2010 Cruisin', Boozin' and Snoozin' ..... May - Oct 2010

27 May 2010 - 08 October 2010


View Balvenies 2010 Voyage in a larger map

Mark on guitar with Liam.....sleeping??? 

So another cruising season has come and gone.  The seasons in the Mediterranean are reasonably short, but this year seemed very short indeed.  We started out later than planned from our last winter port in Valletta on the small island of Malta.  We had been busy painting the coach roof and wanted it finished, it was worth staying for and it looks just great.  Then the season ended sooner than we had hoped too, September and October saw the start of unsettled weather coming through, with the odd front bringing cooler days, longer nights and thunder storms. 

We had a choice - join many of our cruising friends and carry on out of the Med, into the Atlantic, visit exotic Morocco, explore the Canary Islands cross the Atlantic Ocean and be in the Caribbean in time to enjoy a rum punch while listening to steel drums sitting under a palm tree with the sand between our toes by Christmas.  Sure sounds appealing, still does - but there is always next year!!

So here we are, in the lovely town of Cartagena on the southeastern corner of Spain.  We will stay here for the European winter which we hope will be reasonably mild.  We will spend our time (in between boat jobs of course) exploring this wonderful country, trialing as many tapas bars as we can find, improving our somewhat appalling command on the Spanish language and taking as many siestas as necessary to blend in with the locals!!

But now a recap of 2010 ....... This is Cruising the Summer of 2010 -

Picnic in Corsica with the "Windies"

Before we left Malta we thought long and hard about the route we would take through the Western Med.  Several yachts that had travelled through Italy the summer of 2009 and said how extremely busy it was, that the anchorages were poor and often rolly, marinas expensive, how affected the weather is by the fierce Mistral wind, how expensive eating out was... the list was long with few positives.  Then when we were back in Auckland over summer we met with friends George and Merima off Moonshadow who had also cruised Italy in 2009, they agreed with most of the above but their advice - "don't miss it".  

So we took their advice and from the moment we arrived on the east coast of Sicily and anchored under Mt Etna and the stunning hilltop town of Taormina we never once regretted it, Italy was absolutely outstanding and we loved every minute (even the wet ones!!).  Nearly every stop was a highlight:  the bubbling live volcano, smelly mudbaths and beach happy hours at Vulcano, the opportunity to visit ancient buried Pompeii from Agropoli, the beautiful Amalfi coast towns clinging by their toenails to the steep to cliff faces surrounded by vivid green and yellow lemon trees, the pastel painted houses of Procida crumbling down but oh so "Italy".  Then we hit the busy part, crazy Ponza on a long holiday weekend with the armada of incoming boats seemingly endless but there was always room for one more.

Most expensive drinks with "Panthera"

We sailed overnight west to Sardinia, still Italian,  but with a definite independent island feel to it.    On long hot summers days we found deserted bays with clear water and sandy beaches, contrasting greatly with the wealth displayed in the compact area around Porto Cervo, where super yachts easily outnumbered little yachts like ours.  We had a day inland, astounded by the Stone Age ruins we visited, intrigued by the overgrown forests of cork trees. Maybe we should have explored more of Sardinia, we just touched the north east corner and it was beautiful, many anchorages in some sheltered waters, an excellent spot.

It was time for a change of culture and language and we hopped across to Corisca and dusted off the French phrase book.  The well preserved ancient walled towns of  Bonifacio, Porto Vecchio and Calvi and the frequent coastal battlements gave us a great sense of their history.  Our inland travel revealing the lush mountainous interior, sandy banked rivers, stone age ruins - this gem of an island had it all.  Combined with some gin clear waters in appealing bays Corisca was yet another highlight.

Time for a mudbath with White Rose and Sundancer II

Back to Italy visiting the Tuscan Island of Elba, some great anchorages, cute villages, sweet scented pine forests, good weather.   Time for the mainland again to our most secure anchorage weather wise of the season at La Grazie. This Cinque Terra area was jam packed full of interesting excursions - the famous Cinque Terra (Five Villages) coastal walk, a day out by train to Pisa, just a short hop over the hill to Porto Venere and a visit from our friends Helen and David.  Unfortunately the weather changed here after a dreadful long night of thunder/lightening storms and torrential rainfall, it was unsettled for a couple of weeks after and never returned to those long settled summer days.

