Mouillage

Plage de L'Estaque

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Shelter: N, NE, E, NW
Seabed: sand, algae
Anchoring: Allowed

Open anchorage off L'Estaque beach in the northern suburbs of Marseille, on the Côte Bleue side of the Rade.

Beach
Seagrass

Guide

Approach and anchoring

Approach from the south into the northern Rade de Marseille. The bottom is sand, weed and rock; what looks like sand can be a rock slab that will not hold, so dive to check the set. Sheltered from N, NE, E and NW, well enough to hold up in a strong mistral; fully exposed to SW swell. A summer thermal breeze can raise a short chop in the afternoon. Keep clear of the commercial traffic line into the Grand Port Maritime.

Practical

Day anchorage only in settled weather. Do not leave valuables visible on deck; dinghies and boats left unattended have been targeted from the beach. Corbières harbour lies 0.4 nm to the NE and L'Estaque harbour 1.1 nm to the E for shelter if wind turns, with shops at L'Estaque. Train station L'Estaque on the Marseille-Miramas line 400 m inland.

Ashore

Village seafront with tapenade and panisse stalls along Plage de Corbières. The GR 2013 coastal footpath climbs north toward the Niolon creeks. Marker plaques on the quayside note the spots where Cézanne, Braque and Derain painted the bay between 1870 and 1908.

History

L'Estaque was a fishing village annexed by Marseille in 1850. Paul Cézanne stayed here during the Franco-Prussian War in 1870 and returned repeatedly until 1885. Braque and Derain painted their first Fauvist and proto-Cubist canvases from the same viewpoints in 1906 to 1908.