Vessel Name: | Brindabella |
Vessel Make/Model: | Najad 405 |
Hailing Port: | Suffolk Yacht Harbour, UK |
Crew: | Simon, Fiona and Daisy the dog! |
About: | Simon and Fiona had Brindabella built in Sweden before she was launched in 2009. They sailed her from Sweden back to Suffolk in the UK. They are now exploring the Mediterranean. |
It was a short trip from Marina Cala de Medici to Porto di Pisa. There were light winds, so we motored all of the way.
We left Porto Azzuro on the island of Elba and were returning to the mainland and Marina Cala de Medici. We got the sails up in the bay and motored out to sea. The sails were reefed as we were expecting some wind.
We were up early reviewing the various weather forecasts, as there was some difference between them. This is not unusual in the med. Some forecasts said it would be fine, but one of the forecasts on Predict Wind indicated strong winds in the wrong direction. After an update at 9am, that model pulled [...]
We had to leave Giannutri early the next morning as the wind direction changed and we would have been pushed onto the rocks. The weather was due to change. There was a Gale Force 7 with gusts forecast on the VHF radio, from the French Riviera and down across Corsica. It sounded like the Mistral. In the [...]
We have now reached the island of Giannutri which is one of the Tuscan islands. It is wild and exposed. The island forms a natural crescent shape, shallow enough to anchor close to the shore, otherwise it is too deep. There is a little harbour where the ferry lands. We anchored quite close to some rocks, [...]
We motored round from Rome and the sea still had remnants of swell. Three and a half hours later, we reached the marina at Traiano. This is a large modern well protected marina with cafes, restaurants and chandleries.
At 8.30am, we slipped our lines at Nettuno and headed towards the port of Rome. It was warm, but the air was muggy with little wind. On the VHF radio, we heard a Force 7 to 8 gale warning for Corsica, broadcast in Italian, French and English. Simon had already seen on the forecast an increase in swell [...]
It was a calm day with a light wind, so we motorsailed from Ponza to the marina at Nettuno. We had been here last year and had to watch the depth at the marina entrance. In one patch the depth sounder recorded 2.7m, we draw 2.1m. On the approach to the marina, we prepared to tie up, alongside rather [...]
After a brief walk around Ventotene, we had breakfast in a café and bought a few food items in a little grocery shop. It was calm at sea, and we saw an army helicopter overhead, that did a fly by and circled the boat twice.