Quick Update 03 July 2011

Tashi Delek
Mike & Carol Kefford
Mon 4 Jul 2011 16:38

43:26.23N 007:27.76E

 

Our passage from the south of Corsica to Nice was somewhat problematic.  We had intended to sail over two nights and one day so that the children could sleep for much of it but the weather was against us.  There were gales in the western Mediterranean for several days.  Although the winds were never that strong in our area, the gales blew up big seas and the swell did travel far enough to affect us. 

 

We decided to split the journey by sailing to Calvi on the north coast of Corsica first.  We set off at 5am on Thursday 30th to see how we got on.  As soon as Tashi Delek stuck her nose out of the cosy bay we had been anchored in we hit the swell.  Really uncomfortable, short and at just the angle to make the ride very unpleasant indeed.  Within minutes our two year old crew member was sick and then again.  We abandoned the idea of going to Calvi and went into the nearest anchorage instead.

 

The sea takes about 24 hours to settle after strong winds stop so we kept a very close eye on the weather forecasts and wave height predictions and hoped we could get moving soon.  Another twelve hours and things should be settling so we decided to go overnight to Calvi and then the next night make the crossing to Nice. 

 

It was awful.  No doubt better than if we had left a couple of days earlier but awful nevertheless.  The children were fantastic and slept through which was a relief because Annie was completely poleaxed by seasickness in spite of Carols extensive range of treatments.  Annie stayed on deck all night and slept for bits of it.  Will stayed with her even when he wasn’t on watch which was partly husbandly duty and partly that he didn’t want to go below into the sickness inducing washing machine interior that was Tashi Delek’s saloon.

 

Will, Mike and Carol did the watches which were the trickiest we have experienced so far.  Usually we use the autopilot and simply keep a lookout, making any adjustments as we go,  but the autopilot doesn’t like a big sea and alarms when knocked off course so we hand steered instead.  There was no moon so no horizon which is unsettling but worse, we could not see the waves as they came at us so we had to steer reactively.  When you can see what is happening you can at least anticipate a bit and so steer the boat for a slightly more comfortable ride.   It wasn’t fog, just very dark so it was easy to see the lights of any other yachts or ships that were around.

 

We dropped anchor in Calvi at 0830 on Saturday and ate a hearty breakfast.  The bay was very well protected and a lovely setting with a walled town on top of the headland.

 

We had a bit of a think and decided that we would go again overnight while the sea was still settling down.  It wouldn’t be perfect but it wouldn’t be as horrendous.  If we waited we ran the risk of another big blow in the west simply pushing the waves up again.  We also had the option of a ferry from Calvi to Nice for Annie and any of the children who wanted to jump ship. 

 

Annie plus two boarded the ferry at 2pm, at the same time as Will, Carol and Mike set sail with a four year old cabin boy who was up for another adventure.  We had a fantastic sail for two hours, perfect wind and a delight not to need the engine.  The sea had settled enough to be comfortable and it was great.  Then the wind dropped completely and we had to motor through the night. 

 

As we approached the St Laurent du Var Marina, just west of Nice we could see we were in the right place because it is right next to Nice airport.  As we got closer a fast boat came straight at us which elicited all the usual, ‘What a turkey, who does he think he is?’ reactions until we noticed he had a flashing blue light on top, a man in uniform with a machine gun on the front and was signalling to us to stop.  So we did. As you would.

 

There was a one mile exclusion zone round the airport until Monday so we had to turn left and go the long way round to get to the marina.  We assume that the exclusion zone was in place for the weekend because it was the Royal Wedding in Monaco and Nice Airport would have been the arrival and departure point for the various VIP’s attending.

 

The next challenge was going to be getting a berth.  We had tried to book ahead months ago and repeatedly been told ‘Non’.  Suzy had done a great job at the French end and thought she had nailed it but then got a ‘Non’ at the last minute.  Only thing for it was to just turn up and hope there was space on the day.  Carol telephoned and spoke to the Port Captain in half remembered French  but handed over to Will, who is considerably more fluent, when the questions got tricky.  Between us we managed it and this time the answer was ‘Oui’. 

 

It was a real moment for both of us to bring Tashi Delek into France with Jemma and Kevin and Annie and their children waving furiously from the harbour wall.  Very special indeed.  

 

Since then it has gone on getting better.  We gathered at Ben and Suzy’s last night for a fantastic supper in the garden watching all eight cousins playing together.  Today we were told that we could stay here for all eight days which is terrific.  So much easier for everyone than to-ing and fro-ing to the anchorage in Antibes which would have meant a lot of additional driving.

 

All for now, photographs will follow.