After the guts of two weeks in Vilamoura, Portugal, it was time for us to set sail for Monaco. It’s such a joy to sail in these latitudes this time of year. After nearly two years in the tropics we welcome the stretch in the evenings and the stunning Mediterranean sunsets. In the tropics you get 12 hours of daylight between 6am and 6pm and there isn’t much in the line of dawn and dusk.

The weather for our passage was very mild; in fact, of the four and a half day passage, we had three days of absolute calm. Very rarely on our world adventure has the sea been this still, and on our final day there wasn’t even the slightest zephyr of wind. We honestly couldn’t distinguish between the sea and the sky. Incredible! The Mediterranean has great marine life and plenty of friendly dolphins playing on our bow wave. Thankfully our recent fishing drought ended with a couple of tuna on the last day of the Skipjack and Big Eye variety, the latter was exceptionally tasty! Along with the dolphins we had a couple of massive humpback whales, a load of funky sunfish and a scattering of turtles. Gosh, the sea really is a magic place, even a few hours on a boat brings you back in touch with what’s real in the world and you just marvel at the wonders of nature and her wildlife.

Approaching the coast of France and Monaco you soon loose focus on the sea and wildlife with your attention drawn towards this magnificent coastline and even more so towards the mega yachts and motorboats that inhabit it. We did feel a tad intimidated docking in Monaco’s famous Chicane Quay, where a 90-foot yacht resembles a laser dinghy next to these floating glittering hotels. Nonetheless, we had LUSH beautifully polished, hoisted our Monegasque courteously flag, donned our fancy pick ts and white shorts determined to rub fenders with the best of them!

Anyhow. not many of the 100 plus super yachts in there could boast they’ve just sailed around the world, could they? It costs a small fortune to move those yachts 10miles down the coast let alone 28,000 miles around the world, not that I expect that to be the reason they sit in the Med from one season to the next. In fairness, it’s a pretty special place to explore and after sailing around the world, returning here really does make you appreciate Europe all the more. It’s hard to beat the history, beauty and diversity the Med offers with so many exquisite countries, cultures and cuisine right next to each other.

Who knows what the next few months will bring us? It’s very exciting to be cruising the Med, that’s for sure. And what a place to start than in Monaco? Plan for the week.. I think a tour of the Cote d’Azur along with it’s chic ports is in order!!

One Life.. Live it!
Audrey
(10/06/14)

 

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