Tues, Sept 16, 2014 –
Enjoying a cup of café au lait in the cockpit this morning we watched the Duane (French Coast Guard) slowly approach our boat. It did not take them long to discover our arrival in France! After they did a slow circle around us they finally approached and asked to see our passports and boat papers. All of the exercise in Barcelona to get our passports stamped for an additional 90 days was worth it – we are totally legal!
They did not board us, but rather held out a huge fish net for us to put the papers into and pull back on to their boat. Not knowing how smoothly the fish net exercise would go, l put the documents in a zip lock bag for the trip. They were very friendly and spoke remarkably good English. They even gave us a weather warning about the forecasted high winds for the next few days, recommending another anchorage with better holding and said “I guess you will be with us for a few days”. They were right.
We launched the dinghy and headed to shore on the island in time for our first French lunch of mussels and pomme frites. The southern coast of France is covered with mussel farms as evidenced by them appearing on almost every menu. They are so delicious and also reasonably priced. A walk around the small, rocky private island provided great views of the mainland and crystal clear water.