Tag Archives: Mistral

Rest day in Port du Lavandou

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Changing a lightbulb

Changing a lightbulb

The Mistral winds howled through the rigging all night but by morning the tempest had subsided. Despite the improved conditions Eva and I decided stay at port and play tourist for a day and Port du Lavandou did not disappoint (see http://www.lelavandou.eu/port2001/index.htm).
There’s good access to chandlers and sail makers in the port so I took the opportunity to do some basic maintenance, i.e. replace my jack stays, and fix a bad connection on the tri-light which involved climbing the mast, (as I don’t have a bosun’s chair I use my life jacket’s harness to attach a safety line). I felt that taking the mast down in this case was over-kill. Eva found the whole exercise very amusing and instead of keeping the line taught was busying herself taking unflattering photos of me.
Believe it or not, we met another couple in the marina whose sailboat was smaller than Eileen! No small feat in the Cote d’Azur, and before long we had made some new friends, dental students of German heritage but living and studying in France. Over a few drinks that evening it was decided to leave on Wednesday and sail together for a few hours before heading our separate ways. The weather forecast promised nothing more violent than occasional gusts of Force 5 so we expected a leisurely sail.

To Port du Lavandou

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Eva

Eva

(06:00) An early start as the weather was set to turn this evening and I wanted to be as far as possible to the east so that the force of the Mistral would be somewhat moderated. My girlfriend Eva was not too pleased about leaving while it was still cold and dark. Mind you even water temperatures of 24 degrees seem frigid to her. She lasted approximately 15 seconds in the water yesterday; I put it down to her Mexican heritage. With Cap de L’Aigle silhouetted by the rising sun and a brisk wind in just the right direction, I couldn’t be happier.
All was going according to plan but it was obvious by 14:30 that the Mistral had arrived ahead of schedule. I’d set too much sail including a whisker pole out on the staysail. Oops! When the wind gusts arrived they were a good force 7 and while I was quick to furl the jib, the staysail was a tangle. After battling with the mainsail I worked my way to the pulpit to sort out the mess. Eva is a lithe 45kg but was having considerable trouble keeping the bow to windward while I battled the recalcitrant sail. In the end I had to remove the pole end fittings before I could beat the staysail into submission. The following hour was spent motoring under bare poles to Port du Lavavdou (which was given a good review by the pilot book) and on route it was decided to stay put while the Mistral blew.