Nice Villefranche area

[Mrnotming]

Hi all, got leave from docs for a trip as above with a view to finding 11m by4 m berth rental or part lease for 2016. Have also to head for the Rhone to winterise the unused boat, sails off etc.
paid up till March 2016 so no pressure here. Will visit a few Capitaneries and try to cross palm with gold from my Leprauchan's pot (not that deep).
Any helpful forumites there might give me a heads up?
Accomodation for the 4 days is eye wateringly expensive.
Health issues force action as flights to Marseille are increasingly scarce. none from Irl in winter.
Thanks for your support in anticipation folks!
Paul C

 

[mcanderson]

Hi Paul,

I keep my 10m yacht just around the corner in Beaulieu Sur Mer. I think you might find it tough getting a berth for just part of a season. The rental berths are hard to come by and have long waiting lists. If you own the lease on a Bert many marinas will not allow you to sub-let it. Still not all is lost and you might get lucky. If Villefrance is you centre point of search then try St Jean Cap Ferrat and also Beaulieu Sur Mer. The Nice ports company run a few of the ports this way and you might be able to book a berth through their website.

West of Nice there are numerous ports and you might get lucky in one of these. You would be better of asking you questions on the Motor Boat forum as there is a good sized group who keep their boats on the SofF.

 

[Mrnotming]

Very helpful pointers Mcanderson, and many thanks.
Yes,I am relying a bit much on previous visits to both Beaulieu and Villefranche,and hoping the cut of my jib was appreciated.
hopefully as I am on the computer system for all the ports locally,will stand for something.
noted re the mobo owners, possibly getting crocked/cracked enough for a nice displacement trawler yacht now,but my Dufour 36 is handy enough to berth esp stern on.
Will rock up to the Capitaneries wed or Thursday and see if I get lucky.
There's no problem renewing berth in Martigues next season,I just fancy having the boat afloat for a season,rather than waiting each cruise for the travel hoist guy to appear.
In other words a break which can just use a week at a time would be great.
If there was any health certainty it would be different,but I am stuck with about 6 months chemo coming up,soon.
but I feel ok just now so trying to make the necessary. Changes so family can use the boat as well.
Thanks again mc!
Maith an fear!
Paul.

 

[Contest1]

Had a great day out in Villefranche in May from our cruise ship holiday. Harbour and town were very picturesque.
I,m enjoying good all year sailing and cheap flights from Dublin here in Guardamar, Alicante and hope you find similar were you are going.
Good luck with the treatment.

 

[mcanderson]

Being on the list will help as well as building a dialogue with the capitainare.

You might want to also try St Jean Cap Ferrat as I was told recently that they have some berths available. This might be complete rubbish, but you never know. St Jean is quieter during winter and doesn't have the fantastic Super U of Beaulieu, but there are worse places in the world by a long shot.

Good hunting.

 

[Mrnotming]

A big thanks guys for all the helpful info!
Drove from Nice yesterday and arrived in Martigues safely if a bit frazzled.Between SWMBO and myself we stripped off the two sails and hid all the halyards inside the mast.
So windage is reduced as is the danger of a Genoa flogging itself to death.
Drove back am after a peaceful kip aboard on the hard.
So it's Nice in Hotel tonight, visit Villefranche by car tomorrow early,to try a bit of whinging re the berthing for next few years.
Hopefully we ditch the car at Nice airport late in the day and take the last flight to Dublin at around 10.30 .so should be home by somewhat after midnight.
Colder than anticipated inNice ,weather is nicer at home as usual!
I will let you know what happens,re berthing,could be a tail between legs outcome, but worth a try.
it would be great to have the boat somewhere handy.
Malta was like that for us for a couple of years, but there is little shelter for any decent cruising,so once the historic stuff is done it was time to move on.
Good sailing and boating to all,
Paul.

 

[Robin B]

Il Carpaccio - last restaurant along the front, our favourite. Love Villefranche.

 

[Mrnotming]

Very helpful pointers Mcanderson, and many thanks.
Yes,I am relying a bit much on previous visits to both Beaulieu and Villefranche,and hoping the cut of my jib was appreciated.
hopefully as I am on the computer system for all the ports locally,will stand for something.
noted re the mobo owners, possibly getting crocked/cracked enough for a nice displacement trawler yacht now,but my Dufour 36 is handy enough to berth esp stern on.
Will rock up to the Capitaneries wed or Thursday and see if I get lucky.
There's no problem renewing berth in Martigues next season,I just fancy having the boat afloat for a season,rather than waiting each cruise for the travel hoist guy to appear.
In other words a break which can just use a week at a time would be great.
If there was any health certainty it would be different,but I am stuck with about 6 months chemo coming up,soon.
but I feel ok just now so trying to make the necessary. Changes so family can use the boat as well.
Thanks again mc!
Maith an fear!
Paul.

Well We did all the above including putting the boat to bed in martigues 275km from Nice (car was only just adequate kia picanto with most of the knobs still on the options list).
Sunny at the boat but a cold night with two elec heaters employed to just about maintain a nice temperature.
Drove back next day to Hotel and just rested for the afternoon.A good steak and chips at a canvas covered corner grill was the best, and by then the rain was drumming on the canvas.
Following day we visited a very damp Villefranche, and were offered only a booking form, duly completed.
Beaulieu sur Mer similar, nice smiles and took our particulars!
It was time to instruct out Tom Tom to get us back to Nice, so we choose ""avoid motorways" which brought us skywards home via EZE and environs.Probably just as well, as the roads were running with rivers of water as the rain set in in earnest.
We decided to bail out of the hotel, and bring the hire car back to Nice Coted'Azur airport, itself subject to a huge traffic backlog due to accidents.We were packed in like sardines into the second Shuttle bus as the first one's engine quit.
So it was a long wait till Ryanair appeared at 11pm, only an hour late!
It appears that the serious disaster flooding occurred in the hours immediately after our departure, and takeoff seemed not to be affected at all, we could see the lights of Nice clearly below.
Not until this Sunday am did we discover how luckily we had escaped a serious situation.
We have now some misgiving about moving our cruising grounds at all, as our vessel was in great shape in Martigues, despite not having been visited since March last.
At least in general, we enjoyed staying in a posh 'ish hotel, but would really prefer staying on board the boat, even on the hard.
So thats all from us on this thread subject, thanks for your readership all!
good sailing and boating to all.
Paul.
p.s. I read Vic S 's post on Med weather, it seems the breakdown in normal conditions was more widespread than I realised!