It took us a few weeks but, we have officially said goodbye to Elba. Somehow, we lucked out with a beautiful light downwind window that carried us the entire way from Elba to Menton, France. Thus far, this was my favorite overnight passage. With the exception of a 3-hour window of having to motor, we had consistent light breeze between 8-12 knots broad reaching the entire way. We comfortably left the Gennaker up for the entire evening. Twenty-seven hours later we arrived at Port Garavan where Jay expertly managed to reverse into a very tight mooring spot. It’s a good sign when the marinero specifically comes up to tell the captain that he did an excellent job of driving!
Menton is a gorgeous old town, a brief walk away along a sand beach with a bright and festive boardwalk. Our port also had the added benefit that we were a mere 20-minute walk to the French Italian border which was a highlight for the boys. After a late-night walk and a celebratory passage drink in the town square we settled in for our first night at a marina in almost 6 weeks.
The next morning, we hopped on the train and made our way into Monaco. A visit with friends and a new country flag to scratch off the map was a high priority. Monaco is an experience. The mega yachts, fancy cars, designer clothing, and privilege is a sight to behold but quite removed from anything I know. We did get to tour through the Aquarium which was fantastic and then had a lovely pizza dinner in the square catching up with friends as the boys ran around and launched paper airplanes.
The following morning, we departed Menton en route to Gulf Jean just west of Antibes. The wind was blowing a brisk 20 knots from the South East. It was quite an awakening to round the corner out of the marina into 2-3 metre swell with wind gusting up to 28 knots with a tight lee shore. Once the sails were set though, and we turned on the much-loved Robin Hood soundtrack, we settled in to a fast broad reach. I love our boat. This was a great 25 nm sail and we were the only sailboat out with sails up. We saw plenty of mega yachts and mega sailboats pounding upwind en route to Monaco which provided lots of entertainment aboard. When we entered the inlet of Gulf Jean and the waves and wind dissipated, we were met with a new obstacle course of dozens of yachts larger than 80 m who were hiding out in this protected anchorage. We also got to see the largest “support yacht” in the world. This 83 m behemoth houses a Bell helicopter, at least 9 giant tenders that we saw, a submarine and a full-sized basketball court. We are no longer in Kansas!
Now our task at hand is to do loads and loads of laundry and prep the boat for more guests tomorrow. We will have another set of friends: 2 adults and 2 kids join us for a week of cruising the coastline between here and Hyeres. We can’t wait!
Next Stop: St Tropez
Distance sailed: 240 nm
Percent of time sailing: 90%
Boat projects completed: Fixed the air conditioning, Replaced paddleboard bungee cord, put 100 litres of fuel in the tank (our first fuel all season), more hull scrubbing
WTF Moment: Mooring in Gulf Jean in a tight spot between 2 superyachts and the brand new summer student marineros don’t know how to throw mooring lines. We made it work.
Days until I return to Canada: Not enough!
Monaco would be a sight to see!