maandag, 16 oktober 2000 13.21

St. Tropez and more.

After our horrible night in Corsica and the damage on Sylphe, I had some days to reflect and calm down. Which I did, after my clients left (Rene and Chantal still many thanks for your moral support during the events), I cleaned up the boat and myself. I decided that the damage on the stern (which was the most visible) could be repaired by myself, with the help of a lot of epoxy-filler. So I bought all 4 pots that the local shipchandler had available and ordered more for the next days. I had a week to do the repairs and before Andre would come to sail the boat to St. Tropez. Filling the enormous gap and trying to get it back into the shape the stern had before was time-consuming and patience-needing work. Every day I would apply another layer, until the shape was more or less there and too much was applied. Than I would take the sanding machine and sand it back into shape and size. This worked remarkably well, and after the first layer of paint was applied, hardly anybody noticed. I was quite proud of myself and happy with the result.

Since I had the whole week and the epoxy needed time to dry and harden in between layers, I decided to completely revarnish all parts on deck. The varnish had already started to come off in most places (and this after only three months exposure to the sun and seawater). So, more sanding and sanding was done, untill all paint was removed and the bare-wood exposed. The weather was beautifull so I was able to apply two layers per day. The result after one week of hard work was astonishing. With the stern back into shape, all woodwork shining and nicely varnished, Sylphe was ready for her „rentree-apearence" at St. Tropez. The last problem: the name which is on the stern had disappeared. So, a quick call to friends in Holland and a new sticker was made, which would be brought directly to St. Tropez.

Andre arrived at Saturday night, with a ferry from Italy. Since public transport on Corsica (and as we found out later in the whole of France) is minimal I had to hire a car, to pick him up from Bastia, some 100 km‚s from Calvi. The drive through the country is as breathtaking as sailing around the island. It was strange, after three months at sea, to be so far inland and driving a car. On Sunday morning we did our last shopping, took a look at the weatherforecast (not too bright) and decided to leave for St. Tropez. A crossing of 100 miles (180 km) which would normally take us some 15 hours.

It turned out that the weather was favourable, a nice 20 knot breeze, a long swell with a comfortable distance between the waves and we sped with 8 knots towards St. Tropez. I will not metion too explicitly that Andre was seasick, but he was. I start wandering if Sylphe has something to do with it. Many people (who normally never have been seasick) get seasick onboard of Sylphe. But this time it lasted only a few hours, and I blame it on the italian wine he had been drinking for a week. So a beautifull sail, no moon and thunder and lightning behind us over Corsica. It was amazing to see that we sailed towards a clear sky and that Corsica clearly had horrible weather. We arrived at 5 in the morning in the bay of St. Tropez. The harbourlight of St. Tropez should be clearly recognisable and we were looking for it, in order to find a place to drop the anchor. But, two pair of sharp eyes could not find it. All kind of other lights, from 50 or more boats on anchor in the bay, but NO sign of the harbour-entrance light. (the next morning we saw that the whole light was removed as they were restoring the tower on which it stood. So, it‚s not only the Turks, Greeks and Italians that mess around with the lights, on which you have to rely at night!!!). Soon we were so close in that we were in between all the boats on anchor and although it was dark, we realized that some very beautifull boats were out here. We counted four three-masted yachts, a couple of old tugboats, schooners, etc.

We dropped the anchor and I was too excited to be able to fall asleep immediately.

The next morning we were woken up by telehones ringing. Rob and Fiona were on the dock and wanted to get onboard. So we put the outboard on the dinghy and picked them up. Thankfully they had bought fresh croissants and bread and we slowly woke up with coffee and an amazing sight around us. Half an hour later the phone rang again and this time it was Freek on the dockside wanted to be picked up. So, the party was complete. A steady 25 knots of wind was blowing and only few boats left the marina. By 2 in the afternoon the wind calmed down, more boats came out and the first race was started. We lifted the anchor and went around on the engine, looking at all these boats that one normally only sees in the maganzines. Velsheda, Magic Carpet, Genius of the Lamp, Fife‚s , Mariette and all those others. We were around the finishline when all these majestic sailboats came racing towards us. What a sight, what a speed, what a power. When all boats headed back for the marina, they all had to wait their turn to be guided in and moored. We tried to sneek into the marina but were soon turned back, FULL. So again we went back to our mooring in the bay, where we remained every evening for the rest of the week. With the dinghy we went up and down.

