After Patrik came home from Mexico we were terribly busy with preparing for our stay in Port St. Louis du Rhรดne, where we had booked a place at the wharf from June 12 till July 12. Working on Luna Azzurra, mainly ย ย her hull, new antifouling etc.
Afterwards, we plan to sail to Corsica and further to Sardinia and return to Loano end of August/beginning of September. So we had to think about a lot…
In the end we left Loano on Saturday, June 3rd, instead of Wednesday or Thursday, as originally planned. Well, at least we were well prepared, had our dinghy with us, bought groceries, put the stuff we wouldn’t need in the garage and brought everything needed on board, like tools, CopperCoat, grinding and polishing stuff, spare parts….
And off we went, towards France. Our scheduled anchor spot was St. John-Cap-Ferrat. It took approx 8 hours, in sunny weather with bait of sailing, but mostly motor-sailing.
The next morning, after coffee, WOBBLES etc., we left at 09.00am, next stop Baie de Bon-Porte. It was a cloudy day, and mostly motor-sailing again.
After a VERY bumpy night (were awake at 03am), we continued to Ile de Porquerolles – one of our favourites! Since we left early, we arrived at Porquerolles already shortly after 11 o`clock. The weather was sunny and warm again. We chose the anchor spot east of the marina, which promised to be calmer than the one at the west side. Especially, since we wanted to stay for two nights (no bumpy night please!)
The next day we took the dinghy onto the island, grocery shopping and a nice lunch was planned at the restaurant L’Orangeraie, which we knew from last year! It proved to be worth to be called “magnifique” with an excellent service! Vegan choice for me available again ๐
Our next anchor spot was planned at the Ile de Frioul/Port de Pomรฉgues. Unfortunately, the bay was very small and already occupied. So we sailed around the island, to a place called Havre de Morgiret, Ile Ratonneau (same island actually). The Ile d’If lies just beside this one. It’s the one Alexandre Dumas’ book is set there, called “The Count of Monte Cristo”! How cool is that.
Patrik and I will definitely visit this island with the chรขteau d’If on our way back in July!
Our neighbours at the anchoring was a beautiful NORDEA 65′ sailing yacht with an Australian flag, called “SAGA”. She also presented a Swedish house flag. Perhaps, it was a Swedish-Australian couple sailing the Med.
The next morning – we were preparing our departure by hoisting up the dinghy – the Aussies came over and it turned out it was a Swedish couple, living in Australia. Two of the kids are also living there, while the third one lives in Sweden. They just bought their yacht in France and planned to explore the Cรดte d’Azur, Corse, Sardinia and Greece, before sailing back home to Australia. Very nice people!
We left around 11 o’clock and arrived in Port St. Louis du Rhรดne around 3pm. Since storms on Friday and Saturday were predicted, we had booked a berth until Monday morning. Better safe than sorry, right?!
The berthing turned our to be a catastrophe! Even with the “help” of the marina guys, we were drifting against other boats and to top everything the bow truster went on strike! Fu****!!!! It was hopeless and in the end we ended up at the quay, opposite the marina. At least our el cable is long enough to reach the socket the pontoon.
Well, the night to Friday was bumpy and windy and Friday itself grey and at least 20 kn winds. We went into town to look were our airbnb lies, where we would live for the next month. Plus looking for grocery shopping facilities. They are comfortably close to the apartment, luckily!
The apartment itself lies about 3.5 km from the wharf. Since we have our e-bikes with us, this won’t be a problem!
So, so far so good! Happy Weekend to you ๐