The Italian Riviera was next, sophisticated Santa Margherita made an excellent base for a few days, nearby famous Portofino as quaint as all the postcards.  Our Italian sojourn was nearing its end, a few days in San Remo just 20 miles from the French boarder was an excellent way to end.  The covered market one of the best I have ever seen in any country.  Sadly it was arrivederci to Italy, we couldn't stay forever.  We enjoyed everywhere we visited, the locals were always welcoming, the food in general every good and pizzas and pasta dishes very affordable, drinks ranged in price from average to outrageous but they normally gave free nibbles with them to soften the blow!  Italy oozes history and  culture, it is a wonderful unrivaled country.  The people have a style and spirit that matches it perfectly.

Celeb spotting in Monte Carlo

I must add that we were extremely lucky for the most part with settled weather.  The west coast of Italy is all a lee shore and any westerly winds leave you with few places to run.  Any strong winds further out in the med will affect the swell so you need to look at a large weather picture on a daily basis.  That said, there are places to tuck in from most conditions but you need to always have a plan B, and often a plan C too. 

I can't move on further before I mention one of the most important factors of why all the above was also so enjoyable.  We cruised in company the entire time, not always with the same boats as we all go different speeds and have different agendas but there was a group of us going roughly the same way and boy did we have fun.  I hope I don't miss anyone but to the following - you made an excellent season even better.    Sundancer II, White Rose, Blue Banana, Eye Candy, Gone with the Wind, Threshold  and Panthera.  Once we left Italy we were on our own except for a couple of rendezvouses with Baracca.  Thankyou all for making our season extra special.

Next it was on to Monaco, what Italy oozes in history and culture, Monaco oozes in wealth.  Our 3 nights in the marina were a highlight of a different kind, never did we think we would be able to afford to marina Balvenie  in Monaco and spend time in this pocket sized Principality.  The wealth displayed just in the cars parked in Casino Square was enough to knock our socks off, then there were the dozens of enormous super yachts parked in a row in the marina, and one look in the estate agents window  indicated 8million Euro as a  'cheap' one bedroom apartment - this is definitely not somewhere the likes of us retire!!!!  But it was fun, not ostentatious or stuffy - just for rich people who like to enjoy showing their wealth.

Porto Cervo with Eye Candy and GWTW

It is was time to cruise the French Riviera and the Cote d'Azur, famous names that just roll off the tongue.  We started in Villefranche a popular anchorage near to Nice, a small scenic town ashore.  Relatives Neil and Barbara stayed a couple of nights and we had a chance to explore inland, visiting tiny rural villages located so close to the busy coast but a million miles away in reality. From Nice westwards the coastline was extremely busy much more built up than I had envisaged, huge apartment complexes lined the foreshore, marinas every few miles, very few nooks and crannies to anchor in, and often a swell from one direction or the other would sneak in.  Then there was more unsettled weather, it was only the beginnng of September but we never experienced those famous unbearably hot calm days on the French Riviera.

I fell in love with France over 20 years ago when I first backpacked there, and have returned several times since.  I had been looking forward all season to cruising its coastline, soaking up the culture, practicing my French and sampling the French cuisine.  Now I felt a traitor to France, this coastline didn't reflect the France I loved and we both missed Italy.  The cost of living was high, fruit and vegetables seemed especially so, eating out cheaply was almost impossible, happy hour drinks and coffees were almost affordable dependant on where you were!!  The weather wasn't kind to us, Mistrals kept howling.  We could see no value in heading along the coast further westwards and into the eye of Mistral territory so we took the opportunity of a short lull in the winds and headed south overnight to Spain's Balearic Islands.  We had spent only 12 nights on the French coast.

Can Mark get beer out of Threshold's steering system???

