Having spent a windy 5 days on the Town Quay in Brindisi, we motored round to the marina early on Sunday morning. It was great to be in the middle of town and for free but we had run out of jobs that didn’t need mains electricity. It was also taking its toll on our fenders. So much so that we had to improvise a fender sock by using an old pair of three quarters!

Recycling old trousers!

Over the last couple of days, the list of jobs we have completed include (but not limited to 😏) :

• Sorting out the front heads (toilet)
• Mending the front heads shower pump
• Getting the watermaker working again – first time since 2012!
• Drilled and set up the new gangplank (much to the relief of our future visitors, I’m sure)
• Mended and washed lots of things including ourselves and our clothes!
• Checked the bow thruster as it had stopped working just as we were coming in to moor and the wind was building nicely (not)
• Washed and got working the spinnaker pole as it was encrusted with salt. Whilst we don’t use the spinnaker as we prefer the cruising chute, we use the pole to keep the Genoa out when we are sailing down wind.
• Sending Liz up the mast to sort out the courtesy flag
• Adjusting the anchor connection
• Blowing up the fenders after they had done their job holding Nimmie off the quay

The marina is out of town in a fairly desolate spot but there are buses into the centre every 30 mins so perfectly accessible. It is also very close to the airport. From the sea, the marina is between the town quay and the outer harbour so very sheltered. As we have been in Brindisi for a week in total, we took the opportunity to travel around Puglia (next blog post) and also explore Brindisi. This has included going up the  Naval Monument that overlooks the town. It was completed in 1933 and is only open three days a week but gives fabulous views. It is opposite the town quay and shaped like a rudder.

Whilst in the marina, we also managed to catch up with Susie and Tom Bell from Sirena. They were in Malta in early May when we had an impromptu Cruising Association gathering with Helen and Iain Muir and Peter Ramsey. It was good to spend the evening with them and catch up with their adventures since Malta but slightly hungover the next day!

We have now left Nimrod for a short while in order to return to the UK. It’ll be nice to be home but, equally, we have really got into the swing of being live aboards again so feels a bit weird leaving Nimmie.