It’s traditional at this time of year to look back over the previous 12 months and review the highlights. We certainly had plenty of fun and a very busy summer season, which unfortunately meant we were unable to accommodate everyone who wanted to join us in July and August, so don’t leave your holiday booking for this year until the last minute!

There were a number of trips to Corsica and Rich, who has been Skipper of Kishti for the past two years, took the fantastic photos below of Marina d’Elbo and Cap Rossu. Corsica never fails to delight with its rugged coastline and turquoise water bursting with fish. Even in the middle of summer there is still complete tranquillity to be found away from any crowds.

The Ligurian coast of Italy has also started to feature more on our guests’ itineraries. Several new marinas have now opened, which has made this coastline accessible to large yachts, adding Imperia and Loano as places to overnight on the way to Portofino. Dark Star also sailed the Cinque Terre region and on down to Porto Venere and Livorno, from where guests visited Pisa. Trish takes credit for the photos of Italy below that she took during the trip.

In October, as we packed away Kishti, Kallista and DreamCatcher for the winter, Dark Star went into the paint shop for the yachting equivalent of a facial – a hull re-spray. She emerged a month later on a grey November day with a very shiny, dark blue hull and left almost immediately for sunnier climes in the Caribbean. Rich and Lottie, who many of you will know from Kishti, have now taken over Dark Star as Captain and Chef/Chief Stewardess from Matt and Trish, who are currently enjoying a yacht-free winter on dry land for the first time in five and a half years.

It’s been a beautiful month on the Cote d’Azur and guests have been in the best place to enjoy the hot weather – on a yacht, away from the crowds and with a sea breeze to keep them comfortable. We’ve been pretty much fully booked since the beginning of July, apart from the odd day or two, so everyone’s been working hard but having fun at the same time. There’s nothing more rewarding than knowing you’ve been able to give someone a fantastic holiday with their family and friends, and we’re delighted to have welcomed so many of you aboard this summer.

But it doesn’t end here, we’re just re-grouping after the UK Bank Holiday weekend and all yachts getting ready to receive either new guests or their owners for the first couple of weeks of September. The weather is still fabulous and, as you can see from the photos I took yesterday, the Cote d’Azur really does love up to the name coined by poet Stephen Liegeard in 1887, with vivid blue sea and sky, perfectly set off by the rocky coastline and umbrella pines.

From St Tropez to Toulon, the coastline is wild and natural with craggy inlets which create the classic patchwork shades of blue and turquoise as you look down from the high capes. A succession of anchorages, some suitable for overnight stays, allow you to enjoy beaches and coves that otherwise can only be reached on foot via the ‘Sentir Littoral’, which runs along the whole coast and itself provides a pleasant diversion for a morning ashore. The snorkelling is also particularly good here, and who can resist a swim in that turquoise water?

Most people think of the French Riviera in terms of the metropolis of large resorts such as Cannes or the celebrity antics in St Tropez, but the Isles d’Hyeres, of which Port Cros is one island, are a world away from the crowds.

Covering little more than a square mile, Port Cros has been a National Park since 1963. It’s a thickly forested hilly little isle, criss-crossed by tracks and trails for walking and edged with sandy bays and high cliffs. The village of Port Cros itself is no more than a few buildings lining the back of a dusty quayside, with an eclectic mix of small boats, yacht tenders, canoes and dive vessels tied up to the various floating pontoons. Its stately row of date palms and a couple of hillside forts contribute to the impression of an island in the French Caribbean.

Another similarity is that, along with the other islands in the group, Port Cros was  inhabited by pirates for some four centuries. Originally belonging to the monastery of St Honorat (situated on an island just off Cannes), the monks failed to prevent the Saracens from carrying off the islands’ inhabitants in 1160 and in the 1500s the pirates were regularly attacking French ships and even pillaged the nearby naval port of Toulon on one occasion. Francoise 1er built the forts in an attempt to become allies with the pirates and tame them, but his troops simply became pirates themselves, and later rulers had to re-build them.

Today, the island has a relaxed and unpretentious air to it; the quayside bars have no ‘lounge’ music, the yachts are mainly of the sailing variety and flip flops are the order of the day. Those who want to be seen are elsewhere, those in Port Cros are here to get away from it all. Watch our video and sail with Dream Sailing to Port Cros to see for yourself.

There’s good snorkelling, including an underwater trail to follow, and the area is a popular dive spot. Stephane at Sun Plongee offers guided dives. For eating and drinking ashore, I recommend l’Hostellerie Provencale – great fish, a tropical kind of ambiance and a lovely sunset view.

The sea temperature here on the French Riviera has now risen above 20 degrees, so this weekend we thought it was time to get the toys out and test all of our water sports gear. Saturday started early with everyone heading out in their tenders with an assortment of water skis and wakeboards onto some nice flat water whilst no-one else was about.

