store the boat ashore if they do work on it.  As we need antifouling, gelcoat repairs and some plumbing repairs, this may suit.  We decide to leave the marina and take the boat around the large Harbour area (the Rade) and see the boatyard and sus things out.  We are berthed next to another English boat.  They haven’t been particularly friendly, but when I see them this morning they give us the name of a boatyard in the Rade who has told them they have space, so we will try them too.

I am worried about leaving this berth and then finding nowhere else safe to stay the night.  Richard rings around the other marinas in the harbour and it isn’t until he rings the third one that they say they have a space.  It is the marina next to where we anchored on Monday.

So off we go into the harbour.  The weather is nice.  There is a decent breeze, but it is only a 5 and the sea in the harbour is much flatter than it was on Monday.  We find the boatyard that said they could help us and even find a harbour wall to tie up to and go see them.  It all seems very hopeful.  The problem is that boss has gone walk about and can’t give us final confirmation.  The lady we spoke to says there should be no problem.  Even if they don’t have room in their yard, they can store the boat in the yard next door and do the work.  The price isn’t bad (2500 euro) plus the cost of gel coat repairs and plumbing works.  Better than we expected.  She will have to telephone us to confirm the details when she speaks to her boss.  So for a few minutes I feel a bit better about the situation.

So off to St Mandrier sur Mer.  We find it alright and manage to moor stern to with no assistance!  Maybe we will get the hang of this one day.  It is a lovely hot afternoon.  The only problem is that the toilet block is at the other end of the marina and the women’s is only open when the office is open.  We thought we would walk around this little town, which I guess is a suburb of Toulon, but when Richard tries to plug in to the electricity it won’t work.  Someone comes to look at it from the Marina, and finds that the problem is our cable.  It seems to have lumps in it and probably is split at one or two points.  So instead of looking around R goes to the chandlers to buy a new cable.  What he comes back with is a new length of wire.  He starts to wire it up and finds that the end that goes into the marina supply is rusted up, so needs to buy that.  He gets that part wired up OK, but comes completely a cropper trying to do the end that goes in to the boat.  It is a very complicated connection and well past either of our abilities.  So we have no electricity and tomorrow we will need to find someone to make up the wire before we leave. At least it is not the weekend yet!

We are also fed up because the boatyard hasn’t rung us with the final arrangements.  I am beginning to get very nervous again.  I guess we will also have to contact them in the morning.  Hey Ho, nothing seems to be going smoothly for us!

Tuesday 17 September

Up fairly late.  We did need the sleep.  We have a hearty breakfast of porridge.  The wind is still howling (force 6 much of the time here in the harbour - probably much worse out at sea) and it does not look like it will get any better.  We will keep checking the forecast.  In the meantime we go to town to the market.  It is held every weekday right up the road from us.  It is huge but sells mostly fruit and veg.  I do not want to buy too much so just get the minimum including some wonderful looking fresh figs.  We find a proper coffee shop to top our supplies, which I do not think will last another three weeks.  We decide to buy a rotisserie chicken and we eat that for lunch.  Very good.

We have a quiet time on the boat for the afternoon.  Richard has started to make enquiries about where to over winter the boat.  We have not having much luck.  The marina in Nice town cannot keep it on land and can only put us on a waiting list for a berth in the water.  We aren’t getting helpful replies from anywhere else.  Richard works his way through the Cruising Association website and posts a query.  He gets one reply which suggest Toulon!  Well, as we are here, we might as well make some enquiries.

In the afternoon we take a walk around the town and see the monuments listed on their tourist map.  The town is much bigger than we thought and there are a number of elegant parts, apparently built by Hausmann. 

Back to the boat and off again sending e-mails to harbours to find somewhere for the winter.  I could start to panic.  We shall see. 

We have looked again at the forecast and listened to the radio.  It is still terrible, so we will be here for at least one more night.  I found a launderette in town and will do laundry tomorrow.  May as well make a virtue out of necessity.

Have become disillusioned with the toilet block, so am about to shower on board and then to bed.  

Monday 16 September

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.

