Nick_H
Active member
So we flew to Nice then train to Toulon to collect the boat from the ship. Come down midday tomorrow says the Peters and May guy, so we live it up in Toulon for the evening, then I get a phone call hungover at 7.00 am to say I need to collect the boat pronto. Its already in the water when I arrive, so no photos of the unload i'm afraid.
We'd booked a berth in a local Toulon marina first night, and the wind is picking up, so our first med berthing was in a good F6 cross wind, but we make it in without damage to any boats or people so that makes it a good berthing right?
Shortly after a shiny new 60 foot sailing yacht comes in. "We'll watch him and see how he berths in a cross wind" says I. So he starts to reverse in at quite a speed, "ah you need to carry a bit of speed" says I, then he continues to speed up, and speed up and crashes into the floating pontoon backwards at must be 6-8 knots without ever coming out of reverse gear, shearing the pontoon clean in two and ripping out cleats which in turn sets neighbouring boats floating free. One guy on the pontoon falls in the water. "Ah, so that's how you do it .... not"
This thing was on the hard in Toulon, presumably having diamonds imbedded in the gold leaf.
Next day we head off for Antibes in lighter winds, and before we've covered a single nautical mile in France we are stopped by the Douanes (customs). Having used a VAT scheme i'm nervous to say the least, but the guys are friendly and they buy our story so we carry on.
Its a bit of a lumpy head sea through Iles D'Hyeres, but flattens as we round Cap Camarat and pass St Tropez. We are buzzed by these guys who takes pictures
I've since looked at the web site and the photos are amazing, like brochure shots, but a decent size print is over 100 euros and unfortunately we have an unsightly rope from a front cleat to the bimini to stop it flapping so i'll wait till next time before buying one.
We arrive in Antibes and take up residence in JFM's berth which he had very kindly arranged for us. We go to the Capitainerie to pay at which point it becomes very French and everyone shakes their head and says "non" a lot, but after sending us away twice they eventually agree that JFM can have some say over who uses the berth that he owns!
Next couple of days we have a Mistral, and boy do those things blow, but at least its still sunny and we're safely in Port. A 60 foot Trader is not so lucky and we watch him being hauled off the rocks at the southern end of Antibes bay. On the afternoon of the third day it stops instantly like someone turned off the switch. F8 to dead calm in 5 minutes, i've never seen anything like it.
Our first trip out is to the Isles de Lerins off Cannes where we have to endure this
and this
We took subsequent trips out to Villefranche and the local anchorages on Cap d'Antibes, but i forgot to download the photos before leaving. We also had another Mistral which i'm told is quite unusual, but this one was less strong. Oh, and the town was surrounded by brush fires and all the streets filled with smoke.
I'm now back for a quick work break, but only till Friday. Next challenge is to try and get an overnight visitors berth in one of the other marinas in the area using my best pigeon French. Ah Bien, je pense que je connais seulement essayer.
We'd booked a berth in a local Toulon marina first night, and the wind is picking up, so our first med berthing was in a good F6 cross wind, but we make it in without damage to any boats or people so that makes it a good berthing right?
Shortly after a shiny new 60 foot sailing yacht comes in. "We'll watch him and see how he berths in a cross wind" says I. So he starts to reverse in at quite a speed, "ah you need to carry a bit of speed" says I, then he continues to speed up, and speed up and crashes into the floating pontoon backwards at must be 6-8 knots without ever coming out of reverse gear, shearing the pontoon clean in two and ripping out cleats which in turn sets neighbouring boats floating free. One guy on the pontoon falls in the water. "Ah, so that's how you do it .... not"
This thing was on the hard in Toulon, presumably having diamonds imbedded in the gold leaf.
Next day we head off for Antibes in lighter winds, and before we've covered a single nautical mile in France we are stopped by the Douanes (customs). Having used a VAT scheme i'm nervous to say the least, but the guys are friendly and they buy our story so we carry on.
Its a bit of a lumpy head sea through Iles D'Hyeres, but flattens as we round Cap Camarat and pass St Tropez. We are buzzed by these guys who takes pictures
I've since looked at the web site and the photos are amazing, like brochure shots, but a decent size print is over 100 euros and unfortunately we have an unsightly rope from a front cleat to the bimini to stop it flapping so i'll wait till next time before buying one.
We arrive in Antibes and take up residence in JFM's berth which he had very kindly arranged for us. We go to the Capitainerie to pay at which point it becomes very French and everyone shakes their head and says "non" a lot, but after sending us away twice they eventually agree that JFM can have some say over who uses the berth that he owns!
Next couple of days we have a Mistral, and boy do those things blow, but at least its still sunny and we're safely in Port. A 60 foot Trader is not so lucky and we watch him being hauled off the rocks at the southern end of Antibes bay. On the afternoon of the third day it stops instantly like someone turned off the switch. F8 to dead calm in 5 minutes, i've never seen anything like it.
Our first trip out is to the Isles de Lerins off Cannes where we have to endure this
and this
We took subsequent trips out to Villefranche and the local anchorages on Cap d'Antibes, but i forgot to download the photos before leaving. We also had another Mistral which i'm told is quite unusual, but this one was less strong. Oh, and the town was surrounded by brush fires and all the streets filled with smoke.
I'm now back for a quick work break, but only till Friday. Next challenge is to try and get an overnight visitors berth in one of the other marinas in the area using my best pigeon French. Ah Bien, je pense que je connais seulement essayer.
