Sail the Riviera During Monaco Grand Prix !

[Roaring Girl]

There are loads of anchorages all over the Riviera with but three considerations. one is the wind direction, as discussed. The second is that in season they do get very full, mostly with day sailors. Hence my advice to arrive before 1000 or between 1600 ad 1800 to get a space. (And while I'm at it, do not come to the Riviera if you are only happy with a 5:1 scope - it's not tidal and you won't find the space.)

Thirdly there are some challenges around depth and weed. Some anchorages (eg Theoule, Port Man) are over 20m deep so you need a lot of rode. And quite a lot do have thick weed on the bottom (poseidonia, a key Med habitat) so you need anchoring techniques/tackle to cope with that.

But - if you are confident about these issues (and we all are learning all the time) there are lots and lots of places. The French will anchor almost anywhere and are expert at squeezing their yachts into hideyholes and creeks. There are very few restrictions, most of which are well shown up either in local literature or in the Imray pilot books. Certainly in 2008 we spent three months ambling along there, and spent 8 days of the latter 2 months in a marina and that was a choice (the Jazz Festival in Nice.)

The anchorages are not far apart, though making sure you're protected from a mistral may sometimes take you further than you intended.

It does get a bit harder west of Marseilles, and we don't know that area very well. If you mean the Canet between Marseilles and Golfe de Fos - it's only about 6 miles anyway. The little creeks along there theoretically offer anchorages but are v small and probably choked with sports boats, but we went straight from Port St Louis to Marseilles and didn't explore.

If you mean Canet Plage and St Cyprien, and then along part Narbonne etc, we've only been there by road/air/train. On that knowledge I'd say that it was only intermittently hospitable, as you are of course right in the Golfe de Lyons (the gale factory of the western Med), with lots of shallow, sandy. But we have met sailors who have cruised happily there - it is function of your yacht's size and draft. Sete is v pleasant and you can go through the town and anchor in the lagoon. It can kick up one strong froth though, so you need to be happy with your tackle. It would not be wise to leave your boat unattended for long in case of a sudden weather change. From Sete (where we entered France from Spain) to Port St Louis, there's not a lot of anchoring, and you are exposed to the full Rhone-funnelled mistral. There are lots of marinas though if you wanted to explore the very beautiful Camargue.

HTH

[mct]

First choice anchoring wise is probably Villefranche, big bay, loads of room 5x scope no problem. You can hop on a train right there and few stops straight into Monaco. Thinking about it, it's probaly gonna be better than being in monaco and it's free instead of oodles of cash, plus diver costs etc etc.

Better than the grand prix (imho) is the grand prix historique at monaco every other year, the week before the grand prix itself - lots of older race cars giving it some beans with lots of shorter races and a fraction of the crowds. Book a table at the cafe des artistes at rascasse - the old cars (real ferraris, lotus, BRM the whole lot from 30'd onwards) have a pit right there.

[theranufamily]

Originally Posted by edsml

Hey, I'm chartering a Bavaria 46 to sail the Cote d'Azur during the GP and the Cannes Film Festival (May 14-22). First time sailing here, and only Med-moored once before (in Greece), so looking for any tips or advice on marinas or sites to visit.

http://sites.google.com/site/sailing...french-riviera

Hi there!

I'm curious as to your no doubt successful Monaco Grand Prix adventure. We are chartering a 45 Sun Odyssey in July 2013 from Antibes. What itinerary would you suggest and did you pre book moorings in Monaco or elsewhere? We have only sailed the Turkish Med coast over the past 3 Summers.

Looking forward to any advice if you can spare a moment to reply.

Kind regards
Aman and Mandip.