September sojourn

This is Skylark at her berth at the marina Darse Vieille in Toulon, separated from the boats on either side only by fenders.  It is crowded and tight at European marinas but at Toulon, the swells from beyond the breakwater really do rock.  I wonder sometimes if masts collide when the boats' side to side  movements aren't synchronized.  Since September 4th, there have been a number of different boats alongside but with the two boats currently alongside (an Amel 53 and a Dufour 45), it has been the tightest since Skylark's arrival.
Skylark is now on its own.  I left for Kuala Lumpur on Sept 14 and will be away for a couple of weeks, returning to Toulon only on October 4th.  Francois and Ed will return a few days after that and we will start our journey to leave the Med and sail for Las Palmas in the Canaries, off the north western African coast.  All systems checked out before I left.  I have left the shore power cable attached so that the refrigerator and freezer continue to run, as well as the 40 amp battery charger.  The batteries are critical as they power the automatic bilge pump.  Will resume blogging on return to France.

Exploring Toulon

Toulon has some great attractions.  Went to the Office de Tourisme de Toulon and the English speaking staff at the counter recommended a walking tour “Through the Fountains of Toulon” .  It covers 25 fountains from the waterfront through the old town.  But short term memory must be fading and I can only remember half a dozen or so.  The ones that really stuck were the ones at Place de la Liberte and the ancient cathedral of Sainte-Marie de la Seds.  There is a statue at the port -  La Statue du Genie de la Navigation – a bronze of a supposed sailing genius by Louis Joseph Daumas in 1847.  At first, I mistook his index finger which points to the sea for his middle finger.  That would have been a gesture ahead of its time.  Some pictures to follow. 

The daily routine now is to go to MacDonalds at the  Centre Mayol mall for the wi-fi and a coke.  I have never nursed a coke for so long but for one Euro, it must be the cheapest wi-fi around.

I am planning a visit to the Musee D’Art and the Maison De La Photo (photography museum) tomorrow.  There is also the Naval Museum and the Musee Des Arts Asiatiques that may be worth a visit. 

I have found the restaurant on Avenue d'Republique recommended by Francois run by some order of Catholic nuns, whose name translates to "water of life".  Will have to give that a go.

Old Toulon

Walked around the old part of Toulon this afternoon.  It has its own charm after all.  The initial impression from the waterfront gave way to an old, charming town on the hill slope, filled with older buildings and shops.  Boutiques abound but all on the scale of individual store fronts.  There is a large Galleries Lafayette near the train station. The regional trains run through the Cote d'Azur at regular intervals and the TGV connects Toulon to Paris and the Eurostar at Lille Europe.  The trains to Marseille also run  regularly through the day.

Toulon

September 4 – visited with Phillipe at Pochon SA, the Furuno agents for France and purchased electronic charts for the Pacific, Australia and Asia.  He was  more helpful than Stephane, their man at La Rochelle.  He will download all of the 5 chart regions currently on the NavNet on to SD cards. This is going to allow us to delete the European, Med and Atlantic  charts once we’ve done the crossing and make space on the hard disk for the new charts.

Started out from Hyeres for Toulon this morning at about 10 am after checking out at the Capitainerie.  It took 3 hours through rough seas with 30+ knot winds and 3 – 4 meter seas.  We had wind on the beam on leaving Hyeres but on the nose as we turned the corner.  Hand-steered to avoid being broad-sided by the big waves.  It was very wet as waves washed over the hard dodger again and again.  Will have to wash salt off the cockpit cushions at Toulon. If the young man from Amel who accompanied me had any anxiety about my seamanship, he certainly did not show it, other than white knuckles from holding on to the grab rail. No small craft in sight but as we approached the Rade de Toulon, French navy ships were going in and out of port.  Toulon is a major naval base and the commercial harbor and marinas are at the boundaries of several restricted areas. For obvious reasons, the navy ships don’t transmit AIS signals.  It was tough trying to see them through the spray and water on the windshield.  Case to be made for wipers just like on the big ships.  Conditions behind the breakwater were not much better.  It was tough to back in between 2 boats into a space that could barely fit Skylark, in a 25 knot crosswind.  We had to apply enough throttle for steerage and anticipate the effects of the wind.  The Amel people were already at the dock and helped with the lines and fending off the boat on the windward side whose docklines were a tad too loose.  Even they admitted they under such conditions the harbornaster would have normally disallowed  docking of arriving boats.  But, marina space is very scarce and we had to show up today or lose our spot.  At the Capitainerie, I saw the staff turn away a desperate sailor who was pleading for a berth for his friend’s boat which was waiting at the harbor entrance.  The conditions out there would have made anyone grovel for a marina berth, so we feel fortunate that Amel were able to bring their influence to bear on our behalf.  Their after-sales customer-care is simply second to none.

