The Island of Frioles, off Marseille

We are now on our final couple of legs of this years journey, trying to get as far westward as possible when the wind allows, so on the 1st September, with southerly winds, we set sail, going as far as we could for the day and 26NM’s later, we. stopped in La Ciotat bay for the night.

The next day, we again set sail and stopped back in our lovely Calaque, Sormiou, again for the night. it was a bit busier than it was last time, but again, it soon emptied out as the sun started to go down. the forecast showed SE winds in the morning which would be blowing straight in, so we knew it would only be for the one night…. that together with some serious storms threatening, in a couple of days, we set out trying to secure a mooring in one of the 4 marinas in Marseille, but sadly there was no room at the inn, so again Marseille will have to wait for another year. We managed to get a reservation at a place called Carry-Le Rouet for 2 days time when the rain was due to hit, so with that we headed for the Island Frioles off Marseille for the night, catching the view of Marseille as we sailed past.

Frioles

Facing Marseille, this is actually an archipelago, it is made up of four islands: Pomègue, Ratonneau, Tiboulen, and If, stunning but rather a lunar landscape on all and to be honest we have no idea which island we tucked in on anchor.

Our absolutely stunning anchorage

Sadly there was no real landing spot for the dinghy so off I (Chantal) went on the paddle-board, hoisting it up on the beach, to have a wander across to the other side, camera safely tucked in a “Overboard” waterproof bag!

The islands have belonged to the city of Marseille since 1971. The Port-Frioul village expanded together with the port which now holds 700 moorings. A few businesses also opened doors, with restaurants and a few shops, but otherwise there is little there, except peace, tranquility, walks and beautiful turquoise water! We will return as this has to be one of our favourite anchorages this summer!

More of our beautiful anchorage, With Seaclusion right in the middle!!!

This anchorage is said to have the most amazing sunsets… so we were really looking forward to it… that was until a power boat decided to arrive late, drop his pick in front of us, which kinda of ruined the view, and then bugger off after the sun had gone, typical!

We weren’t that lucky with the sunrise either as the storm clouds were starting to gather..

Our morning visitors, before we departed, trying to stay ahead of what was going to amount to 4 inches of rain in 6 hours, to Carry-Le-Rouet.

4th September 2024