The Hewson family aboard Sunday Island arrived in Marseille on the 19th May 2022 with a full crew including Rich, Emilie, Issy, Max, Rich’s Mum Lyn and auntie Amanda.

Amanda departed on arrival in her black limo and the rest of the crew set to work cleaning the boat, doing laundry in the Marina facilities, entertaining the kids, and preparing the masts to be re stepped.

One of the jobs prior to re stepping the rig (mast) was to run a new cable down inside the mast for the new B&G wind instruments. This is easier said than done as the cable conduit inside the mast struggled to fit another cable. Rich had been trying to get the cable through since Lyon, but finally we found success.

Mast spreaders, radar transmitter, aerials, wind vane(s) and halyards were re fitted, and Mum helped put the turn buckles in place ready for their respective stays.

We were booked to step the mast at 11:30am on Friday 20th May and arrived at the Naval Services rigging dock at 10.45am. Bookings must be made 4 days in advance due to the number of yachts stepping masts up or taking down their masts for the canals. Costs are €150 for the first half hour and €50 for every 15 minutes thereafter. The service do s not include a professional yacht rigger so any yachties need to know their stuff or pay the big bucks! If I were to step a mast in Australia we would plan for a crane for half a day so I was expecting a hefty bill to step two masts in the south of France.

We briefed the Issy and Max about the dangers of rigging the masts and instructed them to either stay below or stand well clear.

No sooner had we tied ourselves securely to the dock but the crane driver was in the crane and had started the engine. We scrambled to get Issy, Max and Mum off the boat and the rigger asked if we were ready. I gave a nervous, “wee” and nodes my head and up went the main mast.

Thanks to our studious preparation the first mast was up by 11:00. I was just getting the final turn buckle loosely fitted and the missen mast (aft mast as Sunday island is a ketch) went up and was loosely secure by 11:30 and the crane drivers walked away. I was astounded we managed to step both masts in 45 minutes, and I think the riggers were also impressed as we were only charged the minimal fee of €150.

We were allowed to stay at the rigging dock for the next two hours so Emilie and I set to work tightening turn buckles and getting the masts straight with correct tension. At 1300 we moved to another berth for lunch and spent the rest of the day rigging booms, sails and awnings. By the evening Sunday island was transferred from river barge to a beautiful ketch and ready to sail! It as time for a well earned beer!

Everybody was excited on Saturday morning 21 May. Max was especially excited pulling ropes here and there even before we left the dock. At 8am Issy started the engine and we let go lines for our 300nm sail to Palma Mallorca Spain. This would be Emilie’s first sail on Sunday Island and my first sail in the sea. Forecasted conditions were light headwinds to 10 kts which was perfect for our final rig tuning.

We motored out of the port, re checked the rig, and briefed the crew (Issy and Max) about the sailing and to not pull ropes or touch winches if they did not know what they were for and the importance of wearing life jackets. Then we hoisted the sails and re checked the rig. On the way out of the Harbour there was a sunken ketch buried deep in the sand spit, serving as a good reminder about what could possibly go wrong.

As the wind picked up, to justify our brief about life jackets I threw the Dan buoy in the water and we practiced man overboard drills with both Rich and Emilie having command. Issy and Max got involved and thought it was a great game.

50nm out of Marseille Em went below to cook dinner and a few minutes in to cooking came out and said “We have run out of gas!”

With all our focus on rigging the boat we had forgotten one on the basic rules before a voyage to check the gas! We have four (two Dutch and two French) bottles onboard, and we now remember only filling up one Dutch bottle in Lalystad before we left 6 months prior.

Considering the amount of coffee , tea and meals prepaired that one bottle had lasted well, but that didn’t help us cooking the pasta for dinner! The remainder of our trip was cold wraps, salad (Emilie’s favorite food) with coffee and tea made out of hot water from tap (heated by the engine).

The sail to Palma was beautiful, it was nice to be back at sea! The children enjoy d sailing however Issy sucommed to the dreaded sea sickness.

The Kids love putting on life jackets and going up to the bow, watching the waves to look for jelly fish, dolphins and watermoon unicorns. During the day we only spotted jelly fish, but Mum and I were lucky enough to spot a Finn whale later in the evening. Sadly we only saw one lone dolphin the entire voyage.

Monday 23rd May and after a bumpy rounding of Cape Gros, and Cape Llebeig, dodging ferries and fishermen and being spied on by a surveillance drone we had Mallorca well within our sites.

At 3pm we were safely anchored in the SW corner of Palma Nova and enjoyed a good swim. Max was keen to enjoy the dinghy so we pumped up the inflatable and had some fun rowing around the bay.

In the evening, having no fuel for the outboard motor, we rowed ashore in the inflatable dinghy for dinner to celebrate a successful voyage and Mums last night onboard. It was like “Who Sunk the Boat” – Five of us with bags and things in a leaking dingy!

The next morning was business as usual with everybody up early. Rich was off to SY Provenance in Palma and Em and the kids had to pick up the car before dropping Mum at Amanda’s house and taking the kids to school.

For the next few days we enjoyed being the life of a corporate live aboard – boaties at night while working / school by day. We enjoyed some nice anchorages around Palma before pulling into The Royal Club Nautico yacht club Palma (RCNP) while Rich did some work on the boat, Emilie began runs between our storage container and the boat, and the kids went to school.

