Small Boat in Med

[Adrian]

I’ve been offered a free berth at Port Grimaud, Sth France, for 2005, am I mad to tow my Jeanneau 24 down for the season? I’m thinking of “School Holiday” sailing 1week Easter and Whitson and 2 weeks in the summer doing 2-3 day sails up and down the coast using PG as a base, we’ll have access to an apartment when in PG.
We keep the boat on Windermere normally so it is set up for that kind of sailing. I’m mainly worried about the following:-
1) We have got a Porta Loo which normally lasts 2-3 days before needing emptying, are there facilities to empty it along the coast?
2) We have a 5hp 4 stroke OB charging a 70Ah Battery, will this be enough, Hp and Ah
3) What paper work will I need? (Apart from Boat papers)

Any comments appreciated.

Oh yes, there will be 4 of us!



<hr width=100% size=1>Adrian
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[tcm]

You'll have a fantastic time and you'd be mad NOT to do this - especially if it's free.

We have a boat in the area, further up, at antibes.

It's a ful day of sailing for a trailerable sailor to go to the italian border. I wouldn't go further.

Note that gulf of st trop is a destination anyway for everyone to the west, everyone to the east, and quite a bit of italy. So you hardly need go anywhere! But of course you will want to.

Bogwise, there are no dumping places i know of for portapotties But it's warm sea innit? So jumpin and have a wee! There are loos for #2 ashore at all marinas, and marinas are very close togther, sometimes under a mile, never further than 3 miles for a small boat and lunch stops are free.

Can be coolish around easter. Take careful note of forecasts: the wind can swoop in less than hour not like uk where it takes hours or days to build. For swimming in the sea in easter you need shorty wetsuits. After that, all nice and warm.

Do not feel that you have to go miles and miles. Excellent sailing in the gulf of st trop comtrast with much calmer weatehr to east, specially in summer, and you will get kicked about by the wash of big powerboats.

Everyone wants to go to monaco which is okish, tho not as trendy as st trop.

The beach at PG is a but manky, i think. Cos people dump the tanks there, see...

You need registration doc and insurance doc, and invoice to show vat paid possibly.

I wd consider towing a dinghy to get ashore. dunno if this feasible. Beachhable or otherwise, no powered big boat may go ashore inside the final line of yellow markers which will be laid out after easter all along poular coast areas where otherwise you could get close inshore. A dinghy increases flexibilty to go ashore at places other than in marinas.

Recommended marinas include ste maxime, cannes, st trop and there others too all nicer than most uk marinas. Recommended overnight anchorages are in the gulf of st trop, also at theoule to the east, also villefranche further east.

Anchoring out will make everything nicer and cool in the evening. Magical morning dip in the morning too. The sea suddenly calms down from 7pm sharp in the evening.

The Licorne in the square at PG is probably best value restaurant in PG.

About 1.5 miles inland on the way to Grimaud village is erm high-speed go-karting, rather fab fun, kids need to be 14+ for the really fast ones tho, and over 12 to be allowed on the sensible iones i think - or at least not tiny people. Girls and swmbos seem not to enjoy it cos it is a bit fast and furious.

The trendiest (yet not ridiculous expensive) resturant in the area is the "club 55" - not in any guides, book ahead by phone 0493 555555 - anchor off in the middles of the bay of pamplone, east of st tropez. they will ferry ashore but you need to bungem a few euros. Bung the kids some money and they can go buy junk food whilst you have a long lazy lunch.

In cannes, you can do the same too - they go to mcD's while you have lunch on the beach. I wd probably chose le Royale, second one along from the west. Bung the boat in the marina. Ch 12 for cannes marina, or just bung the thing in there - do not expect any response from a marina after 12:30 or definitely 12:45 when it is Lunchtime.

swimming pool is available at Baie des anges. Lunch stop is free till 5pm, pool not free but very nice.

If kids can roller skate, take their roller blades along for cannes and Nice.

Once the boat is there, you need to get there by air. Easyjet is flexy, BA is nicer. There is an air france ferry from near the airport to St trop after easter, investigate it by google and then take the ferry from st trop to PG. Praps check this stuff during the easter trip.

Cabs wil be expensive like €200 to PG from Nice airport. They may not want to take you along that coast road except v early in the morning - the traffic in summer can be walking pace from ste maxime to PG so praps get early flights if cabbing.

If you want to go to Nice port, go midweek when all the Moorings boats from the visitors pontoons are away, not w/e when they all come back.



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[Adrian]

Thanks for that I'm going to "just do it",
What about other equipment, what would you recommend?, I’ve got nav and anchor lights, plough type anchor with 25m chain and 30m anchorplait , life jackets, depth sounder and hand held GPS, will buy hand held VHF and appropriate coastal flares. I really want to keep the electrics to a min. Do I need a second anchor?