Our stay in the Balearics was slightly longer, just 3 weeks.  We spent time in Menorca and Mallorca and explored them both.  We enjoyed sleepy Mahon and found Palma a classic, interesting, very European city - with a central market to rival San Remo.  We only stayed one night on Ibiza, it is more of a beach/party island, and although still warm enough when in the sun and out of the wind, summer was on the wain.  There are many anchorages in the Balearics, most of them small calas (coves), often deserted ashore or maybe with a tourist development.  It is more of a summer destination than a touring one so we didn't experience them at their best.  More adverse weather, this time an extensive system lasting days was heading our way.  We considered marinaing in Ibizia for a few days to sit out the weather but heard rumours of yachts our size still being quoted 300Euro a night, and this was now October!  So here we are, back to the top where we started, Caribbean or Cartagena. 

Looking lopsided in Portofino

We have been in Cartagena on the south eastern corner of Spain over a week now and were feeling quite settled, until this morning.  I managed to tune into the "rum runners net", a HF Radio net our friends have started up and are checking into as they move westwards, Gone with the Wind and Moonshadow were about to arrive in Morocco, Beyond, Stardust and several others about to join Cristata in the Canaries.  Today we are feeling somewhat left behind, but we have Spain to explore and much more - that rum punch will just taste all the sweeter next year!!!

Countries and Principalities visited -  5   Malta, Italy, France, Monaco and Spain
Island Groups visited -  7   Sicily, Aeolean Islands, Bay of Napoli Islands, Sardinia, Corsica, Tuscan Islands, Balearic Islands
Nautical Miles travelled -   1742  (Distance had we gone in a straight line was 767!!)
Nautical Miles motored -   929   Only about 20miles was due to adverse headwinds, balance due to no wind
Nights at sea -   3   Ponza-Olbia,   French mainland-Mahon,   Ibiza-Cartagena
Nights tied up for free on a buoy -   4   Porto Pollo, Pollenca, Porto Petro
Nights tied up for free at a dock -  14   Scario, Agropoli, Olbia, Final Ligure, San Remo
Nights tied up in Marinas -  7   Amalfi, Monaco, Pollenca
Different Anchorages visisted -   60
Strongest winds -  46 knots at anchor in France, 28 knots at sea downwind across the top of Corsica
Fastest speed -   8.6 knots flying across the top of Corsica
Sleepless nights -  less than five (more than one is too many!!)
Rainy days -   Lost count really, but not that many that rained ALL day and this is Europe!!
How much did it cost? -  Done all the numbers and it averaged out at 385Euro per week (this season was 19 weeks).  That includes stocking up the food and drink supplies in Malta before we left there, and starting/finishing with full diesel tanks.  Our biggest expense was eating/drinking onboard 1888E closely followed by eating/drinking out 1545E, diesel ranked next as we did alot of motoring 1300E,  next came sightseeing/local transport 580E, Marinas 372E, small repairs/maintenance/spares 340E, phone/internet 240E, the rest is made up of odds and ends - souvenirs, clothing, laundry etc  

AND THAT WAS THE SUMMER OF 2010

Tangled Anchors and St Tropez ..... Sept 2010

Busy St Tropez waterfront

08 - 13 September 2010


After our stormy previous night at Cap d'Antibes, the anchorage at Theoule sur Mer was calm and peaceful. We had a catamaran anchor a little closer than we would have liked and we seemed to swing in strange directions but there was little wind and we kept far enough apart. The following morning we went ashore to the small attractive town for a walk, buy fresh bread and relax having our daily cafe au lait. It was a pleasant laidback place and an enjoyable short stopover. The seabreeze was filling in from the southeast making it a little choppy in the anchorage, so we decided to use the wind and keep heading west.

Sometimes however, this cruising life is not that easy. We could not lift our anchor, Mark had to snorkel down to see what the problem was. The catamarans anchor was wrapped around our chain and we needed them to raise their anchor and free it. Sounds easy enough but they were not onboard, they had already left their boat before we had gone ashore and Mark noticed they had put their anchor light on which suggestd they would not return until after dark. We were going nowhere in the foreseeable future. The seabreeze built to 20 knots, we bounced up and down, and kept waiting. Around 8pm and very close to dark we saw their dinghy coming back and called them over, thankfully they spoke enough English to understand us and lifted their anchor, freeing our chain at last. We stayed another night!

