Port Napoleon is on the eastern edge of the Gulf of Lyon, the western edge is close to the border with Spain. The Rhone valley empties into the Med here and the weather is famous for being windy. The weather patterns funnel up and down the massive valley. Sunday came bright and with a great sailing breeze, from the right direction as well - something of a miracle! We set off at dawn and were soon out of the bay of Fos and into the Gulf itself. Our original plan had been to day sail around the Gulf stopping each night but the weather conditions were perfect, so we headed out across the Gulf on the 120mile route towards Spain.
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| Up at dawn to leave |
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| A salutary lesson to obey the buoys |
Halfway across the wind literally stopped and we ended up motoring the rest of the way. We’d planned to get to Roses, just in Spain, but decided to shorten the passage a little and head in to Banyuls in France. It proved to be a good idea as we could see an electrical storm way in the distance over the Spanish coast and mountains.
The boat sailed well, it doesn’t point as high into the wind as our previous boat but in every other way its faster and more comfortable.
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| Land sighted as the sun set - we arrived just before midnight |
Banyuls actually feels like the Med to us - for the first time since leaving the Rhone, a small fishing and pleasure harbour surrounded by ochre coloured buildings and small beaches. We decided to stop for two nights, just to enjoy having somewhere to walk out to in an evening - and to buy some of the famous Banyuls wine. We checked the prices at some of the towns Caves and then headed to Carrefour where a local women advised on the best priced banyuls wine.
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| Banyuls - our boat is bobbing about in the harbour behind |
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| Banyuls is a cute town |
Weather permitting heading to Spain tomorrow. Have to dig out our Spanish courtesy flag.
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