I know its still a long way off but I need to make a “wish list” and start saving!!


<hr width=100% size=1>Adrian
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[Anonymous]

The two things I'd be most lost without on any coastal cruise (apart from charts!!) would be a good handbearing compass (not the electrical sort) and a decent pair of binoculars.

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[tcm]

Re: Lists

Lights eh? Quite unusual down there, you'll find.


The place is popular cos it's good. But there are quite a few nutters with minimal qualifications in rental boats and sometimes colregs are used at the very VERY last minute, so don't imagine that all will give way. Inshore, gigantic powerboats rumble around so there'll be some wash. There are police who patrol to keep things in order like PWCs away from anchorages and so forth. After 7pm, the police knock off work cos of the nice 37 hour week, so then the waterskiing in forbidden areas can begin. After dark, the waterskiing usually stops. Then fast dinghies from charter boats wham around at any speed they like, such as over 25knots in the bay of villefranche where it's supposedly 5 knot limit but the blimmin ferry does over 10, and you can drive yourself nuts trying to get them to slow down. They bomb around to buy croissants first thing in the morning too. In the bay of cannes, the chart says it's a 10 knot limit. But the local mayor allows waterskiing for tourists, so god knows what law applies where. Apparently 37 people died in water-sport related incidents on the riviera last year. 37! Mind you, there's lots od people.

Partly because of the wild westiness I would (and do) obey the rules, and use an anchor ball and light, and i would use the motoring cone too if appropriate.

In all the anchorages it can be dead calm at night in summer, and the game is to get the boat pointing straight out of the bay, of course. Yes, a spare anchor is good, or if not in a smaller boat you would be ok (and better and easier ) to back up to one of the marker buoys later in the evening and put a line around, then retighten the anchor. You aren't really supposed to do this, so be discreet.

Definitive anchor spots are Millionaiires bay just to the east of st trop village, where liveaboard stay for weeks and you can have a nice swim. You need to point north against the swell of megaboats powering past to/from st trop.

One of the photocell garden lights is quite good - dim but bright enough for a peaceful evening.

Lifejackets of course - but (am i allowed to say this?) the water is warm, so if you see somewone in the water from witsun onwards, they are having a swim, and survival times must be about 12 weeks rather than 12 minutes as in uk water.

The are sqillions of boats, and plenty of boat fixing places. I would buy a copy of the Livre de Bord on arrival, lots in english, most quite understandable. A hanheld radio is good to keep tabs on kids. Roller blades if they can do it. We have "go-peds" sort of foldup bikes.

Sunprotection we have a bimini and hats. In summer you can live in swimming gear, just need a shirt ashore. I use cheap sunglasses coos they always get left somewhere, 10 euros buys new ones.

In PG there's a big supermarket about 2miles away - you may be able to cadge a lift, or hike over and cab back.

It's nice to have diving goggles to look at the hull, but there's not a lot of notable dive sites really.

Navigation-wise, it is pretty easy. Almost no tides, and what you see is what you get, provided that you take care not to go inside any yellow markers. Depths sometimes go to 1000 metres under a mile offshore. A little parchutey anchor like the fishing types use is great to stay pointed into the wind when you stop in the middle of nowhere at all for a swim in clean blue water over half a mile deep.

July 14th is a fun time to be there - fireworks all over. Police will prosecuute anyone using flares as fireworks tho.

You can economise clothes-wise: One pair of smart shorts for evening is all that's needed, plenty of shirts and two pairs of swim stuff. Footwear is one opair deckshoes, most marina assume a lot of bare feet so it very tidy with no broken glass as a rule and in some places carpet on the pontoons. Thos cheappy dive shoes/pumps would be very handy going ashore on nice rocks to jump off (eg agay, esterel) or where the the beach is pebbly (like lotos of them are)

As before, do not attempt to call anyone french after 12:30 until 2pm. In restaurants, go at 12:30 for a table, 1pm for a queue, or 12:15 for quick service. Don't wait about until you feel hungry, an hour later of course cos they are ahead an hour - lunch is done and dusted failry quickly. All the briits are still wandering about.

The heat is a problem in high summer. Take something as a bimini. Despite a free berth, consider getting out on the boat just to get a bit of breeze - the marinas are always stuffier and hotter. Go swimming a lot. You need some means of a shower to rinse salt off, and always plenty of drinking water. You can drink their hosepipe water, we do, never had a problem.



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[Adrian]

Re: Lists

Thanks a lot TCM,

I cant wait, only 14 months to go!!
Flotilla sailing in Greece this year so will get my fix of Med sailing then. As much as i love Windermere its not quite the same!!



<hr width=100% size=1>Adrian
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