Sunday 15 September

It has rained very hard in the night it is still rainy when we finally wake up after 9:00pm.  It is hard to imagine that such a beautiful day as we had yesterday could turn to such a mess.   The weather forecast was for rain and for winds gusting up to 8, so we weren’t planning on going anywhere.  Despite the weather Richard goes out to get us French breakfast, as it is Sunday.  While we eat breakfast the weather improves.  The sun is even coming out, but it is quite cool.

R goes to the Tourist Office to download the Sunday Times and send some e-mails we wrote last night.   Getting internet access is becoming something of a problem.  The sun comes out later and we wander around the other side of the town we haven’t seen.  There has been a rowing regatta, but most of it was out to sea and we missed it.

The evening is pleasant and we have dinner on board.  Really just a simple day.  The weather forecast looks better for tomorrow, so we shall see.

Saturday 14 September

Up at a reasonable time and over to the Harbour office to pay.  It is a beautiful day.  The sky is the most startling blue, but it is cool.  We want to go to Cassis.  So sometime after 9:30 am we phone them and they say they will be able to tell us if there is a berth available after 10:30.  So we just sit in the sun in the cockpit for the time being.  Richard has found an alternative port to go to and both are close by, so we are not in any hurry.  At 10:30 we ring again and they say they will not have a berth.  However Richard asks if there would be space for us to come in just for lunch.  They say we can do that as long as we vacate any berth by 2:00pm.  So it seems at least we will get to see Cassis.  In the meantime Richard does reserve us a berth at the next port, so we shall be alright for the night.  The next port is only 10 miles away, so we will get there in good time late this afternoon.

We set off to Cassis.  It is literally just around the corner, so there is no purpose in putting up any sail.  The town in set on a lovely bay.  We make our way into the harbour.  No wonder they have no space.  It is quite small and full of motor boats, all seemingly resident.  We cannot see anyone to tell us where to go and again no one responds to the VHF.  So I wind up telephoning them and they tell us to go to the fuel pontoon.  There is a large commercial boat at the fuel pontoon, but it quickly leaves.  So we tie up, with not too much trouble.  We guess that while we are here we might as well fill up.  The fuel gage is still not working.  Despite what the electrician in Cap D’Agde said, it is definitely stuck on full.  We have used over 30 engine hours and it hasn’t budged.  We are met by the Harbour staff in their work boat and taken to a berth.  We tell them that we are told we must vacate the berth by 2:00pm, but they say that isn’t necessary and we can stay the night.  Apparently the occupant just left and decided not to come back!  So yippee, we are here in Cassis, probably for two nights in the light of the bad weather forecast for Sunday.

Our berth is a very odd one.  To look at us, you would say that we are on a hammerhead berth, but as there are no finger pontoons, what we are is tied to the concrete end of the pontoon.  There is a forward line to keep us from moving backwards and we are snuggled next to a classic looking wooden sailing boat.  It is a little tricky getting on and off the boat, but I can manage, so that’s OK.

First job to do once we are securely tied on is to telephone the one Michelin Rosette restaurant in the town (the Villa Madie) and try to get a reservation for dinner tonight.  Much to our surprise we get in.  Then we check in at the port, connect to electricity and go to look  around the town.  We should be doing our basic shopping, but everything is closed for lunch.  We do find a good bakery and manage to buy bread for lunch.  We have pate that wants eating up and after all, we don’t want to eat too much if we are going out for a slap up dinner.

The harbour is in the middle of the town and is surrounded by restaurants and bars.  The main shopping street goes up the hill from the middle of the harbour.  After lunch we have a good look around.  There is a great ice cream shop and a few little supermarkets.  I manage to buy most of the basics that we need.  I think I have even found an edible muesli, but we shall see when I try it.

The day is so beautiful that we decide to spend the afternoon on the beach.  It too is right near the harbour and not far for me to walk.  We take our chairs and books and set out.  The position of the beach is fine, but it is pebbly and not terribly comfortable.  Also the water is really cold.  The sign at the life station says it is 20C, but I find that very hard to believe.  Despite being quite hot neither R or I can get in past our ankles!

