Canal San Louis and the start of our way north through France
Beowulf
Tom Fenton and Faith Ressmeyer
Mon 15 Sep 2014 17:55
It was a day of several parts. Photos at the end of this entry I hope will give an idea. First, leaving lovely La Ciotat past its remarkable headland which looked different from every angle, then cruising along and between coastline and islands of limestone in all manner of configurations and finally, after staying ahead of thunderstorms, sailing on a broad reach for over five hours as the land flattened and a complex of oil terminals, storage depots, cranes and tankers took over the landscape.
It was our last day of sailing for awhile. We hope to have the mast lifted off tomorrow, after finding a place on board to store the sails. It will be taken by road to meet us at the other end of this month-long adventure (which I won't last all of, needing to be back for other things in early October; Tom hopes very much to be joined by sailing friends from Wivenhoe). This is all providing the Rhone isn't running fast against us - which we should find out in the morning. Meantime it's Tom's delicious risotto on board before the light fades. All the berths with electricity were taken when we got here and we're rafted up alongside a helpful French couple.
We clocked our 100th hour of 'time under way' since we returned at the end of August and we're still going strong. Just praying our 9hp engine can so the job.
Help appreciated with the last photo. What sort of vessel is it? Looked like a gas dispensary or floating terminal.