Safely in our snug little berth with 2 bow lines and passarelle (gangplank) deployed, the Amel folks and I headed to a harborfront restaurant for lunch.  Talking to Amel's Vincent Arnaud, I learned he had previously worked in oil and gas as a project manager and traveled frequently to Houston on business.  On hearing my connection to Houston, he shook his head in sympathy, pronouncing Houston as one of the world’s most awful places.  I don’t think I managed to change his mind over lunch.  He conceded however that Toulon ran a close second for ugliness.  Toulon was flattened by Allied bombing during WW II and lack of funds for post-war reconstruction resulted in utilitarian, characterless architecture. 

I’ll have to go back to Hyeres on Thursday by train to collect the charts from Pochon.  Am planning to take the bicycle on the train.  

Saturday, Sept 5 --- the wind blew all night at the marina and continues today registering more than 20 knots at the marina.  The Capitainerie tells me it will continue through the weekend and perhaps tail off on Monday.  I am at MacDonalds for the free wi-fi and the chance to update the blog. The mall is a 5 minute walk from the marina and has a large Carrefour market.  Toulon has a small town feel to it -- seems everyone is at the mall today.  There seem to be some nicer restaurants away from the waterfront strip which I'll have to try.  Will post pictures shortly.

Leaving Hyeres, Thursday September 4

Space has been reserved at Toulon -- the marina at the old port or Darse Vieille.  Skylark will leave Hyeres mid-morning tomorrow for Toulon, about 3 hours away. The marina is right by the city which is also a major French naval base with lots of restricted areas within the harbor.

Amel has completed all of the work items.  The rear cockpit screen will be installed at Toulon around September 20 in my absence, so I've left the keys with Amel.
A few more pictures of the Hyeres waterfront for the record.

Hyeres (cont'd)

September 1 -- Ed left for London today for his flight to Houston with Jun.  He plans to rejoin Skylark in early October. I am Skylark’s lone companion for the moment – time for owner and boat to bond, our fates are joined for the thousands of miles on the oceans ahead.  Next week, I will sail her to Toulon where she will spend September at the marina there.  Amel has offered one of their people to help with the docklines.

The Amel people have completed the work on the boat.  We now have two teak seats at the pushpit.  They don’t look as bad as I’d feared – there will be a photo of them in the next post.  The air conditioning in the saloon is working much better after the wooden baffle at the air intake was removed – no more ice on the evaporator coils.  I am visiting with Pochon, the Furuno dealer tomorrow, to get electronic charts for the Pacific, Australia and Asia for the passages beyond the Panama Canal.

September 2 -- rode the bicycle into the old town.  The bookshop has a lot of familiar books but all translated into French.  The shops are small and traditional, no hypermarkets.  There are a couple of large stores outside like Carrefour on the route to St Tropez. 

The Amel demo boat berthed next to Skylark is being prepared for the Cannes Boat Show next week. They even washed masts and we have water spots all over on our boat to show for it.  Many apologies but it was too much to hope that they would wash and buff our boat. In any case, I have 2 complimentary tickets to the Cannes show from Amel.  May go if  a convenient way to get there can be found.  Pictures of Hyeres old town in the next post.