South of France - Planning ahead!

[CliveG]

My son an I are planing to take a group (8 to 10 total) of his friends on a bare boat charter for 2 weeks after the completion of there A-level exams in July 2003.
They have mixed experience, from day skipper to minimal, with a good core of comp. crew.
We want to do some night sailing and build some sea miles.

We have found what looks like a good deal for the boat from a base near Toulon. With flights for Stansted we are very interested.
We do not know the area.
We like the look of the area on the map.
We fancy trying to get to the Balearics and back.

Any comments on this plan?
Can anybody recommend any good books / pilots on the area?
What winds etc. can we expect?
Are there inexpensive moorings available?

I know this is a long way off but we like to plan ahead!

 

[tcm]

We have boat in s of france. The south of France itself offers a more reliable and varied coastline to explore, given (i expect) only 2 weeks. Although balearix themselves are a possibility, it means a much more serious passage there and some planning to get back.

West of toulon are the islands of porquerolles, le lavandou, and the gulf of st tropez. In the gulf of st tropez, mooring is free. Furthr west again are cannes, antibes, and a sheltered (free) mooring in villefranche.

Sailors can enjoy a fairly relaible onshore breeze of f5 from around miday-1pm, lasting until 7 pm when it's almost always totally still, and magical in a boat at anchor. Most boats have a decent tenbder with outboard and if yours doesn't have one, get one. Ste maxime for nightlife and ferry to st tropez, Port Grimaud for cutesy venice-like town in rivers plus world-class go-kart track 2 kn inland by cab towards Grimaud (get the high-powered ones, not standard) are recommended in gulf of st trop. Cogilin is cheap but concrete. The gulf itself is a fine and free place to anchor, right at the far end.

Furthest east, Menton is hottest and calmest for anchoring right outside the harbour. French end of italian coast not worth the effort, turn back at menton.

East of toulon are the fabulous creeks - "calanques" up to a mile long that precede Marseilles, iself worth a trip, but the seawater is disitincltyly cooler even in August than the western waters beyond Cap Sicié from Toulon towards the riviera proper. West of marseilles deteriorates, turn back after exploring the islands and calanques. Cassis worth a visit. Book early by cellphone for berths, but don't be afraid to anchor late, or simply arrive very late (after 8pm) and dump the boat on the fuel pontoon or anywhere without asking, and half the price of "legit" overnight berth or free of charge if you clear off by 7.30 am.

Handy tip is that a lunch stop in France is totally free, and lasts from 11am until 6 pm, and you can plug into electricity and get water.

For the balearix, you look at around 200 nm sea trip to menorca and another 60 to majorca, and need to keep a sharp lookout for vicious winds (the tramontane or the Mistral) which rips through the Golfe de Lion and blows at F6 for over 200 days per year according to the pilot books. You'll need a fair forecast early in your trip to make it there, and another one to bring you back, and at 2 days minimum each way it may seem more of a delivery trip than a holiday, in my humble opinion. But once there, menorca has great anchorages as does Majorca, more gently shelving beaches than in France.

My advice would be to not make any deifnite plans. Numerous sailboats goof around the med with no sails up for days on end, and forecaats are often "variable force 2-3" which isn't much use. On a sailboat in the med, you really do have to go where the wind takes you, saling races are most exciting inshore (with the sea breeeze) and from east or west from Toulon most places are somewhere between great and fantastic.

 

[zefender]

Re: Blimey! Watch out Rod Heikell

I see a pilot book - the Rough guide to boating in the Med -- TCM edition!

 

[ccscott49]

I'll be there next year, I was thinking about leaving barcelone, end of April, have the weather patterns started to settle by then? I will need a place to winter, October 2003, any suggestions, boat is 57' by 15' I need a secure marina, as I have to leave her and go to work. Suggestions? Please.

 

[tcm]

No direct experience of staying long-term around that area. Went to Blanes, seemd okay, can't be to expensive...

I wd always suggest going north from barcelona, and if going to france staying inshore, up the Capd'agde cos once offshorte if it blows it's impossible to turn into wind and get in. The wind can turn up out of a clear blue sky, rising to force 8 from vrb 2 in 15 mins, quite a sight (looks like a big sailing race in the distance)

Industrial-type marinas include Port Leucate, and er bum somewhere beginning with E just west of marseilles.

 

[ccscott49]

The bars are all onshore, so I will be fairly close in! I did know about the windy problems, but Englander and myself could handle them ok, but why would I want to? Thanks for the info, where are you based?

 

[tcm]

Re: those winds

based antibes from june, cannes now.

Good idea to stay near the bars. The fun with regard to winds thru golfe de lion from north or northeast is when they forecast F8 or above "avec menace". I always feel that forecasting a wind "with menaces" keeps everyone off the water.
Lotos them are not well forecasted, and apparently the signs to look for are a clear sky with some cigar-shaped clouds. Humm. No, I'm no wiser either.

 

[ccscott49]

Re: those winds

I always remember it, from crossing from Marseilles to port St. louis to head up the rhone (another great trip) in my brothers gaff ketch (converted RNLI), after a heavy night in the vieux port! Fed quite a few fish that day! Gulf of Lions! and they roared that day! Yeh! I read about those cigar shaped clouds aswell and I'm also none the wiser!

 

[CliveG]

Thank you for the info.

Which direction do the the Tramontane or the Mistral blow from?

I suppose it would take to long to coast hop around to Barcelona and cross to Menorca form there?

What Pilot books do youo use?

 

[LadyInBed]

Re: porquerolles and calanques

You have just about said it all. Why flog for miles when the next best thing to paradise is on your doorstep. Anchoring in a calanque, you won't want to come out. That coastline and the cliffs around the porquerolles are wonderful.

 

[tcm]

You're determined to go, I see.

Tramontane blows from NE, Mistral from North. Not sure if they aren't the same wind, but anyway. In Marseille, any wind is called "Mistral". If a real Mistral blows, it's a pole-sailing job and hang on. One example of real mistral I saw was at Ste Maxime, relatively sheltered. Windy night, but next morning i was of to the shops and the council had already been hard at work digging the roads and truckload of gravel sand and rocks already in the road... Oops, no that's not the council, its the beach.

You'd be forced to do the long hop route via barcelona with a powerboat range under 250 miles. Longer range, or a sailboat, and Majorca is straight across from Porquerroles um 205 nm to Mahon (menorca) I seem to recall. No particuklarly good reason to coast-hop along.

The standard er hardbacky books in chandlers are about as good as they get, dark blue hardback has nice piccies. The beige hardback one for Balearix (damn expensive tho at 30 quid). Most if not all thephone numbers are out of date, but pick up the port guides on arrival. You need a decent mobile phone, and the phone numbers of emergency services whilst at balearix and france. Don't rely on ch16.

But again, I'd say that half of a 2-week hol from southern france will be spent preparing for/ waiting for or recovering from the crossings to/from balearix. You must have v good reasons. Teenagers huh? The nude beaches are just to the west of Marseilles "Ste's Maries de la Mer"...

If you really want to go to balearix, consider hiring the boat in Palma? Visiting menorca and ibiza and formentera still quite hairy-chested trip in 2 weeks, all feasible but without flogging yourselves to bits, and you won't have thatretrun leg hanging over yourselves?

 

[tcm]

Re: correction re Tramontane

what a ninny I am - it blows from the north WEST, essentially allong foothils of pyrenees (sp) and out to sea