We really like this place and are pleased to be here, but we dread to think how expensive it will be.  They charge extra for everything.  The water and electricity you use are monitored.  If we want to use their shower it will cost 2 Euro each!  In the circumstances we will shower on board.  There is free WIFI, but it is only accessible from the Harbour Office.  Even our aerial won’t pick it up.  There is also free WIFI at the tourist office just at the end of the pontoon.  But again, only available for the office when it is open.  But at least we can get some connection.  There is no Orange store in the town, so we still can’t top our gizmo up! 

So we shower on board and dress to go to dinner.  The restaurant is at the far end of the town, so it is a bit of walk for me, but it is lovely.  We have their local special cocktail (champagne with apple, cinnamon, and Cointreau) on the terrace overlooking the bay as the sun goes down.  Perfect.  We eat their fixed menu.  6 (small) courses.  We start with a lobster dish cooked with ceps, lovely.  Then monkfish in tandoori spices, followed by sea bass.  The fish is cooked so perfectly.  Just cooked through.  Finally we have a fillet of veal with girolles.  Again cooked perfectly.  Cheese is sort of whipped goats cheese with slices of pastry and desert is a fresh fig concoction.  We really enjoined it.   With it we drink a very local wine recommended by the Sommelier.  It is a Clos Sainte Magdeleine Bel Arme, Provence Cassis, 2012.  Very pleasant.  We walk back, I think I must have overdone it today.  My knee aches.

Back to the boat for coffee and fall into bed.  I have had too much to drink!

Friday 13 September

I guess we should have considered the date today before setting out, but then who is superstitious anyway?  So we looked up the weather on the internet and it seemed OK.  The winds still predicted to be 5-6, but at least no gales or suggestions of 45kn winds!  So by 8:30 we were on our way.  As we have been delayed so long we wanted to get as far as we could today.  The forecast did suggest further high winds coming on Sunday, so that may cause greater delays.

There was virtually no wind as we first came out, but the sea was rather lumpy and rolly, so I took a pill.  The sun was shinning nicely, but it really was cold.  As expected the wind came up fairly quickly and that with the low temperature made us both quite cold.  We were nearly in English sailing gear, eg. Long trousers, sweatshirts and fleeces. 

After about an hour I was chilled through so I went below to warm up.  I snuggled under the duvet and next thing I knew I was asleep. After half an hour I was awakened by the fact that the engine was not going at any speed and was just ticking over.  Naturally I assumed something else had gone wrong with the engine, but no, Richard just said there was more than enough wind to sail, even though I knew he wanted to do at least 5-6 knots.  When I finally emerged I found that the wind has picked up to a 6 and soon was gusting to the top of a seven.  No wonder we were making good progress without engine!  Soon after I suggested to R that we might want to take in a reef, but he poo-pooed the idea as we were more or less on a run.  However when the gusts got up to 30-34kn we put in two reefs and put our life jackets and harnesses on.

But despite the inauspicious date, we went along beautifully and we were getting so far that we decided to get all the way to Cassis.  This level of wind meant that we could get there by 3-4:00pm.  Then our luck ran out a little.  R telephoned Cassis marina who told him they could not do a berth because they were full!  We didn’t expect that at this time of year (which is why we are here now and not in August like everyone else in the world).  But R then phoned another place just outside Cassis and they said they could fit us in.  It is a small harbour in what is called a calanque.  They are sort of fjords along the coast carved out of the local sandstone.  Most of them are just for anchoring, which we would have liked to do, but with the wind so high and in a direction that means the calanques won’t give much shelter we decided to go to the one with proper berths called Port Miou.  It has been specially recommended in the pilot book and R did want to go to one of the calanques anyway.  Cassis have said they may be able to do us a berth tomorrow, so it will only be for one night.

