Brindabella

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.
26 March 2024
23 March 2024
22 March 2024
21 March 2024
20 March 2024
19 March 2024
18 March 2024
30 October 2023
16 October 2023
14 October 2023
13 October 2023
12 October 2023
11 October 2023
05 October 2023
04 October 2023
02 October 2023
01 October 2023
Recent Blog Posts
26 March 2024

Marina d’Arechi

Position update: in Marina d’Arechi

23 March 2024

Salerno

Sunshine bathed the anchorage in the early morning when Daisy went for her walk. We left in calm and very low winds, so we motored all the way to Salerno. There was a lot of debris in the water such as bamboo and branches. I had to avoid a log which was attached to a floating upright tree!

22 March 2024

Baia del Buon Dormire

We left the anchorage at Centerio very gingerly, so as not to touch the shallow sandbar. It was a cloudy day, but the sea was calm. We saw two dolphins briefly approach the boat and then disappear. There are very few marinas along this part of the coast, so we planned to anchor at Palinuro, where we [...]

21 March 2024

Cetraro

While at Santa Maria we debated whether we should continue north or go to Tropea for a few days. There was settled weather for the next few days and strong winds forecast for next week. We needed very calm weather for the next two stops because we would be anchoring. If we stopped in Tropea, which is [...]

20 March 2024

Santa Maria

On Wednesday we had a good forecast for passing through the Strait of Messina. This is a narrow stretch of water between Sicily and mainland Italy. There can be strong tides here and it is better to have the tide and wind with you when making this passage. Unfortunately, the website that shows the current [...]

19 March 2024

Sicily – Riposto

The next stage of the cruise was from Siracusa to Riposto. It was a beautiful morning and very calm when we took the anchor up in the bay of Siracusa.

18 March 2024

Sicily - Siracusa

We had spent the weekend preparing Brindabella for the cruise. We got the sails up and fitted everything that we had removed for the winter layup. The cupboards and fridge were also filled with food and drink. By Monday morning, we were ready to set sail.

15 March 2024

Sicily - Marina di Ragusa

Today we were lifted back into the water for the weekend. We will spend a couple of days putting the sails up and provisioning for the cruise.

07 March 2024

Sicily - Marina di Ragusa

We arrived back at the boat on the 7th March and gave her a quick clean before being lifted into the yard on the 8th March. Fiona and I moved into a hotel for the week while the yard have been applying new antifoul and polishing the topsides.

30 October 2023

Sicily – Marina di Ragusa

We spent 12 days in Marina di Ragusa doing a mixture of visiting the sights of Sicily and working on the boat. The marina really started to fill up while we were there, and it is a popular over wintering spot. There were boats from many different countries including the UK, Germany, Denmark, Sweden and [...]

Cassis

18 September 2020
Fiona
After six nights at anchor, we were starting to run low on fresh food supplies and also wanted to find a laundrette. The weather was forecast to be unsettled with thundery showers, so we needed to find shelter in a marina. We were looking forward to going into the Port of Cassis, but we knew from the pilot book, that there were very few visitor berths.

There was a procedure to follow before we could enter the port. Firstly we had to phone the Capitainerie at 7am, for them to take your boat name and dimensions, then we had to phone again at 10.30am to check whether there was a space, which we were then told, yes there is a space and that we could enter the harbour at 3pm. We left the anchorage and motored to the Bay of Cassis, where we anchored off for an hour to have a late lunch, drop Bella off ashore briefly and prepare fenders and warps.

On arriving in the port, the Harbour Master greeted us in his dinghy. He was very friendly and told us how he wanted us to moor. We were to be pinned in four corners by ropes and chains on the harbour seabed, then with our centre cleat. We had to place five fenders in a row in the middle of the boat. In effect, we were mooring against a round ended concrete quay.
We knew that wind and thundery showers were on their way, so we spent a long while making sure that we were secure in the event of extreme wind and swell. There was a fantastic storm the second night, followed on the third day with torrential rain.

It was well worth the wait to enter Cassis. We were greeted by a very pretty harbour, reminiscent of Honfleur. The harbour was mainly full of small boats. The houses were old and painted beige and pink, cafes and restaurants encircled the harbour, with a 14th Century castle on the opposite side, which has been transformed into a posh hotel.



There was a pretty church whose clock started chiming at 5am in the morning! The streets were unusual because they were made of the shiny white local limestone. There were also some smart shops, one of which sold around fifty different perfumed bars of Marseille soap.
We took the opportunity to restock the boat with food and to do the laundry, everyday tasks, but these still need to be done in a tourist town.

The visitors mooring was right in the centre of town, so very convenient to step off the boat to visit the bakers in the morning, and to visit the fish restaurants at night. We stumbled across a wonderful wine bar, where you could try a glass of wine and then purchase a bottle. We talked to the bartender for a long while asking questions about the different wines in the local regions. We tried a white Cassis wine which was very pleasant.



On Monday, we walked round to the Capitainerie to pay our fees. We noticed three small fishing boats. One of them had just landed its catch and had set up a little stall. We purchased a sea bream, which we later barbecued for dinner.

Time: 2:00 hours Miles: 8nm Total Time: 69:00 hours Total Miles: 380nm
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Brindabella's Photos - Main
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15 March 2024
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16 April 2023
102 Photos