CRUISE NOTES

One great thing about chartering anywhere in the Mediterranean is that if you avoid the crazy months when the Europeans take their vacations—July and August—you can generally find cheap air fares from most American cities. Once in Europe, a multitude of reasonably priced transportation options open up to you. Marseille is a three-hour train ride from Paris, for example, or a cheap flight from London.

Weather in the south of France can be scorching hot in the summer months and benign in May, June and September to early October. The biggest risk for sailors is falling afoul of a mistral, a vicious northwesterly that accelerates down the river valleys from the hilly interior and can blow upwards of 40 knots for days on end. That would put a real damper on your holiday.

Although we chartered in the off season, we found some restaurants and shops open everywhere we went. If you were to pull into the major ports like Toulon you’d find it to be business as usual. The best thing about off-season chartering, aside from the fact you can often get a discounted boat, is the lack of crowds— tourists, that is, for such is the French love of sailing that we saw sails everywhere along the coast.

We also found ATMs everywhere we went, and the only hassles we had paying with credit cards came from our own banks Stateside, which caused some embarrassment. At the only marina we stayed at, the dockmaster (dockmistress?) spoke perfect English.

We chartered our Bali 41.1 Catamaran from Dream Yacht Charter ( dreamyachtcharter.com).