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.
15 April 2024
13 April 2024
11 April 2024
09 April 2024
08 April 2024
05 April 2024
04 April 2024
02 April 2024
29 March 2024
26 March 2024
23 March 2024
22 March 2024
21 March 2024
20 March 2024
19 March 2024
18 March 2024
30 October 2023
Recent Blog Posts
18 April 2024

Isola d’Elba – Porto Azzurro

Position update: Isola d’Elba – Porto Azzurro

15 April 2024

Porto Santo Stefano

Position update: Porto Santo Stefano

13 April 2024

Isola di Giannutri

Position update: At anchor off Isola di Giannutri

11 April 2024

Riva di Triano

Position update: Riva di Triano

09 April 2024

Porto di Roma

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 [...]

08 April 2024

Nettuno

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 [...]

05 April 2024

Ponza

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.

04 April 2024

Ventotene

After buying a few provisions, we left the island of Procida bound for the island of Ventotene.

02 April 2024

Procida

It took two and a half hours to motor out from Naples to Marina Grande on the island of Procida.

29 March 2024

Naples

Early in the morning, we were up walking Daisy and trying to decide whether to use Good Friday to travel to Naples. The forecast for the day was calm, but the following few days were going to be very windy. Simon had contacted Powerboat Marina in Santa Lucia, Naples and they replied that they had a berth [...]

Nice

05 August 2021
Fiona
When we left Cannes, it was sunny with a light wind. The sea was very calm, and we had a lovely trip as far as Cap d’Antibes until the sea then became like water in a washing machine! There was around 1 metre of swell and wash from motorboats whipping up the waves.

What I found disconcerting was the number of helicopters overhead at sea. When I hear a helicopter, I think of the search and rescue coastguard and associate it with danger. However, here it’s just a person having a helicopter ride to view the coast, or someone moving from super yacht to shore for the airport! Once clear of the point, we approached the beautiful Nice coastline and into the port of Nice.

There was a ferry in the port entrance that goes to Sardinia. The harbour is very pretty with white stone and fir trees, tall apartments, all different coloured facades with shutters on the windows.

There are three layers of boat. The first is a layer of local small brightly wooden fishing boats, the second layer is medium sized cruising boat and motorboats. The final layer being very large yachts, almost mini ships!



Nice is very much a working city, with a lovely old town. The post office is close to the port, with a few bistros and chandlers. There is also a modern tram which goes directly from the port to airport. We walked along the promenade of the very large beach. The water was a beautiful turquoise colour with a pebbly grey beach. We spent some time in the cool and leafy Eco park, where we saw full grown vines and tall fig trees.

We visited the flower market here and fruit and veg market. Here we tried a local snack, Socca, which was a savoury chickpea pancake.



Nice is the last French port that we will visit along the Côte d'Azur. We are planning to go to Monaco next and then into Italy. However, the procedure to enter Monaco is complex. Simon has been emailing both the port and the maritime airport police to get clearance. It has involved both normal security clearance, but also proving that we have had Covid vaccinations. Once we get to Monaco, we will be doing the same again for entry to Italy.

Time: 3:30 hours Miles: 18nm Total Time: 21:00 hours Total Miles: 115nm
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Brindabella's Photos - Main
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15 March 2024
32 Photos
16 April 2023
102 Photos