We got to the port at about 4:30, the wind having gone down to a steady 5 really.  We even motor sailed a bit to keep speed up.  We had a heck of time getting hold of the harbour office.  They did not answer their phone or the radio.  But eventually we got put in a berth.  It is just berthing to pontoon without fingers, but they insisted we berthed bows in, not stern to.  I don’t know why, but the effect of this is that I cannot get off the boat onto the pontoon.  The bows are a good 2-3ft away from the pontoon and climbing over our pulpit (the metal cage at the front of the boat, for you non-sailors) has always been nearly impossible for me to do, and certainly can’t do it now with my dodgy knee.  But there is always a solution to these problems and ours is simple.  We will simply use the dinghy, which we have been towing inflated for several days now anyway.

The place is strange, but pretty.  It is full of boats but is in a lovely wooded gorge type structure with high cliffs on each side.  It is quite well protected from the wind.  The berthing as I have said is odd and there are no facilities such as water or electricity on the pontoon.  But is is safer than anchoring and we quite like the atmosphere.  It is a short row to the office and toilet block, so that is not too bad.  They say you can walk into Cassis from here, but it sounds a long and strenuous walk. 

So we have a nice late afternoon in the cockpit.  I am nearly one third the way through Ulysses!  I cook us mushroom risotto with dried morilles which if I do say so myself was very nice.

So although the day is not quite over (two hours to midnight), it does not seem that the curse of Friday 13 has affected us.  In fact, we have made very good progress saving a least one day’s sailing by getting so far forward.  And if we are lucky we might get to Cassis tomorrow, if not we shall have to see it another time.

Thursday 12 September

Up fairly early but moved very slowly.  Richard went to the showers while I was still in bed, but I also went before he came back.  On my way back I noticed that the weather forecast seemed better, though still a bit windy.  I mention it to R when I get back and he says he has read it too and we are leaving right away.  We belt down a bit of breakfast, and I rush around trying to stow things while R goes up to the Office to pay.  However when he has gone the French couple from the boat next door advise me that it is not a good time to go east.  The local wind has dropped, but the forecast is still for gusts of wind up to 45kts near the headland and from there to Marseille.  As that is direction we are headed for I run after Richard.  He looks at the forecast again and agrees with them, so we will stay here for one more day.

So it is over to plan A, which is to catch the bus into Arles and have a look around.  We have not been there since our belated honeymoon 44 years ago!   We expect it has changed.  We have a bit of time to put the boat in order and to read the newspaper!  Yes, we have finally got connected to the port’s internet and have been able to download the Times and the Archers.  So civilization makes it to the Camargue at last.

So we catch the bus with no trouble.  It stops within yards of the Tourist Office, so we are able to get a map of the city and have the main sights pointed out to us.  We see the Roman Theatre first.  It was quite an edifice in its time.  All enclosed and with roof blinds to keep the sun out!  Now it is mainly a ruin.  Only a few walls remain.  Otherwise it is just an open air auditorium, but impressive. Then off to the Roman Amphitheatre, used for Gladiatorial games in the days of the Romans, but now a bull ring!  It has been heavily restored and is very impressive.

Then we just walk around the old town finding a number of ancient buildings until we get to the main cathedral church, St Trophine.  It has a very impressive front, but the church itself is closed, so we can’t say what it was like.  Next to it there is the Cloister which we did go into.  That is in the process of being extensively restored, so a lot of it is covered up where the restorers are working.  It will be lovely, but not so good as the one in Moissac.  It is now still only 3:00pm and the bus doesn’t go back until 4.  So we walk the shopping streets trying to find an Orange shop to top up our internet machine.  We can’t find one and no one we ask knows of any shop, so we are out of luck.  At least for the moment we are connected, but we really hope to leave tomorrow. 

The bus trip home is good although the bus is full of school children.  We were going to eat in today, but Richard fancies the little seafood restaurant across the way for our fasting oysters.  When we get there they are fully booked for all inside tables.  I am all for just buying oysters to take away (which they say they can do for us), but R has decided he wants mussels.  So we get persuaded to eat outside.  It is freezing.  I have my fleece on and I am still shivering before I finish.  So back to the warmth in the boat.  The forecast is still dodgy, but looks like we might get along a bit.  We shall see in the morning.