Crew members who can already ski or wake board were clearly in their element, whilst those for whom it’s still early days were less convinced that this weekend was billed as fun! However, here at Dream Sailing we know our guests love to have a go at wakeboarding and ringoing with the inflatables, especially the children, and everyone needs to know what it involves. Before we take guests out, we also need to discover all those little problems such as corroded zips on gear bags – not much good getting ready to go wakeboarding and then discovering you can’t get the tow line out of the bow bag!!

Not everywhere along the coast is suitable for water sports and in some areas such activity is strictly controlled, so we went off to Theoule-sur-Mer, a beautiful bay close to Cannes which is ideal. It’s a tiny place which presents the perfect Riviera vista to admire from a yacht: terracotta villas, crenellated towers, palm trees and bright dashes of bougainvillea. We also discovered a great beach bar called the Marco Polo – the ideal spot for aperos before your skipper comes to collect you by tender for dinner aboard.

Later in the evening, a small but dedicated band decided more wakeboarding was on the cards. Stef from DreamCatcher experienced a renewed rush of determination to learn to get up on a wakeboard and Rich from Kishti can never refuse an opportunity to get in the water, so off they went. By the end even the nav lights were on, but Stef managed her first 50 yards or so standing up and they were finally allowed home.

Crewing a luxury yacht is harder work than most people imagine and there’s a lot to learn. We like to make sure that everything is perfect for our guests, so our crews practice on ‘test guests’ early in the season in order to refine their sailing and hospitality skills. This weekend we headed out of Port Grimaud first thing on Saturday morning and anchored for lunch at Bastide Blanche. Afterwards, we sailed on to the island of Port Cros and anchored overnight in the beautiful bay of Port Man, where a delicious dinner for all guests was hosted aboard Kallista.

Sunday morning showed the Riviera at it’s best: azure blue sky, crystal clear water and the promise of a good breeze for sailing later. But first, a short trip around to the village of Port Cros itself. This is a tiny gem of a place, more than a little reminiscent of the French Caribbean; relaxed and unpretentious with it’s old fort on the hillside and row of tall palm trees in front of a few little bars and restaurants.

Next an exhilarating sail back to the mainland, anchoring in the Bay of Cavaliere for lunch, before heading back to Port Grimaud. As you’ve probably guessed, it’s a tough life being a test guest, but you do have to do some work – during and at the end of their stay on board, our testers do have to make observations and deliver feedback to their crew. They have high expectations, just as our real clients do, so weekends like this present crews with situations and challenges that they will have to deal with throughout the summer.

Our friends at Le Chateau de Berne near to Lorges welcomed us yesterday for some lessons in wine making and tasting – all educational of course! Set in stunning grounds of around 500 hectares, the Chateau produces a range of fine wines which we serve on board. It also has a lovely auberge where many of our guests have stayed before or after their holiday afloat.

Brigitte kindly shared her expertise and passion for the wines with us, teaching everyone how to select appropriate wines to suit both the occasion and the food they are to accompany. This was all followed by a tour of the ‘cave’ to see how the wines are produced and a classic French lunch of bread and cheese, accompanied of course by a glass or two of rose!

It was a beautiful day to travel up into the countryside of Provence: blue skies, roses in full bloom amongst the vines (they are planted as a warning signal as they succumb to any pests before the vines do), and meadows full of poppies. A great way to discover the centuries of tradition, the importance of the ‘terroir’ (soil, slope aspect and so on) and the hours, weeks and years of dedicated effort that goes into producing a bottle of wine. Our guests can certainly look forward to some very enjoyable quaffing this summer.

One thing that did come to light at the tag rugby game was that Matt can actually run. As you’ll see from the photo, he put in a convincing performance heading for the try line, but it wasn’t long before he adopted a more familiar pose – and got told off by Trish.

It was back to work afterwards and the yachts are now sparkling. Everyone has also had a go at serving lunch and dinner aboard as well as being guests for each other, so we’ve all eaten very well this week. Sails are going back on today and tomorrow and then it’s parking practice for the new skippers (with lots of fenders to hand!).

The fleet is now assembled in Port Napoleon at the mouth of the Rhone, all of our crew members are here and we’re busy polishing yachts, fixing things, getting oily and practising cooking.

As well as all the hard work, there’s been time to relax with a welcome dinner at the now famous ‘Monique’s’ restaurant, which opened specially just for us last Wednesday, and a beach barbeque with tag rugby tournament. The rugby went down so well that I think we may have a crack team looking to challenge the yard staff and probably the marina staff when we get to Port Grimaud. We even have a mascot – a large soft toy dog which Rich rescued from the recycling corner of the yard. He’s yet to be named, but it looks like he’s now a permanent crew member and is due for an honorary whirl in the washing machine before his next appearance!

The Dream Team beach party