A Sailing Adventure

After the canceled kayak trip, I was excited to finally get on the water! The sailing trip I'd booked started from l’Estaque, an area on the outskirts of Marseille which is served by both bus and ferry. I chose the ferry, which left from the Vieux Port and offered a fantastic view of the harbor.

The ferry got me into l'Estaque early, so I got to spend the first half-hour with our skipper, Francois, a relaxed and laid-back former geologist, as we waited for the other guests to arrive. While he ate his lunch we had an interesting conversation about fossil fuels and energy; like others I’d spoken with in France, he was under the misimpression that wind/water/solar wouldn’t be enough to power electrification. I did my best to convince him that California was already well on its way to doing it.

My fellow passengers turned out to be a very international group: Danish, Chinese, French, American, and Venezuelans all came on board, and after a safety briefing we left the harbor.

Unfortunately, the wind was finicky, so we had to motor out and didn’t get to visit the Blue Coast. (I never did get to see the famous Calanques. Next visit!) We did however get to swim in the clear blue water, which was glorious.