Where are we again???

We had an uneventful departure the following morning and headed west towards St Tropez. The winds were light so we motored waiting for the sea breeze to fill in. Then when it did arrive we got 20 knots from the south west, not south east. We motored the rest of the way, bashing into the short chop, covering the boat in saltwater - once again. We reached the shelter of the Bay of St Tropez and anchored just before St Tropez town in Anse des Canebiers. We had found Baracca again, so after anchoring we dropped the dinghy and joined them for a very well earned happy hour, we sat exchanging war stories from the past few days for several hours, always good therapy.

Next day we dinghied ashore and followed a reasonably well marked coastal path about 20 minutes around to St Tropez. I guess I was expecting somewhere very glitzy, but besides the marina which held several large power boats along the immediate waterfront it seemed a normal, well looked after, small French town. It was touristy, but that is to be expected, there were several artists set up along the waterfront selling their paintings, a great morning outdoor market set a couple of blocks inland from the marina - packing up as we arrived (sadly for me, happily for Mark!!) , and just loads of little alleyways and lanes with some very exclusive shops and some rather normal ones to. It had a laidback, end of season feel to it and we enjoyed several hours exploring.

St Tropez Bay, over the rooftops

After spending all day in town, we had dinner onboard with Baracca, we would part company here again but maybe catch up with them again in the Balearic Islands. Next day we were due another wind change, another infamous mistral was blowing and it might just clip us with northwesterly winds so we headed right up the end of the Bay of St Tropez and anchored off Plage de Grimaud, a long beach with a large camping ground at one end and some rather grim looking block buildings at the other.

Thankfully the wind didn't build too much and we had a peaceful night. Next morning we checked the weather, once again. There was a weather window on the back of the mistral to sail down to the Balearics so we decided to move further west along the coast to Anse de Gau which would be a convenient jumping off point to head south. We sailed most of the way in reasonably flat water and arrived in the anchorage early evening.

Cafe au lait in St Tropez

This was our 50th anchorage for this season and it was rather a lovely spot, just 3 other yachts, a handful of houses hidden in the trees and a lovely bay. I had my first and last swim in France, it was actually quite warm still. We had an early dinner, checked the weather, yet again, and decided to leave at 4am for our 220 mile passage down to Menorca.

We were expecting lumpy seas once away from land but were hoping to catch the last of the northwest winds as they calmed down to push us on our way south. We awoke at 2am, Balvenie rolling in the wake of a passing ship, so we got up, lifted anchor and headed south. It was time to say au revior to France, we had expected to stay longer and although we certainly enjoyed our stops the inclement weather was wearing us down, it was just so changeable and that makes life very tiring onboard. It was also getting colder, an extra duvet was coming out on occassion at night - time to head south!!

Cruising info for Theoule sur Mer, St Tropez and Anse de Gau:-
Anchorages -
Theoule sur Mer - 43 30.711N 06 56.412E 14m some weed. Escaped southerly swell, but choppy in afternoon southeast seabreeze
St Tropez: Anse des Canebiers - 43 16.187N 06 39.687E 13.5m sand, roll from passing boats heading into marina
St Tropez: Plage de Grimaud - 43 16.502N 06 35.375E 11.5m sand, again roll from boats going into the other marina!
Anse de Gau - 43 06.433N 06 21.855E 5.9m sand
Communications - GYMSIM and Malta Vodafone had signals everywhere. WIFI: The camping ground at Plage de Grimaud had a pay site but it wouldn't accept my credit card. Anse de Gau managed to pick up an unlocked site, not easy but got weather down. Rest of time chewed up many more dollars using NZ Vodafone dongle on roaming.
Ashore - Theoule sur Mer is a small town with everything you need. Free wifi at pizza cafe on roundabout (road going inland from beach), bakery there too. St Tropez had nothing at the anchorages but everything in town. Good supermarket behind western end of marina, great bakery and market looked very good. Two coffees were 8E, did see one cafe charged 7E each!!. Didnt go ashore in Anse de Gau but didnt look to have anything.
Formalities - None anywhere in France

