Iles de Lerins - where to anchor overnight

[mcanderson]

Flying down on Friday for two weeks on board and we are planing a cruise to St Tropez and back over about a week period. We are not going to be setting a blistering pace and the first leg looks like BSM to de Lerins for a couple of nights on the hook and Sunday lunch at Le Guérite. Winds look to be southerly at F2-3 so where would you anchor overnight. I’m tempted to be between the islands to reduce passing wash.

All tips gratefully received and if you are passing let me know.

 

[Portofino]

Between but not in the SW zone as the ferry passes - wash .
If it’s windy then move round the N island to under the Castle or just E - small cove .
If it really blows head across the bay of Cannes to Theloule and shelter there .

There’s a small wooden jetty on the N island with lines to stern moor ( few restaurants) follow the bouys in approach from the W .

Spend a night at Agay too on the way over to St Trop .- bouys + radio rib to shore , very sheltered as well .

 

[mcanderson]

Thanks. Agay winks away, but the southerly exposure is a bit of a concern. I will keep an eye on the forecast and swell.

 

[jfm]

I always choose to anchor between the islands. S side of s island is untenable overnight. N side of the larger N island, facing Cannes, where Le Guérite is, doesn't appeal as much imho. As Porto says there is a wooden jetty there if you want to stern to, but I wouldn't bother tbh. There is the Esterel ship yard based here, that you will be able to see. They built the stunning Acajou, with the diagonal planked varnished hull, that sadly got badly smashed up in that marina in Athens in that big storm a few years ago (I don't know whether rebuilt; it needed Vas-on-steroids).

I would eat at Le Tonnelle, on the N side of the S island. You can anchor your boat in front of it, to the east a bit imho, if you like to keep an eye on the ship but then you are in Porto's ferry zone, which TBH isn't that bad.

You could actually pick any of the turquoise spots and you will love it but my two preferred spots are, in no order,

(1) close to the little harbour Port de st Hon, on the N coast of the S island, just to east or west of harbour, in the turquoise. Vid below shows my boat just to west of that little harbour but just east is equally nice. March 15th, btw :encouragement: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4JhYXgDRrkk

(2) on the S side of the N island, right under the castle shaped house, which BTW is (or was till recently, at least) Vijay Mallya's SoF gaffe, when he is at liberty to use it. You can get pretty close to the rocks, again in turquoise water. Vid below shows this spot from 0 till 0:33 including the lots-people-jumping-off-fly scene and then from 1:40 onwards with Mallya's house at 1:49 but in parts of the vid there are shots of (1) and (2) mixed up. Porto's Itama also makes a cameo appearance https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CJhVsypohT8. Also note 0:46 where I had Agüero on board briefly

Things to watch for
(a) respect the no go zones between islands marked by buoys, for ferry
(b) transit between islands along the buoyed channel and turn off to yr anchorage; don't drive through the anchorage zone
(c) speed limit between islands
(d) check your chart so you don't anchor on the seabed cable connecting the two islands
(e) police ribs patrol to enforce all the above and the punishment is inconvenient =take all your papers to Nice and stand in line to talk to a person who can make a US immigration official look a total amateur when it comes to rubber stamps
(f) you might swing 180 in the night because a 1kt current can flow through either way twixt islands. I put out 25m+ even though it is 4m deep usually. Others will do likewise; it is only RYA-trained people who sometimes do 3x
(g) sunset photos of Esterel mountains are usually awesome; please post one
(h) it is one of the nicest anchorages anywhere imho
(I) When going S of S island there is a lit S cardinal post mounted on a rock but keep well clear and pass 200m south of it. They mounted the cardinal where they could but as the chart shows there is rock to the south. A sq62 sank there and I personally witnessed close up a beneteau 40-something strike hard with its keel @ 7knots and go partly a-over-t, the skipper not believing my "get away" hand movements.
(j) N of N island, in the passage between N island and Cannes, it is pretty shallow - check chart. This is also a speed limit zone, not wonderfully marked.
Your chart will tell you everything, obviously

Post pictures!

 

[Portofino]

Reciprocal pics

View attachment 71069

View attachment 71070

 

[MapisM]

it needed Vas-on-steroids

LMAO, that's bound to become a forum synonym for "positively beyond repair", I reckon.

 

[jfm]

Bit of googling tells me Acajou got rebuilt in Turkey and is now called Sureyya. They have altered Mr Bannenburg's style beyond recognition and she has lost the varnish finish presumably due to the patch work needed to fix the hull. https://www.superyachttimes.com/yacht-news/bannenberg-designed-superyacht-acajou-rebuilt-as-sureyya. It has Vas's dabs all over it

Back to Lerins: La Tonnelle website opens up with a splendid drone picture of the whole of the small south island showing the tiny harbour and my favourite turquoise spots http://tonnelle-abbayedelerins.fr/site/index.php/fr/

 

[Portofino]

Here’s a nice vid for the benefit of others not entirely familiar with islands .
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=q9bGi3kxXzw

 

[MapisM]

They have altered Mr Bannenburg's style beyond recognition

Urgh. Makes one wonder what on earth was thinking whoever designed the new superstructure... :ambivalence:

Anyway, if you're intrigued by wooden masterpieces, there's another opportunity to rebuild a stunning vessel.
Angra Too, a triple planked 38m Castagnola, capable of 28kts cruise speed (!) courtesy of three MTU powered KaMeWa waterjets.
This is a video of her impressive launch: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cNeh7omsj2U
Sadly, she was completely destroyed by a widespread fire a couple of years ago, but I have it on good authority (i.e. the chap at 1:30 in the video, a young but already extremely capable shipwright who took over from the founder of the yard) that the boat bottom remained essentially intact.
So, technically, she could be completely rebuilt, and I'm sure that the same yard would be quite happy to comply.
Just think of the customizing opportunities...

 

[mcanderson]

Porto, John,

Thanks for the tips. We will set of on Saturday and aim for one of the sandy patches on the north side of the South Island and plan on lunch at La Tonnelle. I will post pictures and updates as we go as a mini cruise report.

If you are passing, give me a wave!