So up fairly early to make a reasonable start. But we have a lot to do. We need to fill up with water and buy bread for lunch. We also need fuel, as we have been
motoring so much. That could be a
problem. When I get up I see a
large tourist boat (vedette) on the fuel pontoon. It is taking up all the space and there are at least 3 small
motor boats plus 4 or 5 ribs all waiting to get fuel and they are fed up. For a long time nothing seems to move.
However, by the time we are ready to leave the queue has finally gone
down. We make our way to the fuel
pontoon to find it empty. So we
fill up and get petrol for the dinghy outboard and we are off just after 10am,
not bad.
We go about ten miles by lunch time. There is no wind to speak of and what there is is on the nose
again, so we are motoring. But we
find a nice bay near a beach to stop for lunch. We put the anchor down and have a lovely swim around the
boat. Then lunch. This is getting to be the life. Problem is that the weather is about to
turn. Well, we can’t have
everything perfect can we?
We have about 10 miles to go to get to our destination. As usual the wind has come up in the
afternoon and we are able to sail virtually all the way. As we come in to Propriano, our
destination, the wind has got up to 17 knots gusting 20. We are on a dead run and going really
well. There is flat enough water
for us to take down the sails and we make our way into the harbour.
This harbour is a bit of a mystery. There are two bits, east and west. None of the books make it clear where visitors are supposed
to go. Richard decides that the
books seem to indicate going to the east basin, so we head for that. We cannot find anyone to direct us to a
berth, so I call up on the VHF only to be told that we are in the wrong
basin! Well that is a first. So we make our way to the other part of
the harbour and are given a berth.
That doesn’t go as well as usual.
Firstly there is another boat in the berth assigned to us. We ask if we should go into the next
one, which is empty and we are told to do so. But there is no one to take our lines. I am quite proud of myself, because I
manage to lasso one of the cleats to hold us on. Then the man from the marina comes and makes an awful mess
of trying to get us tied up. The
problem is that there is a fairly brisk wind pushing us back on to the
pontoon. We do finally manage to
sort ourselves out.
We check in with the harbour office and pay for the night and go into town. It is a very nicely appointed little
place. It has a small supermarket
where I buy a few essentials.
There are lots of nice little shops. I buy myself a new sundress because
the old very light one I have had for nearly 20 years ripped yesterday.
We make our way back to the boat to shower and change for dinner. We are here because there is a Michelin
rosette restaurant and we are having a postponed posh dinner for Richard’s
birthday. The restaurant is only a
15 minute walk form the boat, which is good. We have a lovely meal with too much to drink. Hope we are able to make it up at a
reasonable time tomorrow. We are
trying to beat the bad weather coming in and get to Sardinia. We shall see how we get along.
No comments:
Post a Comment