Sunday Island has been cruising down the French Canals for the past Month with the Hewson family onboard. As we pass through the vineyards, old towns, and locks our little ships compliment continues to grow. We are canaling in company with Emilie’s father and a friend on their boat Harfie.

Crossing over a water bridge

Since we departed Maron we have passed through one hundred locks and have found the Lock keepers house beside each lock either un occupied or have new custodians as presumably lock keepers live else where with locks now becoming all automated. The automated lock system probably makes financial sense to the bean keepers however it presents new problems. A couple Emilie spoke to told us they were stuck in a lock going up and down all day because a stick got caught in the lock doors and there was nobody there to fix it!

The view we mostly had was tree lines canals, fields in the distance, the occasional village, vineyards, and a Chateau’s. Unlike the canals and n Holland and central France, Not many villages are on the Canals but they are in walking distance. If we had time to spare we could tie up on a bank, get out the bikes and cycle to a village. Bikes and walking paths mostly follow the canal path.

The canals are narrow in some areas and if on the helm concentration is required for getting around bends, passing other traffic, stopping to wait for a lock

Some cottages are in disrepair but others are well kept. Lock keepers are now often in charge of a few locks and on a few occasions we would see the lock keeper leave in his vehicle and meet us at the next lock .

Issy and Phillippe “Pegging in” to hold us to the bank.

On the 14th May after 6 months since departing Hinderlopen and over two months of passaging through canals we dropped over 300m in a series of large locks and exited the canal system onto the Saone river.

We arrived in Chalon France on the14th May and stopped in a nice marina on an island. Our berth was under a walking bridge that connects the island to the mainland. Shortly after docking we heard a You-Hooo from above, looked up and saw my cousin Eddie Hollender waving from above. Edwina is living in Paris and had caught the train down to Chalon for a few days on the boat.

View of Sunday Island from bridge in Chalon

In Chalon we refueled. With the price of fuel at the moment I was sweating the cost of refueling 500L however had a nice surprise when I went to pay and was only charged €1.70 per L. And only required 300L. The station attendant told me they purchased the fuel last November so charged 2021 rates. I think it will be the last time I buy fuel under €2L!

We continued down the Saone River. We had a full ship with not only our family of four, but Mum, Sister Amanda and Cousin Edwina from Paris. Ed is the an instant hit with the kids playing games and singing songs. We now have three live aboard Nannies – the life of the rich and famous!

On 16th May we arrived in the vibrant city of Lyon. We tied up to a Marina and for the first time in months had a chat to some other Yachties heading south for the summer. It was nice to be around other yachts with rigs on deck and talk about the highs and lows of traveling through the canals by boat. I was glad we had a lifting keel as one yacht with a draft of 1.7m told us they would need to haul out in Marseille to repair damage to their keel.

Mum on the helm with a castle in the background

In Lyon we went ashore to eat pizza and enjoy Eddie’s last night with us. In the morning Eddie departed back to Paris and Amanda also got off to spent a night ashore as she had an important business call the next day and was on call for her work as a yacht medic with MOS.

The next day was Amanda’s birthday and she joined us 40km down stream in St Vallier. We were all slightly jealous of Amanda’s stories about large hotel baths! Issy made Amanda a lovely pavlova raspberry cake.

There is a beautiful village where n the hill of St Vallier but children were a bit tired to travel up the steep hill to the beautiful village so we celebrated Amanda’s birthday at the local Caribbean style bar. Celebrations went long into the morning and I think I remember seeing glimpses of the sun as we went to bed!

Some of the big locks dropped us 40m to the sea.

We were out of narrow Canals and in to a wider Rhone with larger barges and cruise boats
We got to Le Port La Guinguette near town of St Michael. A beautiful old city built on a hill above the port.

The next day we had the Med Sea in sight !! 3 locks 95.4 km and 300m to drop to sea level. We continued down stream to Vallabregues then left at 6am the next morning as Amanda needed to leave from Marseilles in afternoon.

It was a misty morning, with lovely reflections. Mum was on helm most of way. We passed a number of old castles and fourts and a smelly factory, both old and new reminders that we were approaching the sea. The old fourts were probably built in the days of the Vikings to stop them rowing up stream to Paris!

Boat kids life on the riverbank. Max found a fishing pole and we spent the morning “fishing” and skimming rocks

With the sea in view we had one large lock then last lock in to Port Marseille. The last one opening in to the Mediterranean and the city of Marseille!

The Marina in Marseille was a tight fit and for the first time since Lalystad I had wind, tide and current to contend with. As the keel had been up for the past 6 months I forgot how responsive Sunday Island is in “Sea mode” and the keel down. She now turned on a dime, and I could steer her while going astern. We got in to the marina stern to With our mast over handing astern 10ft much to the displeasure of other Marina patrons.

Amanda had a taxi booked to the so was straight off To the airport in to a cheuffeur driven black limo !!!!

The canals have been an unforgettable experience. We have passed through hundreds of locks, over mountains, through tunnels, over water bridges, three countries and now Sunday Island and the Hewson’s have returned to the Mediterranean.