Frances Fickle Weather ..... Sept 2010



Streets of Antibes


07 September 2010

With the arrival of September and the further west we were travelling the weather was getting more and more changeable. We were checking the weather daily, sometimes more than once if we could, and a low was heading our way. It was due to pass over during the night - they never arrive during the day - and we were forecast heavy rain and winds of around 25 knots from the east. We joined a procession of yachts, superyachts and large motor cruisers back across to Cap d"Antibes. We returned to our previous anchorage at Abri de L'Olivette, found a 7m hole in the undulating seabed surrounded by 4.5m walls, and made sure the anchor was nicely buried. Most of the larger vessels headed just a little further north outside the marina, and out of our way!

Went went ashore and had an easy walk across the peninsular to the old town of Antibes. The huge marina that couldn't accommodate us is right by the town. If you wanted to winter over in France and could find a berth this would be a great place for the winter months. We wandered through the rabbit warren of little lanes, found the market square, checked out the busy waterfront area and then made our way back over the peninsular to the very upmarket suburb of Gallice-Juan-les-Pins. It was time to do as everyone else was, find a suitable streetside cafe and enjoy an aperitif - so we did just that.

Antibes

It was a short walk back to the dinghy, and we were back onboard for dinner, the skies were clear, maybe the front would miss us. At 4am I awoke and tried to convince myself that the flashes I could see were from the lighthouse and the rumbles I could hear were planes approaching Nice airport. Sadly I knew better, within a couple of minutes we were both up, full wet weather gear on (maybe first time since Auckland-Fiji!!!), GPS and chartplotter fired up and engine on. Within 5 minutes of me waking we went from 10 knots out of the east to being slammed by over 45 knots from the west - we had no immediate protection from the west - and probably the heaviest horizontal rain and hail ever experienced. Yachts all around were dragging, there was zero visibility except for during the flashes of lightening. We held fast in our well chosen 7m hole, but I was watching our position the entire time and Mark was on the helm taking the strain off the anchor. I guess the worst of it was over in maybe 40 minutes, it felt like hours. We had one large power boat drag to within about 5 metres, there was no way we could have got out of his way, we waited to take the hit. Luckily they managed to move forward and clear from us just in time. Eventually the cell above passed, wind switched to where it was supposed to be and calmed to a manageable 25knots, the rain and hail stopped, and we finally remembered to breathe!


Statues in St Tropez

Dawn finally arrived, we could see the end of the heavy band of cloud, blue sky in the far distance. The was a fair amount of carnage around, the Coast Guard were towing stranded boats out of the shallows into deeper water, another large power boat that had ended up anchoring next to us left - showing us a huge gauge out of her bow, a very large beautiful 5 spreader superyacht had dragged across the bay and ended up right in the middle of the mussel farms. It took several hours of diving by the crew to free it, Mussel Farm owners standing by no doubt adding up the damages bill.

We had survived unscathed, but wished Antibes Marina hadn't turned us away, we really don't need experiences like this to enrich our life!!! The winds died, the sun came out and we moved on. It was just 11 miles to our next anchorage at Theoule sur Mer, we motored across, dropped anchor and went to sleep.

Cruising info for here on previous posting - Chocolate Croissants on the French Riviera

Chocolate Croissants on the French Riviera..... Sept 2010

Cute French village of Mons

02 - 05 September 2010


Another day, another country. As we pulled out of the marina in Monaco we lowered our well worn Indonesian Courtesy flag that had now served as our Monaco Flag (I'm sure Prince Albert would be very proud of sharing the same flag as Indonesia albeit a tad more square than the rectangular Indonesian version but once up the yard arm and flapping away, who would spot the difference !!) and hoisted the French tricolour. It was only 9 miles to our first anchorage on the French Riviera, we pulled into the deep bay of Villefranche before lunch, set our anchor in the weedy seabed and set about ensuring Balvenie was shipshape.

