La Ciotat to l’Ile de Porquerolles

16/11/12

Not quite the early start we wanted (it was a quiet night out by usual standards when catching up with the Gardeners, but fuzzy heads this morning nonetheless!) but we were underway by 10.15 – and as we left the port A peered over the side and lost his spare set of specs into the drink! Oops! Now its the blind leading the blind!!!

Again we’ve got our course programmed into the GPS units and the auto pilot is doing the hard work. With less distance to cover we knocked the engines back to 1300 RPM and were getting a steady 6.4kts.

Surely home to a Bond villain?!

We passed across the bay giving access to Toulon, a large naval base, and had a number of fly-bys from a military aircraft, and we kept well clear of the frigate out on the horizon. There was a huge superyacht out doing sea trials whose profile matched a client of As but we couldn’t read the name to confirm or deny.

Today there was more chop than yesterday, which served to hide a large floating tree trunk until it was too late to take effective avoiding action. It made a horrible noise as it thudded along the underside, but the props and rudders didn’t miss a beat. After mooring A attached the camera to the boat hook and took some film to make sure all was in order down below and gave it the all clear. Despite the chop, Roxy picked a sunny spot on the fly bridge and lounged out for the whole journey!

This time response on the VHF on approach to the port was not only immediate, but they didn’t wait for us to ask for a spot! We identified ourselves to them, and they immediately sent us onto the visitors pontoon – again the moorings are stern-to, but this time its old hat and we were ashore in no time.

Again, not cheap or over endowed with facilities – and the island is a ghost town, with only the tourist office open all day! But the island lifestyle is reminiscent of our time in the Seychelles, and funny little golf buggies seem to be the vehicle of choice (no Mokes, but have seen a Mehari!).

We had a visit from customs again, and they advised if any provisions were needed we should head to the mainland due to the prices, and opening hours out of season! Still, although we only intended to stay a night, strong winds blew up and there was no way we were chancing our luck in 25kt winds so settled in for a roast and a movie, and we’ll see what tomorrow holds, apart from A’s birthday!!