Our Wakes: 2016

In early March we went back on board Terus in Bormes les Mimosas to start tour new sailing season. We stayed in Bormes les Mimosas until early April as we had to wait for the new sail we ordered in Paris during the boat show. Unfortunately, while installing the new sail we discovered that the jib furling mechanism refused to work properly. During the month of March, we discovered that the weather can be pretty cold in the French part of the Mediterranean sea. In early April, we finally resumed our navigation by going first to the city of Frejus, followed by Cannes where we arrived on the 7th of April. Unfortunately, in the old harbor of Cannes we had to change our mains electric plug as the marina has a different plug from all the other French marinas. This resulted in a mismatch of the cables sending 380 Volts to the boat. Instantly the microwave and the battery charger died and had to be replaced. While the microwave was not a drama as the day before it had already let us know that he had a serious problem, the voltage episode killed it for good. The news about the jib furling got worse and repairs were more extensive then first diagnosed. The result is that we will only be able to leave Cannes by the 23 of April as the time to check if spare part is available and to have it shipped s abnormal long in France. Everybody complians but everybody says this is France today nothing works. Finally the spare part arrived and the replacement could proceed. Unfortunately, when checking the old parts it became clear that the repair men used as their major tool, a hammer, which had the advantage of damaging the part and forcing me to buy a new one. This solution was certainly not the most expensive one for me but had the advantage that the shop could make an additional profit on the spare part. I have now a very bitter taste in my mouth when talking about rigging repairs in Cannes. The water maker was also installed in Cannes and everything works fine. We installed it with the help of a friend and did not encounter any issues. At least now we will no longer have to carry water bottles from the supermarket to the boat. During our stay in Cannes, we did have the time to visit the city that has a very particular look. Cannes started to become famous late 1800 when the rich people decided that this was the place to go for a holiday. You find many hotels built at the end of the 19 century giving the city a retro look. Le Cannet is the old center of the city with the church on top of the hill. All around the church you find many little houses and restaurants that offer menus in all languages to suit the needs of the passing tourists. From the top of Le Cannet, you have a unique view of the bay of Cannes with the 2 marinas. Between the 2 marinas you have the famous Croisette surrounded by numerous luxury shops. On the east side of the Croisette you have the palace of the festival were every year in the middle of May you have the famous film contest. Many tourists visit this place and take a selfie of them on the red carpeted stairway. From the church you  also have a nice view of the Lerins islands located not far from the city where many tourist decide to go for a few hours. The island of St Honorat is still occupied by monks who cultivate the vineyards and produce a local wine. Finally, on the 28 of April, we moved out of Cannes towards Italy, but before that we stopped 2 days in the little marina of Villefranche. This little harbor is an old military base and is located just next to Cap Ferrat were the super-rich like the Rothschilds and King Leopold 2 of Belgium have there secondary houses. On the 30 of April we crossed the border and entered Italy.