jimmy_the_builder
Well-known member
Here's another, about 15mins ago, courtesy of swmbo and her big camera:
Cheers
Jimmy
Cheers
Jimmy
Moving from Brighton to the Med - we're off!
- Thread starter jimmy_the_builder
- Start date
jfm
Well-known member
Excellent stuff. Send us one of AK when they arrive - they left port half hour ago. In harbour here, mending a pump 
Might join you in an hour. Are you anchoring overnight? We could have a 3-way uw light show and post pictures in the morning for Searush to look at during his breakfast
Might join you in an hour. Are you anchoring overnight? We could have a 3-way uw light show and post pictures in the morning for Searush to look at during his breakfast 
benjenbav
Well-known member
Here's another, about 15mins ago, courtesy of swmbo and her big camera:
Cheers
Jimmy
Nice. Wouldn't mind being there too. Cloudy and cold - "typical bank holiday weather, I guess" - in S England as I write this.
BartW
Well-known member
well done Jimmy !
I know what a satisfying feeling such a acheevement can give
"Ive done it"
YES, you've done it, congratulations !
I've just booked my flicht tickets for 19/5 and 26/5 weekends
how about a meeting in red dot bay ?
(porcerolles)
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Portofino
Well-known member
Well done J ,
How did the engine fix go?...dare I ask ?
Hope Jeff has been helpful,
Looking at pics , there is a power line running from the estate managers house on the big island across to the yellow cross a few M east of the little harbour on the little island . It gets pulled up several times each season . Can you see it if you mag/ scale up your plotter?
The first few seasons of exploration are the " magic " years --- enjoy
Regards Portofino
How did the engine fix go?...dare I ask ?
Hope Jeff has been helpful,
Looking at pics , there is a power line running from the estate managers house on the big island across to the yellow cross a few M east of the little harbour on the little island . It gets pulled up several times each season . Can you see it if you mag/ scale up your plotter?
The first few seasons of exploration are the " magic " years --- enjoy
Regards Portofino
rafiki_
Well-known member
Nice pics Jimmy. Sure beat the cold far north here in Stratford.
wakeup
Active member
Here's another, about 15mins ago, courtesy of swmbo and her big camera:
Cheers
Jimmy
Awesome, we were swimming there in October and the water was 20 degrees even then.
It is raining right now in the hills 10km north of Port de la Rague..
EME
Active member
A Pagnol moment -- gorgeous this side of the hill!
This thread is costing Vodafone lots of money --- everyone knows where everyone is ( unless you are using G3 Roaming to access of course!)
wakeup
Active member
Seahope
Well-known member
Agreed. Sure beats the unseasonal cold in the South of England too
If I had a boat to play on I would almost be as depressed as I am not having one
rafiki_
Well-known member
Agreed. Sure beats the unseasonal cold in the South of England too
If I had a boat to play on I would almost be as depressed as I am not having one
Nevermind. This coming weeknd will be glorious............great.........I'll be in Taiwan
D
Deleted User YDKXO
Guest
Yup, haven't you heard of the French phrase 'Allez les bleus'?
EME
Active member
Only (losing) English rugby fans hear thatYup, haven't you heard of the French phrase 'Allez les bleus'?
jimmy_the_builder
Well-known member
well done Jimmy !
I know what a satisfying feeling such a acheevement can give
"Ive done it"
YES, you've done it, congratulations !
I've just booked my flicht tickets for 19/5 and 26/5 weekends
how about a meeting in red dot bay ?
(porcerolles)
Hi Bart
In truth I don't think we've quite got to the "I've done it" moment yet ... it's still feeling a bit like 'one step forward, two steps back'. But there's no doubt that the sunshine is very nice...
I'll send you a PM about a possible meet up later this month - would be great to say hi, especially after our near miss in Rome!
Cheers
Jimmy
jimmy_the_builder
Well-known member
Engine fix was ok in the end, RK Marine supplied the replacement parts, and I came down weekend before last and spent the Friday fixing it all up. I even had an exciting trip to the local VP dealer (at the airport at Cannes) to buy coolant - mate, I know how to live!
Thanks for the tip about the power cable, I didn't know about that, I'll have a look next time we're there.
We tucked right in north of the islands yesterday (near the fish farm) and had a very pleasant afternoon doing nothing in particular.
