Seafarers are not only superstitious, they tend to believe in a Superior Being who will watch over them and keep them safe in stormy weather, shipwrecks or other danger.  This surely applies also to yachtsmen, though the huge number of Riviera yachts which never leave port evidently reveals a lack of belief in God. They should certainly try to renew their faith, if only to enjoy more sea-time.

    Others also watch over us along much of the Riviera – the French Navy’s remaining semaphores: Cap Ferrat, La Garoupe, Dramont, Cap Camarat, Porquerolles and Martigues, plus 7 in Corsica. They have a long history from ancient coast-watching times as part of the defences against the Barbary pirates, the Turks and others who coveted this attractive region, whose only access was by sea. In these more peaceable days before 9/11 the Navy reduced the watch kept, with no manning at night – until February 17, 2001 when the small coaster East Sea ran itself aground just west of Cap Dramont on the Var coast, and 908 “immigrants” (mostly Syrian Kurds though claiming to be from Iraq) swarmed ashore demanding asylum. The Navy was blamed for not intercepting the vessel which only entered French territorial waters after nightfall. But it is impossible to identify every visual or radar contact, or to investigate every vessel with unusual movements – nobody more unusual than a yacht seeking a secluded inshore anchorage. So these semaphores remain open and manned, not only to identify and log vessels they see, but also to keep a fire-watch on our vulnerable wooded areas, watch for smuggling, and report fishing, speeding and anchoring infractions, such as in the prohibited anchorage area in the centre of Villefranche Bay (historic wreck). My favourite Cap Ferrat semaphore (152-metres high) also does automatic atmospheric sampling to guard against air pollution; and is one of 10 stations round Nice airport measuring (since August 2005) the noise from aircraft landing or taking off. Anything over 55dB is automatically reported.

    Yachts form the bulk of the work of Cap Ferrat, situated in a prime part of the Riviera coast. But things were very different when it was constructed in 1862 (just after the Nizza coast became part of France) on the orders of Napoleon III. France suffered from three major wars against Germany since then, so defensive works of all types were a good (if in the end, vain) investment. During the German occupation of the Riviera which ended after the Allied landings in the Var on 15 August 1944, the semaphore with its gun-batteries was part of the Germans’ “Südwall” coastal defences; and the entire population of St-Jean-Cap-Ferrat was evacuated from the peninsular and re-housed in the Var. But in its early days Cap Ferrat station really did function as a “semaphore” with a system of visual signalling by mechanical arms to pass messages from headland to headland to Fleet HQ in Toulon, and thence to Paris. As Napoleon Bonaparte had been a strong advocate of semaphores for rapid military communications for his many campaigns, France was slow to adopt the more modern electric telegraph developed by Samuel Morse with his unforgettable (for me) Morse Code.  

    No country has a coast-watch system as developed as France’s semaphores; and yachtsmen can be grateful for their visual, radar and radio watch to protect us at sea and send help when needed. These historic buildings and their French Navy “guetteurs” are well worth visiting during the annual “Journées du Patrimoine” weekend (www.journeesdupatrimoine.culture.fr) .     M.H.

From Riviera Reporter N° 116 -  Aug/Sept 2006

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