August 3rd, 2012

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Friday August 3rd Cannes, Cote d’Azur

Friday, August 3rd, 2012

I left the anchorage in Porto Cervo on Wednesday at 6.30 a.m. But had decided to go and fill up my fuel tank and one of my 5 gallon jerry cans with diesel.  It was posted as being open 24 hours. The evening before I had rowed out to the so called “Vechio” port part of Porto Cervo. Very little “old” about it but every fancy retailer had a shop here, Louis Vutton, Bulgvaria, you name it.  Anyway I found the narrow access to the fuel station. When I backed in between the 240 foot “Laurel” super yacht, owned by a Seattle man and the largest yacht ever built in the Delta shpyard, and the 14 foot passsage left between “Laurel” and his neighbor with my 10 foot beam, I had a scare. All of a sudden a large hatch door swung open from “Laurel” just a few feet in front of me. I screamed and stepped on the brakes. A Filipino crewman stuck his head out and immediately closed the large side door again. Not sure if there was going to be a unmanned submarine emerging from it or what.

The service station did not open till 8.30. But I had time to fold a couple sails on the dock and fill my water tank. I also talked to two of the South African crew members of “Laurel” . I asked if this was Micro Soft money. :No, they have much bigger boats… They knew some of the crew members of “Cassino Royal” on which Greg and Marlys Clark were skipper and crew and by whom I was “royally” treated in Fort Lauderdale in April 2009.

It was a good thing that I filled my 20 gallon fuel tank because I decided to skip Corsica and head straight for Cannes. I have seen all I want to see for now in the Med. And I’m anxious to get on the river and canal trip through France and back to Amsterdam. The wind was right. I sailed most of Wednesday and Wednesday night. But Thursday there was no wind and I motored for ever. Till the wind came up again for a while on Friday morning. I arrived in Cannes at 1 p.m. but had to wait for a berth in the marina till 2.30 p.m. This is where I will meet up with Liliane Ly-Lap, who I saw last February 26th 1963 in Saigon. Tomorrow, Saturday night, I will join the family in Nice. This will be a verty emotional encounter because this family was much a part of the wonderful 1 1/2 years I lived in Saigon from late ’61 till early ’63.

This morning the ocean was alive with small Tunas jumping, see below picture. I dragged my trap line and I was sure this time I’d be lucky. I had already improvised on Jacques Brel’s “Je vous ai porte des bonbons, parceque les fleurs sont perisables” with “Je vois ai porte un poisson…..” No such chance.

When I exited the Straight of Sardinia, between Sardinia and Corsica, I saw this huge sail boat coming my direction, from behind. It had to be 90 foot plus. I coluld not figure out wher he was heading , looked he was going to North Africa, S.W., I was heading West. He had great boat speed, he crossed my bow but an hour later he was back crossing my bow the same distance ahead of me. Can you imagine what has to through the head of the owner paying multi million bucks for a piece of crap that sails upwind 20 degrees below a 30 footer???