Cheers
Jimmy
D
Deleted User YDKXO
Guest
I'd forgotten because we didn't hear at all this yearOnly (losing) English rugby fans hear that
EME
Active member
I'd forgotten because we didn't hear at all this year
Fingers in ears again Mike? ...
jimmy_the_builder
Well-known member
So, another little update:
We've had the boat down here for a couple of months now. We originally planned to keep the boat at Port de la Rague, between Mandelieu-La Napoule and Theoule sur Mer - but the berth proved to be just a bit too squeaky tight for us (mainly, it has to be said, because of some oversize neighbours); we also found that La Rague, although very pretty, was just a bit too quiet, and the marina just a bit too far out of town.
This berthing problem, combined with a couple of technical issues with the boat have meant that we've had a slightly lumpy start to our Med adventure. To try and get things back on track I decided that we'd be better off in a different marina, and Port Vauban in Antibes was top of our list. I've been to see the capitanerie a few times, and a couple of weeks ago these repeated visits paid off when they called us up to offer us a rental berth.
So on Friday last week we left La Rague and arrived at Port Vauban. We've been given just the most fabulous berth - this is us in the middle of the pic (you'll need to look hard!):
We're right in the middle of a cluster of forumites - jfm, nick_h, eme, a&k and mrc are all within staggering distance. Very unusually for here we've got an alongside berth, and I love it. It's a monthly rental, and we only have it for a couple of months, but I'm delighted nonetheless. However...
On Friday evening we went out into Antibes for supper, and retired for the night at about midnight. At 6am, I was rudely awakened by swmbo jumping (literally) out of bed and steaming out of the cabin at a rate of knots. Wtf is going on, I (not very) politely enquired? "There's someone on the boat!" was the reply.
A few seconds later, while I am still trying to wake up enough to actually get out of bed, I hear a fairly violent shouting match, and a big splash. By the time I'd got my jeans on and had blinked my way into the cockpit, H was standing there having had a proper go at a couple of lads who had apparently been on our bathing platform. One was now in the water, and other had wisely returned to the quay, and was trying to apologise and explain that they were just going for a swim. These two chaps were about 20-22 years old, and their story was backed up by the pile of clothes and shoes they'd left on the dock - oh, and the fact that chap I was now talking to was standing there clad only in a pair of little blue pants. Nice.
They started a shouty conversation between them, in Russian, with the bloke in the water trying to convince his mate of the invigorating benefits of an early morning bathe in the diesel-and-black-tank cocktail that is the reality of a modern Med marina. They'd obviously had a good night because he didn't need much more convincing to jump in.
At this point, I thought I'd better call the capitanerie, because it really didn't look like it was going to end well. Apart from any water quality issues, the port is full of lines and chains, and there's a big water circulation device at the end of the fairway, and so on. My French is rubbish, so the best I could manage was "there are two young men on my boat", to which the initial reply was "so what mate, knock yourself out" (or at least, the verbal equivalent of a gallic shrug).
Eventually though I managed to convey the impression that these were not invited (or paid for) guests, so shortly afterwards, the cavalry arrived. Well, a chap from the marina office turned up on a scooter. He was pretty unimpressed with the two swimmers - and when they decided to ignore his instruction to get out of the water, he scooped up their clothes and dumped them in the box on the back of his scooter. Thoughtfully, however, he did leave their shoes behind.
With that, he radioed to his colleague in the office to call the police, and zoomed off to the other end of the fairway, about a couple of hundred metres away, to meet our two Russian anti-heroes.
At this point, things got a tiny bit weird. Boris and his mate emerged from the water at the far end of the fairway, completely starkers, and had a bit of a chat with the chap from the capitanerie. You could reasonably call it a b0ll0cking. After issuing some 'advice', it seems, the capitanerie guy zooemd off on his scooter - without giving them their clothes back! Ok ... now what?
About ten minutes later, I was slightly taken aback by the sight of two wet naked Russian men walking up the pontoon, with only their hands to protect their modesty. They were at great pains to apologise, which under the circumstances I accepted quickly to allow them to get on their way. I explained that the port had their clothes - but they knew this, they just wanted their shoes. They put them on, and off they went down the pontoon.
We didn't see them make their way to the capitanerie, we think they might have just decided to head home instead. We did however hear police sirens a few minutes later, so maybe they got a lift - who knows?
This was our first night in Port Vauban. What's the rest of the season going to be like?
