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Postcard from Leonie - March 2014
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Postcard from Leonie - March 2014
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Postcard from Leonie - March 2014
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Postcard from Leonie - March 2014
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Postcard from Leonie - March 2014
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Postcard from Leonie - March 2014
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Postcard from Leonie - March 2014
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Postcard from Leonie - March 2014
Postcard from Leonie - An Update
SETTING forth on the mighty Rhône marked the no turning back point of our journey in terms of travelling back up the French waterways as Leonie would struggle against its fast flowing current.
We joined the Rhône in Lyon, a vibrant and interesting city where we spent a few days moored up in a marina surrounded by trendy bars and restaurants.
The Sirocco wind we had experienced on the Saône picked up again stronger than ever during our first couple of days on the Rhône.
Our bed got absolutely soaked as we stupidly forgot to close the hatch and a huge wave dumped itself all over it.
We dried it out in the hot wind and sun after mooring up at Les Roches and the next morning left the marina under a cloudless, windless sky. Within an hour the Sirocco returned with a vengeance causing Leonie to list and lurch in the white-horse waves.
We pushed on another 69km that day as there aren’t many places to stop on the Rhône. Several moorings were washed away in a bad storm a couple of years ago and others are just too shallow for Leonie.
The Rhône is a huge, industrial river and while some of the scenery is fantastic (hilly, steep vineyards, old villages etc) and the Alps are an almost constant backdrop in the distance, it is also lined with nuclear power stations (three), smelly factories and wind turbines.
We moored at one place next to a nuclear cooling station and below a thick web of buzzing electricity cables.
The town, 15 minutes away, was a revelation though, as part of it consisted of a medieval fort, complete with ruined castle, thick walls and tiny alleys crammed with medieval houses that people still live in.
The next day we arrived at an even bigger medieval walled town called Viviers, perched on a hill and sheltering a big old church and narrow cobbled streets.
It was here we met a French couple with a great story. Ann first met her fella (who is the father of her son) 34 years ago. They split up soon after but got together again two months ago and decided to give it all up and sail off on a great adventure. They plan to cross the Atlantic and sail to Japan in a tiny yacht, which is half the size of Leonie. Anne is selling her restaurant in Marseille to help fund the trip.
En route to Avignon, we entered one of the biggest locks in the world (L’écluse de Bollène) which lowered us 23 metres – we felt very small.
The walled city encloses palaces, churches and lots of theatres and we stayed for a week as this time the Mistral, a strong north wind, blew for a few days and we didn’t feel like being bounced around on the Rhône.
Even here, moored below the city ramparts, we were sniffed out by the local Jehovah’s Witnesses!
Before leaving the Rhône for the open sea we decided to make a detour and explore the Petit Rhône and the Rhône à Sète Canal in the Camargue region.
The last écluse (lock) in the Petit Rhône lowered us a mere 18 inches to sea level and once through we swore we could smell brine in the air.
On our wedding anniversary we moored near Palavas Les Flots (like Paignton-sur-la-Med) and walked 20 minutes to the beach for our first swim in the Med - fantastic.
Earlier we had seen three things the Camargue is famous for - a pink flamingo, white horses and wild black bulls. A great day which was rounded off with moules et frites by the sea.
Back on the Rhône we spent a night in the ancient city of Arles, moored at the city’s only stop alongside a restaurant barge (free if you eat there). We visited the Roman amphitheatre and the Roman Theatre, which is still in use today and where Carl imagined annoying Japanese tourists being chased by bulls or gladiators.
The next day found us at the massive Navy Services boatyard at Port St Louis (our last stop before the Med) where we made Leonie seaworthy by repairing a few minor dinks to her hull (where she had bashed against the metal supports of the canal bank), touching up the paintwork, antifouling, and re-varnishing and re-stepping the mast.
When Leonie was hoisted back into the water we noticed her furling gear was bent. The yard crew advised the kink may straighten out once we tension the backstay. It didn’t.
The furlex swivel, which takes the sail to the top of the mast, got stuck on the kink, three-quarters of the way up. We were faced with an expensive repair job of nearly 600 Euros, according to the on-site rigger Marc.
Amazingly, our insurers agreed to pay out and as well as waiving the £500 excess fee said we wouldn’t lose our no claims bonus. We were stunned and ecstatic!! Thank you Haven Knox-Johnson!
After a further week’s delay while Marc fixed the problem we were at last ready to leave the yard and enter the Med. It was the perfect day of sunshine and clear blue skies and we were happy to be sailing again.
Coming out into the Gulf de Fosse we sailed past huge barges, oil refineries and air pollution on our left and a sunken yacht on a large shifting sand bar ahead.
As we entered the bay four pink flamingos from the Camargue flew out from behind us, circled Leonie twice then flew back the way we had come. It felt like another good omen.
We headed towards Marseille and our destination of the Iles du Frioul lying just off the seaside city. As we approached the islands I saw a dolphin leap out of the waves ahead of us.
Our first day back at sea was quite hair-raising as we tried to avoid the tangle of yachts and speed boats circling the islands.
We dropped a hook in a busy anchorage and spent two nights there, off the strikingly barren and rocky Ile Pomègues. Sadly we couldn’t swim as the water was full of jellyfish.
Our next stop was the calanque (natural rocky inlet) of Port Miou. As we approached the wind and sea swell increased dramatically and it was scarily tricky mooring up. Luckily the port staff helped out.
The first thing we did once we had safely tied up was dive in the water. There was an uncomfortable swell in the calanque all night so we left the next day, sailing past spectacular cliffs in a smooth sea and endless blue sky.
We discovered Sanary, a lovely old town circling a small marina full of classic yachts and brightly painted fishing boats. We liked it so much we stayed for 11 days, relaxing on the beach, swimming in the sea, going to see an English film at the cinema and making friends with a French couple who own a hand-made chocolate shop and a real-ale shop, a motorbike which I had a ride on and a classic yacht, - the perfect combination!
First published By The Dart March 2014