Brindabella

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