Cheers
Jimmy
We've had the boat down here for a couple of months now. We originally planned to keep the boat at Port de la Rague, between Mandelieu-La Napoule and Theoule sur Mer - but the berth proved to be just a bit too squeaky tight for us (mainly, it has to be said, because of some oversize neighbours); we also found that La Rague, although very pretty, was just a bit too quiet, and the marina just a bit too far out of town.
This berthing problem, combined with a couple of technical issues with the boat have meant that we've had a slightly lumpy start to our Med adventure. To try and get things back on track I decided that we'd be better off in a different marina, and Port Vauban in Antibes was top of our list. I've been to see the capitanerie a few times, and a couple of weeks ago these repeated visits paid off when they called us up to offer us a rental berth.
So on Friday last week we left La Rague and arrived at Port Vauban. We've been given just the most fabulous berth - this is us in the middle of the pic (you'll need to look hard!):
We're right in the middle of a cluster of forumites - jfm, nick_h, eme, a&k and mrc are all within staggering distance. Very unusually for here we've got an alongside berth, and I love it. It's a monthly rental, and we only have it for a couple of months, but I'm delighted nonetheless. However...
On Friday evening we went out into Antibes for supper, and retired for the night at about midnight. At 6am, I was rudely awakened by swmbo jumping (literally) out of bed and steaming out of the cabin at a rate of knots. Wtf is going on, I (not very) politely enquired? "There's someone on the boat!" was the reply.
A few seconds later, while I am still trying to wake up enough to actually get out of bed, I hear a fairly violent shouting match, and a big splash. By the time I'd got my jeans on and had blinked my way into the cockpit, H was standing there having had a proper go at a couple of lads who had apparently been on our bathing platform. One was now in the water, and other had wisely returned to the quay, and was trying to apologise and explain that they were just going for a swim. These two chaps were about 20-22 years old, and their story was backed up by the pile of clothes and shoes they'd left on the dock - oh, and the fact that chap I was now talking to was standing there clad only in a pair of little blue pants. Nice.
They started a shouty conversation between them, in Russian, with the bloke in the water trying to convince his mate of the invigorating benefits of an early morning bathe in the diesel-and-black-tank cocktail that is the reality of a modern Med marina. They'd obviously had a good night because he didn't need much more convincing to jump in.
At this point, I thought I'd better call the capitanerie, because it really didn't look like it was going to end well. Apart from any water quality issues, the port is full of lines and chains, and there's a big water circulation device at the end of the fairway, and so on. My French is rubbish, so the best I could manage was "there are two young men on my boat", to which the initial reply was "so what mate, knock yourself out" (or at least, the verbal equivalent of a gallic shrug).
Eventually though I managed to convey the impression that these were not invited (or paid for) guests, so shortly afterwards, the cavalry arrived. Well, a chap from the marina office turned up on a scooter. He was pretty unimpressed with the two swimmers - and when they decided to ignore his instruction to get out of the water, he scooped up their clothes and dumped them in the box on the back of his scooter. Thoughtfully, however, he did leave their shoes behind.
With that, he radioed to his colleague in the office to call the police, and zoomed off to the other end of the fairway, about a couple of hundred metres away, to meet our two Russian anti-heroes.
At this point, things got a tiny bit weird. Boris and his mate emerged from the water at the far end of the fairway, completely starkers, and had a bit of a chat with the chap from the capitanerie. You could reasonably call it a b0ll0cking. After issuing some 'advice', it seems, the capitanerie guy zooemd off on his scooter - without giving them their clothes back! Ok ... now what?
About ten minutes later, I was slightly taken aback by the sight of two wet naked Russian men walking up the pontoon, with only their hands to protect their modesty. They were at great pains to apologise, which under the circumstances I accepted quickly to allow them to get on their way. I explained that the port had their clothes - but they knew this, they just wanted their shoes. They put them on, and off they went down the pontoon.
We didn't see them make their way to the capitanerie, we think they might have just decided to head home instead. We did however hear police sirens a few minutes later, so maybe they got a lift - who knows?
This was our first night in Port Vauban. What's the rest of the season going to be like?
Cheers
Jimmy
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vas
Well-known member
not sure I'd enjoyed the experience myself, but I have to admit the story makes a good read (sitting in my office working that is
)hope it was just a one off and you have a great season down there Jimmy.
V.
D
Deleted User YDKXO
Guest
A man after my own heart, Jimmy. Hide under the duvet cover until the wife has sorted them out
