I feel like I am ahead of schedule. I shall be ascending the Rhone tomorrow morning. The mast is down and arrangements are made for www.masttransporte.de to p.u. the mast here, next week and deliver it to Lelystad, Holland. This will make this trip a lot easier than the Danube trip with the mast always in the way.
It was a short motor trip from Marseille. I decided to anchor out in a salt bay near here so that I could observe the pleiades meteor shower. I stuck my head out a few times during the night but in a half hour period I saw 4 quick flashes. Nothing very different from a night out on the ocean. The spot here where I had the mast removed has a good size marine (sail only) chandlery, rigging and spar shop. A Robot is crunching away in a side office and these people produce a full line of very interesting hardware as varied as, say a Harken brand. They will totally custom outfit any boat, particular long distance cruisers. The shop is called SeaTex. www.seatex,fr A very nice couple from Bonn on their way into the med from the Rhone gave me their charts for the Rhone and Saone. I also purchased my vignette for the French waters on line. About 100 earoes for one month. So, I am all set.