We were expecting my cousin Neil and his wife Barbara to join us for a couple of nights, they were our first med visitors way back in Turkey and were coming back, this time with the latest addition to their family, Sparkie their 2 year old Shetland sheepdog, our first dog onboard. They had been hiking up in the Italian Dolomites and were in desparate need of some warmth and sunshine, we were hoping the French Riviera would provide just that. After successfully finding somewhere safe and free to park their Landcruiser full of all their camping equipment, it was everyone in the dinghy and onboard, Sparkie wasn't to sure about it at first but adapted to being a boat dog in no time at all. We had done several improvements to Balvenie since their last stay and it was great to have such positive comments from them on all our new canvas work and cabin top paint job, both had been long and hard winter projects

High in the hills behind Nice

We had a great couple of nights with them onboard, we spent a whole day out touring, first heading north along the coast next along the promenade in Nice, just a few miles north of Villefranche. Then we headed inland and up into the hills, passing through some lovely little typically French villages, stopping along the way at one for our first French cafe au lait.

We kept going higher and higher, clinging to tiny roads that their Landcruiser hardly fitted on, winding down through gorges and ravines and up the other sides. Breathtaking scenery surrounded us in all directions. Eventually we stopped at the small village of Mons, we sat and watched the local men play boules in the village square while we enjoyed our picnic lunch. The vista back down towards the coast was spectacular, the village was very cute with narrow lanes, little arty shops, stone houses, flowering bourgainvillea - all very French and very beautiful.


Fattening us up in France

Back down to sealevel and Villefranche, successfully securing another free parking spot for the night. It was time for dinner out ashore, we wandered through the lanes behind the waterfront and found a great Italian (shame on us!!) restaurant and had a lovely meal under the stars. Next morning it was fresh croissants, pastries and baguette for breakfast. This was one of the bonuses of having a dog on board, it is necessary to have an early morning walk ashore that just happens to pass by the boulangarie for all those delectable goodies!! Sadly Neil and Barbara needed to start heading back to London so only stayed 2 nights but it was great to see them again, and we appreciated our touring inland with them.

It was Saturday afternoon and Marks new sunglasses were ready in San Remo so we had quite an excursion to collect them. Dinghy ashore, walk to train station, train to Monaco, change onto train to Ventimilgia, find bus to San Remo, collect glasses and then reverse all the above. Except for a 45 minute wait in Ventimilgia (long enough in Ventimilgia) on the return it all went very smoothly. Mark is now the proud owner of a new pair of presciption, polarised sunglasses at great expense, his 4th pair in 6 years of cruising - I am trying to work out how to attach them permanently to his head!!!

Mons, in the hills behind Nice

Back in Villefranche we had had Kiwi yacht Baracca arrive and anchor next to us. We last saw Maurice and Heather from Christchurch in Croatia last year so we stopped by and had a catch up with them, great to see them again. Unfortunately a swell was now creeping into the anchorage and we were lying beam on to it, it was rather an uncomfortable night and we were pleased our visitors had been lucky with flat seas.

It was time to move on again so we lifted anchor and sailed under headsail in rolly seas the 16 miles west along the coast to the headland where Antibes is situated. We had hoped to anchor on the east side of this peninsular in one of the two bays just a short walk from Antibes, but a strong seabreeze had set in from the east and they were totally unsuitable. We decided to try the marina, there was a front due to pass over in a couple of nights so we thought maybe being tied up might be a good option. I called the Antibes Marina, it has 1700 berths plus 170 visitors berths, they turned us away saying they were full.

Balvenie on the French Riviera

We carried on around the headland to the western side and anchored at Abri de L'Olivette, on Cap d'Antibes, well tucked inside the mussel farms, out of the chop from the seabreeze and with just a little. Although we didn't go ashore it looked a lovely area, with very large houses set in well wooded large sections, not a highrise block to be seen.

Next morning the weather was forecast to go around to the south for 24 hours so we motored the short distance across to Ile Ste Marguerite, and anchored on its north side. It sits just a couple of miles south of Cannes and is a peaceful heavily wooded island that is a National Park. We enjoyed a late afternoon walk ashore, all the day tripper boats had returned to Cannes and just a handful of people were left ashore. We visited the large Fort Royal, an impressive site from the anchorage, especially at night, and equaly impressive ashore. It is here that the Man in the Iron Mask was imprisioned in the late 1600's. We walked along several paths through the forest, the scent of pine in the air. We had not been for such a lovely walk in forest since staying with Neil and Barbara in Surrey back in March. This was a great anchorage and shore excursion.

