Like almost every day, Christian took his boat to go fishing. But on the way back to port de Carro near Martigues (Bouches-du-Rhône)he has his face from the bad days. “The sea, beautiful eh but not too many fish”, laments the Marseillais. Not much underwater, then. On the other hand, on the surface, “a lot of boats. Since it’s the holidays here, I just avoid these people”, he explains. For him, the best time to sail, “it would be rather September-October. For the fish it’s better”, he blurts out, smiling.
Blue skies, bright sunshine and high temperatures: weather conditions that make you want to set sail. On the Mediterranean coast, many boaters are currently plying the coasts. And most boats gather close to the coast so as not to consume too much fuel. “The price of fuel has consequences”, says Jean-Michel Roque, vice-president of the SNSM lifeguard station. “The public tends to stay close to the coast, so it’s a blessing in disguise. We are not going to look too far, too far”, he jokes.
Except that this year, after two summers marked by the Covid, breakdowns and damage are numerous and so are towing operations. “I have just made the list and there we have about ten interventions. The last ones are really engine damage, lack of petrol, electrical fires”. For the rescuer, it is a “Covid effect”. “People have been confined for two years, then remember that they either have a paddle or a cousin, an uncle who has a small semi-rigid motor boat”. And the lack of maintenance and a poor knowledge of his boat generate “necessarily” a breakdown, according to Jean-Michel Roque.
This risk is also significant for private-to-private rentals, a booming market. “It’s true that when you rent a boat privately, you necessarily know your boat less well. So it’s likely to cause problems at sea and breakdowns and accidents.”
The rescuer says he sometimes sees “trapanelles” or some “pitalugues”, Marseille expressions to talk about poorly maintained boats. The advice of the professional of the sea: “doing business with companies that have a storefront, that are registered, for which this is the heart of their activity”. And which therefore limit the risk of a bad surprise once at sea.