Cruise Reports South of France/Italy Aug/Sep 2018

Hope the Med cruise goes without any issues, and boat performs well.
Keep the thread open with some updates and pics along the way, no doubt the Med boaters will advise if and when asked, and it's always good to get another cruise report happening.
 
Hi All,

Sorry it has taken so long to post but I’ve had a lot going on. We arrived to a sweltering 36 degrees on the 7th and made our way down from Nice to Port Grimaud in the rental car; an experience in its own right and I’m not talking about the driving. Getting from terminal one to terminal two then finding the rental centre with all our luggage was no small feat.

Anyway we arrived at our little motel which was clean but very ‘quaint’ and three days later after giving the boat what my wife calls a ‘forensic’ clean we’re sleeping on board! Nothing says ‘new’ boat ownership like cleaning the literal crap out of someone else’s toilets.

All basically done and now I can turn my attention to the business of boating!! If anyone is around PG it’d be great to get some local knowledge and a friendly face.

More to follow.

James.
 
Ok. Enough fannying about. Time to light this s*#t up.

So we took her out for our first run on the Cote d’Azure. A huge milestone for us as this has been at least a year in the planning and a lot longer in the search for a new boat. With some trepidation we cast off from our berth in PG and threaded our way through the canals out towards the gulf. It was a beautiful Sunday afternoon with a light south easterly breeze and it looked as though one or two others had the same idea as me. In all my years of boating I have never seen so many boats in such a small area; and where I come from at least a third of them could be classed as ships. Truely a sight to behold.

After idling past Saint Tropez we eased her up to a sedate 21kts and headed around the corner to the west to one of the smaller beaches before Papellone. By then the SE breeze and the throngs of high speed passing boats had cut the bay up quite significantly. Still, we set the anchor and I headed into the brine for my first swim in the CDA! It was beautifully warm and clear and I swam to see how the anchor had set. All good but I was very surprised at just how weedy and rocky the bottom was. I’d imagine setting a proper anchor would be a challenge.

Anyway we then had a quick look at the incredible opulence of the 50 plus super yachts anchored off Pampellone beach. Just wow.

At that point time was getting on so back to PG for our first attempt at berthing. No drama but I’m sure it would be a whole different story in a decent wind.

I’ll try posting some photos but my mobile internet is very very slow so my apologies if they don’t come through.

Cheers

James.
 
Re: Ok. Enough fannying about. Time to light this s*#t up.

Looking forward to how this trip pans out and of course, the required photos. :encouragement::cool:
 
Re: Ok. Enough fannying about. Time to light this s*#t up.

Keep it coming and just imagining how warm the water must be. A great bit of coastline although I have only seen it from the land so far. I burnt my bum on Pampellone beach. I fell asleep on my front, naked, back in the days before I started worrying about the Japanese whaling fleet coming after me. The wife (No. 2) had to drive back as I couldn't sit down in the car from there back to Nice.
 
Re: Ok. Enough fannying about. Time to light this s*#t up.

James. it sounds like you had a perfect first cruise and your planning paid off. You must of felt fantastic. The Gulf of St Tropez is a bit barking and it continues in that way all along the coast. It is not a good place to play 'my boat is bigger than yours!'

From memory, PG has wifi, so you might want to check to see if you can get the signal and then pop over to the port office for the code. In my experience the mobile signal along the Cote d'Azur is very good and matched with very good download speeds.

I am guessing that you are using your NZ provider via a roaming contract. I would check with them. You can buy a local sim, but the pay monthly cards aren't great value, but you can use them through out Europe as EU law requires mobile phone contracts to be free moving across the EU, i.e. I pay no more for my using my phone in France than I do in the UK.

If St Tropez winks at you then I would head up there about 12ish in you boat and call the Port for a berth. You can't book for boats less than 18m so it is first come first served and by late afternoon its a bit of a scrum. The port will help you squeeze into a spot so don't worry too much about manoeuvering.

Lastly the fuel berth in PG is well priced and not too busy so you might want to fill up there before heading off as some ports can get very busy around the refueling points.

We will be down in 10 days and will let you know our plans and see if our paths cross!
 
Re: Ok. Enough fannying about. Time to light this s*#t up.