Cruising info for Villefranche, Abri de L'Olivette and Ile Ste Marguerite, French Riviera:-
Anchorages -
Villefranche -  43 42.103N   07 19.103E   11.5m  weed, got rolly on last night
Abri de L'Olivette @ Cap d'Antibes -   43 33.168N   07 07.011E   8m  sand/weed, very undulating
Ile Ste Marguerite - 43 31.590N   07 02.444E   7.5m   sand/weed
Communications - Mobile phones  both GYMSIM and Vodafone Malta worked on SFR or Orange Signal.  Then there is the internet, another country to deal with!!!  Firstly connecting by dongle - a French one is an expensive option.  Need to buy a new dongle (didn't check price), apparantly not compatible with any other country, then Simcard was 69E then think it was 15E for 3 hours connection, all to hard and too expensive.  What we did was top up our NZ Vodafone dongle and used it on roaming just to download the weather and emails, it wasn't cheap either, but NZD60 (about 35E) lasted us our time in France.  However the good news is that there are unlocked sites around in France, so with our external aerial we managed to pickup (with rather alot of effort) signals in both Villefranche and Abri de L'Olivette, not great signals but enough to get weather info down.
Ashore -
Villefranche - is a cute little place (cruiseships do come in, we had two one day so it can get busy!), main shops are all up the hill inland a couple of blocks.  The train station is easy to see from the anchorage.  We tied our dinghy on the concrete wall, plenty of options.
Abri de L'Olivette - Easy walk over to Antibes, probably took around 25 minutes just kept heading in the direction we thought it should be!!  Small minimarket and excellent bakery on the road into Antibes.  Found much shorter way back headed straight along main road which brought us back to very upmarket village by the big marina just north of the anchorage.  Mainly cafes/bars and a casino in village, ATM machine but didn't see a minimarket.see next update as we returned here
Ile Ste Marguerite - A couple of small restaurants ashore maybe open daytime only.  Fort did have charge but we arrived about 5.30pm it was open with no one on door so had a look around, it is quite impressive.  Loads of lovely walking on well marked paths.  Water tap on dock, some smalls boats were filling up jerry jugs.
Formalities - didn't do any in France
Sightseeing - Many cruisers "do" Monaco from here.  Easy train trip, 5.50E return each, half hourly except on Sundays

Charter Yacht ANAHITA - Updates on upgrades

The charter yacht ANAHITA, our very popular Dynamique 62, has undergone recent upgrades during her time in the Caribbean this winter. She is bright with new bottom paint and her rig, engine, winches, main sail and jib were overhauled, making her even more suitable for any kind of cruising.

Anahita, 62 Dynamique sloop

As for creature comforts, all interior cushion covers were replaced and the bed in the starboard cabin and the lower bed in the port cabin were enlarged. A new 13' Oceanus AB tender with console was just purchased in St. Maarten and further updated with a new and attractive canvas cover.

She will be heading for the Mediterranean on May 1st for her summer season with two berths available for the trans-Atlantic crossing.

Once in the Med, Anahita will be in France and West Italy, including Corsica, in June and September. Then she will move to Croatia, Montenegro and the Greek Islands for July and August charters.

Bijan and Roseanne look forward to having you aboard.

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Contact Paradise Connections Yacht Charters to book ANAHITA
View Anahita's online brochure
Visit our website: www.ParadiseConnections.com

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The 75-foot luxury charter catamaran MATAU, is offering a 10% discount for charters in September 2008.

MATAU is available September 4-28, 2008 for charters in Croatia, Italy or France.



- SPECIAL RATE: €31,500 plus all expenses. (for up to 8 guests)

Read more about this new catamaran in one of our previous blog postings: CLICK HERE

MATAU is currently available for a NEW YEARS charter in ST.VINCENT AND THE GRENADINES!

