boat hire in Marseille · Jeanneau — Sun Odyssey 34.2 (2001)

My wife and I came to vacation in France to visit our daughter who is doing a semester here. We decided to do a road trip from Paris to the south of France. We are sailors from Miami, Florida and wanted to spend some time on a boat in the Mediterranean. We found Captain Paul and his boat on Click&Boat and had a great time. Here's the scoop. Paul speaks almost no English. We speak almost no French, though our daughter speaks some. Paul's first mate speaks some Spanish, and we are fluent in Spanish so between all those variables we were able to communicate pretty well, but if you don't speak French, it will be difficult. Paul and his first mate could not have been friendlier. Forget the stereotypes of rude Frenchmen. These were genuinely nice people. The boat is an older model Jeanneau Melody 34. If you want to sail on a brand new, spotless boat then I suggest you move on. However, if you're like us and enjoy sailing on a budget, then this is probably the charter for you. The boat is moored in a slip at the CAM (Cercle d'aviron de Marseille - Marseille Rowing Club) in the L'Estaque village, just west of Marseille proper. It was cloudy and the wind was very light in the morning, so we mostly motored. Then we anchored near Pointe Pomegues on the Isle Pomegues and had a lovely lunch made up of items we brought and which Paul brought. He also gave us complimentary beers, wine and mineral water. By the afternoon it cleared up and the wind picked up, so we enjoyed some really nice sailing. All in all, a great experience.