Congratulations James on the maiden voyage. I'm JAFA here with family in the Med looking for our first sport cruiser, although our boat will be calling the CDA home and not making the epic journey back to NZ that yours will!

All the best with the cruise and prep for shipping, look forward to reading more from you.


Tom
 
Re: Ok. Enough fannying about. Time to light this s*#t up.

tom2018 said:
Congratulations James on the maiden voyage. I'm JAFA here with family in the Med looking for our first sport cruiser, although our boat will be calling the CDA home and not making the epic journey back to NZ that yours will!

All the best with the cruise and prep for shipping, look forward to reading more from you.


Tom
Click to expand...

G'day Tom, there appears to be quite a few Antipodeans opting to leave boats in the Med these days, on both sides of the "ditch", enjoying the endless summer concept, sounds like a good plan.

In case anybody is wondering what JAFA means.......just another f...... Aucklander :)
 
Re: Ok. Enough fannying about. Time to light this s*#t up.

mcanderson said:
James. it sounds like you had a perfect first cruise and your planning paid off. You must of felt fantastic. The Gulf of St Tropez is a bit barking and it continues in that way all along the coast. It is not a good place to play 'my boat is bigger than yours!'

From memory, PG has wifi, so you might want to check to see if you can get the signal and then pop over to the port office for the code. In my experience the mobile signal along the Cote d'Azur is very good and matched with very good download speeds.

I am guessing that you are using your NZ provider via a roaming contract. I would check with them. You can buy a local sim, but the pay monthly cards aren't great value, but you can use them through out Europe as EU law requires mobile phone contracts to be free moving across the EU, i.e. I pay no more for my using my phone in France than I do in the UK.

If St Tropez winks at you then I would head up there about 12ish in you boat and call the Port for a berth. You can't book for boats less than 18m so it is first come first served and by late afternoon its a bit of a scrum. The port will help you squeeze into a spot so don't worry too much about manoeuvering.

Lastly the fuel berth in PG is well priced and not too busy so you might want to fill up there before heading off as some ports can get very busy around the refueling points.

We will be down in 10 days and will let you know our plans and see if our paths cross!
Click to expand...

Good info!
 
Re: Ok. Enough fannying about. Time to light this s*#t up.

Hi all

Enjoying the afternoon in the bay just past St Tropez. I was told by a local to avoid this bay as the numerous boat wakes make it uncomfortable. This was certainly true at times but by and large it was reasonably pleasant with a light S breeze keeping the boat stern into the worst of the wakes. Warm water at 26 degrees made lolling about very enjoyable.

We tried the bay just outside the gulf to the west the other day and it was just as bad for wakes but a lot more open to the breeze. I think we’ll stay here until about 5pm then take a wee cruise before heading back to PG.

Hopefully the pictures load. Update. They don’t. Photos to follow. Sorry.

Cheers James.
 
Re: Ok. Enough fannying about. Time to light this s*#t up.

J12345T said:
Hi all

Enjoying the afternoon in the bay just past St Tropez. I was told by a local to avoid this bay as the numerous boat wakes make it uncomfortable. This was certainly true at times but by and large it was reasonably pleasant with a light S breeze keeping the boat stern into the worst of the wakes. Warm water at 26 degrees made lolling about very enjoyable.

We tried the bay just outside the gulf to the west the other day and it was just as bad for wakes but a lot more open to the breeze. I think we’ll stay here until about 5pm then take a wee cruise before heading back to PG.

Hopefully the pictures load. Update. They don’t. Photos to follow. Sorry.

Cheers James.
Click to expand...

Nice one. Keep em coming.
 
Re: Ok. Enough fannying about. Time to light this s*#t up.

So coming back into PG this afternoon was like rush hour in Paris. A hundred boats all heading for the same small entrance and all jostling for position in a totally chaotic but somehow orderly fashion. By the time we entered the harbour entrance we were number umpteenth in what seemed like an endless procession of boats. Again; order out of chaos in that we threaded our way down the canal and arrived in our berth unscathed. Phew. Needed another swim but the tepid brown of PG was somehow not quite as inviting as St Tropez. A glass of red instead...

Cheers.

James.
 
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