I will never forget my first trip to the old harbour. All beautifully lined up, one next to the other, were the most beautifull sailboats in the world. All those, that always feature in the magazines, were sisterly lying next to each other. The Merry Dancer, Moonbeam, Halloween, Orion, Flica, Lady Ann, Partridge, Dorade, Seabird, etc. Worldwide there are 50 (in my eyes) amazing boats; 35 of them were here. What a sight and what a delight.

The next two days did not bring any wind. Resulting in everybody sailing around in the bay with mainsail up and the engine running. Sun, swimming and 300 boats gathered on a square mile. The organisation had placed a disco-boat in the middle of the bay. Two enormous speakers blasted through the bay and everybody wanted to be close-by. With no wind and waves some boats even tied up together. Other boats passed by, very slowly and sometimes at only a meter away. It did not take long for the first people to dive off boats and take a swim around. Only minutes later the first buckets of water were thrown by one crew onto the passing next boat. We happily joined in with our deckwashpump, giving us a little bit more range than the usual bucket-thrower. Even Velsheda joined in. Only, she had a real firehose-canon, so that fight we lost. However it shows that even the people on the superyachts are normal, mortal souls, who would like to have some fun, just like the others.

In the evening the quay of St. Tropez is a madhouse. Hundreds and hundreds of people gather to walk up and down. To stare, glare, admire or look at such an overwhelming beauty. Every day after the boats have returned to the marina, they are all being cleaned by the crew. Every rope neatly coiled up, every piece of chrom or brass polished, the show must go on. Parades in the street, free drinks in some places, outrageously expensive in others, but all in all a relaxed atmosphere.

When the wind returned on Friday and Saturday the races took place. Being at the startline of such an event is breathtaking and heartattack-causing. All of them fighting for the best place when the startgun sounds, results in some of them ending up very, very close to others. In a few cases too close, as the Partridge found out, when she was rammed midship by the bowsprit of the Sofong. The damage on Partridge will give some carpenters some work again. The Moonbeam was at one stage hanging with its rigging on the bowsprit of the Orion (the Orion being 200 Tons, this is not amusing) but this ended well and without damage. The bigger boats all had their engines on standby in these last minuts before the start. In order to be able to reverse or turn away in case other boats came too close or priority was not given. Actually, why shouldn‚t all boats have their engines on, just before the start. I know I will, next year. Watching all these yacht depart for their race is majestic. Of course we followed some of the boats that are similar to Sylphe, and there are some around. On the last leg back to the finish, we were sailing alongside them, and although some of them had their reachers up, we were very happy to notice that hey could not overtake us, although we only had the genua up. We all know Sylphe was made for racing, and we all hoped she still would be fast, but this was above expectations. This promises something for next year.

We received a lot of comments on the water. Sylphe draws attention. Her stern is recognisable as no other, the enormous Dutch flag, the red dinghy being towed behind us (we were the only one like that, the others left their dinghy behind in order to be faster) and we are new to the fleet: SYLPHE stood out and made a worthy rentree. Warm applaus, a thumbs-up from a complete crew or a distinct knod of the head from the skipper of Velsheda is all what we needed. Sylphe is a beauty and ranks in the top 25 beauties of those present in St. Tropez.  The previous owner of Sylphe, Mr. Boissier, was present with his boat Analia, and we finally met for the first time. He came to look at Sylphe and the changes we made. After some initial hesitation he seemed happy with the result and the realisation that Sylphe is actually sailing and being used a a home for Marit and myself, turned him rightout happy. Finally I was able to ask so many questions about Sylphe, het structure and her history. And yes, it is true: Sylphe spend 5 years under water during WW II. The construction of Sylphe started in 1940, but when the war broke out the yard was afraid the Germans would come to steal the 13 Tons of led in her keel. To prevent this, they sank her off, just outside the harbour. And this is why it lasted til 1947 till she was completed and sailed for the very first time. How is that for a starter and nice detail.

On Sunday there were no more races, as it was prize giving ceremony and other things. In the early morning we saw one of the boats, that had been lying in the inner harbour, leaving the port. Chances were slim, but we took the gamble and sailed into the marina. And yes, there was a spot free. In between the Lady Ann, Moonbeam, Halloween and some 7 more Fife-boats. So we genty docked Sylphe on the main quay. A few hundred people looked as I squeezed her gently in place. The spreaders between the boats missed each other by inches. When we were finally docked and the gangway put out, I walked onto the quay and looked around. My heart choked as I realised Sylphe was lying in the midst of the Worlds most beautifull boats AND she perfectly blended in. I leave it up to the photo to speak for itself.

We will definately be back AND participate in next years „Les Voiles de St. Tropez". For those who want to join, start saving money.

Ciao and Ahoy

Roland