At last I have got spare time to sit down and write my first log before the start of our long-sailing
05 07 04
We fly to Nice and with a rented car we drive about 90 miles to Pin Rolland,
Toulon. Anna-Karin´s parents, who have promised to help us with the equipment
of the Unicorn, make us company. We get to the marina and find the Unicorn in
good shape - however dirty and in great need of polishing and waxing.
Inside the boat there is a mess of the things we have put there in advance -
main, genua, bikes and many other things.
After noticing that everything is alright we visit the little restaurant in the
marina with its excellent Moules & Frites with cold rosé wine. How shall we
manage without this dish when we are no longer in France?
05 07 07
After a couple of hard days` work we are ready for launching. Not yet ready for
sailing it feels good to be in the water. Now we can skip the climbing up and
down the ladder many times day.
Luckily the Mistral has been blowing since we arrived - making the the job on
the boat more agreeable.
Among other things we have now installed an earth-plate under the water-line.
This plate will be connected with our new short-wave radio.It always feels a
little bit tricky to make hole under the water line.Will it be watertight or
no?. But we are lucky - everything is alright. During the rest of the time
working with the boat we lie in the marina free of cost.
05 07 10
This afternoon we think we are ready to leave Pin Rolland. Specially Ulla and
Knut are happy who now want to see more than the marina before they go home.
The wind has now decreased to calm so we go by motor 14 Nm to Ile de
Porquerolles. We find a sheltered bay at Plage d´Argent where we have been
before. Here we stay for four days bathing and relaxing. In the evening we take
the dingy ashore to look at the folklore life.
05 07 14
We leave Plage d`Argent and go along the coast NW. For the first time we hoist
up the new main-sail.After small adjustments with lazy jacks and so on
everything seems very good and we are very satisfied with the new sail.
After a day with fine sailingwe anchor in Baie des Canoubiers just outside St
Tropez. In the morning Anna-Karin and I go in to St Tropez to buy fresh
baguettes and croisants.
To our dinghy - a Quicksilver 270, 10 years old - we have a 5 hp Mercury. With
only 2 persons we easily get up to 17-18 knots.
Later in the day the four of us go in to St T. to stroll around. Some of us
think is too hot and suggest a break with some cold beers.
When we come back the wind has increased. Many boats are dragging but we lie
safe with 45 m chain. It is always interesting to follow this anchoring-cirkus
around us.
05 07 17
We leave St Tropez and sail with only genuaup to Rade dÀgay.During the night
the wind slackens and the boat comes into rolling- very unpleasant. In the
morning it`s cloudy and a small rain falls
05 07 18
We leave Agay and we have to go by motor to Cannes. At noon the sky clears up
and the warmth returns.We get a good place in Cannes`marina almost in the centre
of the town.From here Anna-Karin`s parents can take a bus directly to Nice and
on the 20th of July they say good bye for this time.
05 07 20
We spend most of this day to washing and filling up our supplies. At night we
are very tired and go to bed quite early.
05 07 21
We sail now from Cannes and anchor at Islesde Lerines only 2 Nm from C. We stop
between St- Marguirite and St-Honorat. Long time ago the islands were a
religious centre of Europe and there are many remnents of clustres and churches
from that time.