Photos by Tim Petersen
Day 1
The Sequoia team arrived from many starting points - Iceland, Frankfurt, Barcelona, London, Paris to name a few as well as direct from San Francisco.
Our boats were in either St Raphael (Catamarans) or Golfe Juan (Monohulls). We had 15 boats and over 80 excited cruisers in total. We gathered in Golfe Juan for a first night party and briefing in the Capitanerie of Golfe Juan. Our Seaways team were there to brief us - Veronick, Rudolphe, Jean Louis, and Pascal.
It was a great evening to start the week with a reminder of the itinerary, the sailing instructions for the first couple of days plus the Bon viveur of Sequoia enjoying a fun evening of good company, fine wines and crudités .
Day 2 and 3
We set sail early for Port Grimaud which is just a mile away from St Tropez. This was a 6 hour sail with some motor sailing. A perfect start to the week. Port Grimaud is a location as well as a marina and our boats had the pleasure of mixing it with residents, guests and some great restaurants in the Port as well as in neighboring St Tropez.
The winds were picking up so not a complete surprise when Veronick and Jean Louis called to say the weather the next day was going to have Beaufort 7 scale winds. A Mistral had developed quickly as they can do with little notice.
We made the sensible decision to stay another day and take in St Tropez and the local atmosphere before heading off to Porquerolles. A tough choice - have fun in St Tropez or be tossed about by 40 knot winds? The good thing was that everyone really enjoyed the opportunity to hang out here for another day. Sometimes the weather does you a favor! Our decision was wise as the winds howled all night, the rigging whined, but we were berthed safely and had a great time exploring St Tropez and having a lot of fun there.
Day 4
We set off for Porquorelles - the weather had returned to calmer winds and we had a great sail of about 6 hours to reach this wonderful island.
It is delightful and we moored together to enjoy an afternoon of biking, walking, swimming and having just a fun time before our evening entertainment. This started with Pétanque and pastis plus wine in the village square followed by a fish and veal grille in the Restaurant l'Alycastre. Marvelous! It was great to see the Sequioa team get into the Pétanque and do it the French way. We had 50 sets of Pétanque balls and Pascal was the instructor to make sure we knew the techniques.
Just a lot of fun followed by a marvelous meal and some great rose wine from the vineyards in Porquorelles. People lingered a long while before returning to their boats. Our evening reporter described revelry well into the night...what happens in France stays in France! For those of you who like history the Porquorelles island was established by a wealthy businessman who bought the island for his French bride. Good taste! It also has the first Provence wine awarded an appellation controlle certification. It is just a great destination with beauty, history and a lot to do along with its sister islands.
Day 5
We had a relaxing morning enjoying the island atmosphere before sailing back towards Cannes. We split the journey and anchored out at a beautiful bay at Pt Taillet on the peninsula way south of St Tropez. This was about five hours sailing. The location is a quiet beauty spot with great swimming, a charming beach and not too many boats. Some also made a side stop at Isle de Crox which is another island close to Porquorelles. It was fantastic to enjoy a quiet and very private anchorage where we could spend an evening on board with our crew.
Day 6
We sailed from the bay to the Isles de Lerin which are two islands off the coast of Cannes. It was about five hours sailing to get there and we anchored in the estuary between the islands. Seaways organized two fast rib boats to take us to a famous monastery on the South island where the monks make great wine. The Monastery stayed open especially for Sequoia so we had the pleasure of a private wine tasting complete with explanation of how they make such special wines on this tiny island. The monks did a marvelous job of looking after us and making it a very special degustation!
We then had a gourmet dinner at a famous restaurant called La Guerite on the North Island. The majority of the group voted for this activity and it lived up to its reputation. We had booked the restaurant for ourselves so had a private party with extraordinary ambience at a great location with the lights of Cannes glowing in the distance. Bon viveur est la Belle France!
Day 7
The cruisers had a leisurely day heading back to the respective ports of St Raphael or Golfe Juan. All docked in good order before we had the final gathering which was a beach party and dinner at Le Vieux Rocher in Golfe Juan. The folks from St Raphael were bought over so we had the whole gang together for a relaxing and fun dinner plus Salsa dancing as long as we all had the energy....
It was a good evening to cap a cruise out which went well from start to finish including the experience of a Mistral in the safety of a port......
I had wanted everyone to have a tremendous experience in what I believe is one of the most special parts of the world for sailing, wining and dining and simply enjoying life. I think we nailed it! Thanks to all that made it and thanks to the Seaways team who did a great job - and here's to all the marvelous memories we shall treasure for a long time!
Peter - your Commodore
