Visiting South Of France Ports/Harbours

[Adrian]

I'm a raggy but there seems to be more Moboers in the SOF hence the post here.

My boat is currently on transport somewhere in the French countryside on-route to Port Grimaud where it should arrive tomorrow (Eeek!)

We plan on doing a lot of anchoring but what's the form for entering harbours along the C d'Azur, do you call on the VHF like in the UK or just turn up and take a space like in Greece? It'll probably be the smaller places like St Max & Raphael but would also like to visit places like Nice.

I've read the summer months are mad but is there still a chance of getting in if you get there early enough?

Boat, Twilight III a 9.4m Hanse 312 with lift keel so can draw 0.9m if necessary.
Say Hi if you see us!

Adrian

 

[BartW]

we are not in SOF atm, but used to be there for 3 seasons,

call the capitainery in the morning, between 8 and 10, or again a bit later,
and try to make a reservation for the coming night.

when aproaching the harbour, contact the capitanerie on ch9
you can nowhere go in without contacting them (makes them upset)

if you will stay there for several season's, make sure that the capitainery will remember you
I gave them Belgium beers and or Belgium chocolates,
was really helpfull to get a mooring space in most harbours !

in St Tropez there is a online reservation system, that worked for me the first season that it was in use,
I'm not sure how it is today.
a mooring in St tropez is alway's nice for entertaining guests, especially with my size of boat, being right in front of the capitainerie, and a nice vieuw at the village ;-)

enjoy the area, we loved it !
don't forget the slightly less popular but beautifull places such as Cassis, Sanary Sur mer and Iles Des Embiez, ...

 

[Portofino]

Channel 9 they need the beam as well as length .
If they do not respond being a small boat just go in and head for the visitors pontoon or fuel pontoon after 7pm ish some folks use the fuel pontoon as a free mooring until say 7-8 am ish .i ,ve seen many ragies do this .
Best not to just grab a place -except visitors .
Porqueroles west of PG ,Caviliar have dedicated visitor quays a student on a rib will greet you as you enter and direct you .
At port Cros ( spelling middle island ) just turn up moor stern too the Wooden jetty or take a bouy -the bouys have meter signs written on 10' ,12,15 etc .
At 6 pm ish the warden comes round to collect €€ guessing for 10M
€ 30 /pm certainly no more than €45 ish?
Caviliare ( spelling ) on the mainland Oppersite the islands is really visitor friendly ,the lads will help with bow line etc ,they have approx 15 visitor mooring on a special pontoon .you can exchange conversation with like minded neighbour s ?.
If you end up in place bigger than your size say eg a15 M birth ,your shore power plug will need to be a 32 A or 50 A in a 15 M will not fit -i,am guessing you have a 16 A ?? .
This means you will need an adaptor ,infact we have ended up with a bag full of adaptors collected over the past 10 Y from "marina surfing " in the W Med ..
Some marinas will lend you one ,others expect you to have one .

There usually is water free at the fuel pontoon ,but in the past when on tour
I,ll admit to to a "smash and grab " where we turn up find an empty place -fill up with water 1/2 hour then -nip out and anchor off in a nearby bay .

A few Bormes ,and Sanary Sur Mer ,you need a tag from the Capitaneries to activate the tap .
Turning E , Agay has fixed bouys and a water taxi to town ,
Lerins islands are great to anchor ,at 10 M you are allowed into a little harbour on N side of the South island ,Honorat .

Another tip some fuel pontoon close for the French obligatory 2hr lunch .
This is great ,eg Antibes P Vauban ,it means if you arrive at 12 noon you can have 2 hours free birth to wonder around ,replenish food/ wine etc , get a meteo print off etc , and grab some more water free too .

Try and avoid "going in " if a cruise ship or two or three is anchored off .
Place will be packed out with proper tourists and the marina awash with taxi boats every 5mins .-

For S Trop if it's packed and no joy ,
Come out turn R along the edge of town just past the Grave yard ,is a little bay with a beach /restaurant -anchor here for free,
Either tender it in or call up the restaurant tender ,a student will come out and pick you up -drop him € 10 and he will drop you off /collect .
STrop s a 5 min walk .

 

[mcanderson]

I have a Beneteau 323 in Beaulieu Sur Mer and we usually use our berth for night stays, but there are a few nice anchorages close by for night stays. Never paid for water and usually you can get a free lunch stay in the ports close to us. Otherwise the beach restaurants all run a tender service that will pick you up and take you back. Happy to discuss. PM for phone details.

 

[thaigh]

Hi Adrian, We have a Bav33 in PG. PM me if you have any questions.

 

[Adrian]

Some great Info there, thanks to everyone.

thaigh, thanks, i'm sure there will be loads of stupid questions once we get down there!

 

[Adrian]

1st stupid question,

Will I need to speak French on Ch 9 to the harbours? my French, on a scale of 1-10 is about 0.7!

 

[Nick_H]

We've found the best way to get a place in the more popular ports is to anchor off nearby and call the capitanerie on ch9 just after lunch, or if there's a waiting pontoon then moor up there and go into the office. You normally find some boats have left port during their long lunch break, and last nights visitors have to be out by midday, so the first thing they do after lunch is take stock of how many free berths they have for the coming night.

Having said that, we rarely use visitor berths any more, and prefer to anchor off nearby and go into town for dinner by tender instead. You can't do this everywhere of course, and sometimes the weather doesn't play ball.

 

[DAW]

1st stupid question,

Will I need to speak French on Ch 9 to the harbours? my French, on a scale of 1-10 is about 0.7!

You shouldn't need to, although it obviously doesn't hurt if you make an effort. Most of the VHF traffic I hear is routine traffic in English between larger boats and coastguard stations - locals seem to regard VHF as a last resort and radio checks are more or less unheard of.

Agree with the other comments about contacting the capitainerie when you arrive - they are usually very helpful and quite flexible, particularly if you only want to stay for a couple of hours for lunch/sightseeing, but I've seen them get very upset with people who just enter the marina and use an empty berth.

Some of the fuel pontoons have credit card operated pumps with boats coming and going at all times of the day, so I wouldn't assume that you can always tie-up late afternoon or overnight without complaints from "residents".

 

[mcanderson]

Of course if you don't want to try your school boy/girl French on ch9 to the amusement of those who monitor it then you can always call on your phone. 3/4g signal is excellent and you might be able to get your message across easier.

We also anchor out sometimes and use our tender to head in to the marinas. They will normally find space for you for a lunch stop and at only 10m long you are more likely to get a berth than the very competitive 14-18 m long range.