View MATAU's online brochure: CLICK HERE

Contact Paradise Connections to book MATAU or for more information: CLICK HERE

Visit our website: http://www.paradiseconnections.com

Announcing PACIFIC WAVE - 72ft Sloop for Caribbean & Med Yacht Charters

PACIFIC WAVE, a 72-foot performance sloop, was built by the constructor of the America's Cup competitor Azzura. Italian design and craftmanship at its best!



PACIFIC WAVE is fully air conditioned and accommodates up to six guests in three en-suite cabins. The aft master offers two oversized singles. Two guest cabins forward of the salon have upper and lower singles.

At present, PACIFIC WAVE is in England and has undergone an extensive refit. Details include new soft furnishings, carpet, headliners, mattresses, electric heads, shower fittings, cockpit upholstery, hatches and all exterior paint. New this year are bed linens and luxury towels, Villeroy Boch china, Royal Doulton crystal and cutlery, RIB and engine, upgraded crew quarters and new crew uniforms.

We are looking forward to meeting Owner/Captain Lynn Griffiths and Chef/Mate Mark Mark Miles and visiting PACIFIC WAVE at the December 2008 Antigua Charter Yacht Meeting.

RATES:

Winter 2008/9: Caribbean
$16,000 for 2 guests - $17,000 for 4 guests - $18,000 for 6 guests
(All-Inclusive, except bar & beverages, cruising fees)

Summer 2009: France, Corsica, Italy
€18,000 for up to 6 guests
(Plus all expenses)

View PACIFIC WAVE's online brochure: CLICK HERE

Contact Paradise Connections Yacht Charters to book Pacific Wave: CLICK HERE

Visit our web site: http://www.paradiseconnections.com/

LOW AIR FARES TO PARIS - September October 2008

LOW PARIS AIR FARES - French Barge Vacation Cruise September-October 2008

We received an email from American Airlines this week, informing us that they have a special offer of low-priced fares on flights to Paris for September and October 2008. This would be a good time to treat yourself to a French barge vacation holiday :)

For more info, Read our post: CLICK HERE...

Visit the Barge Vacation section of our web site:
http://www.paradiseconnections.com/barges/

Read our Canal Barge Vacation Blog: CLICK HERE

Contact Paradise Connections for more information: CLICK HERE

MITI: available for LES VOILES DES SAINT TROPEZ Sept 2008

MITI, the luxury, 60-foot Sunreef sloop, is available for charter for the amazing rendez-vous of yachts LES VOILES DES SAINT-TROPEZ which will take place in the South of France September 27 through October 4, 2008.



Pamper yourself and experience an unforgettable week on the French Riveria, meeting the biggest sailing yachts in the world for an exceptional rate of 10,000 Euros/wk, plus all expenses.

Les Voiles de Saint-Tropez is an amazing rendezvous of yachts, first run twenty-six years ago as La Nioulargue which was a traditional sailing competition, but now the Voiles de Saint-Tropez has moved upmarket and boasts both a classic yacht race and a modern regatta. The regatta gathers together the most extraordinary modern sailing boats alongside the most beautiful traditional yachts during the first week of October. A host of racers and sailing enthusiasts come from all the corners of the globe to do battle in the bay of Saint Tropez. The Trophée Rolex is awarded to the winner of the Classic Division over 16 meters. Saint-Tropez marks the final stage of the European Prada Challenge for Classic Yachts.

For more information, contact Paradise Connections Yacht Charters: CLICK HERE

Visit our web site: http://www.paradiseconnections.com

EUROPEAN BARGES - Special rates for special dates in 2008

Yesterday, we wrote several posts on our Barge Blog about various luxury hotel canal barges in France and Italy who have special offers / discounts for specific weeks in the remaining 2008 season. Click on the barges below to view their post.

• L'Impressionniste
• Savoir Faire
• La Belle Epoque
• Emma
• La Dolce Vita

We hope you will be able to take advantage of one of these special discounts, but if the special weeks don't work for you, there are other open weeks available, inquire!

Remember, it is not too early to book for NEXT year, 2009. Many calendars are already filling up so don't wait too long!

Contact Paradise Connections for more information: CLICK HERE

Visit our web site: http://www.paradiseconnections.com/barges/