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Patrik Naindenel
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Nov 19 2022
Milking without Cows
A while ago I saw an ad about a British couple on Instagram, who developed – and now produces – a machine, which does plant-based drinks. It’s called Milky Plant 🌱
I loved the idea immediately, since it has loads of benefits. Here are a few:
- No more waste (Tetra Pak)
- No animal cruelty
- Sustainable
- You know exactly what it contains
- You can process oat, nuts, rice, hemp, peas, etc. and combine it after your taste
- The remaining pulp can be used for porridge, baking, muesli, whatever…
- You preserve the environment
- For each purchased machine they plant 5 trees and donate 1% for the planet
- And, last but not least, in the end you safe quite a lot of money, by doing your plant-based drink by yourself
It took me a while though, to order one, since it was still new on the market, and I couldn’t find many reviews (except on their website).
However, my curiosity won, and last week I ordered this wonder machine!
It arrived this week with a lot of extras, for example a thanking compostable note from Nadina and Michael, the founders, which contains flower seeds and can be planted in a pot with soil. What a sweet idea 🌷🌼
Understandably, Patrik and I had to test it immediately. See if it is that easy to handle as promised and most importantly, how does that home-made drink taste?
Well, the first try was not exactly what we expected, it looked and tasted a bit watery. We realised that we didn’t use enough oat flakes, so no surprise here. We’re sure it was the right choice to purchase Milky Plant and we look forward to explore its capability!
One huge benefit will be when we’re on the boat. No more exhausting oat-drink chasings when shopping, which then takes up a lot of the storage! Marvellous 😎
Oct 15 2022
Along the French Riviera & Côte d’Azur – Part Five..
Patrik had booked a berth at the marina in Beaulieu-sur-Mer for the following two nights. As always, we were excited to explore a new city. We also hoped to finally being able allowed to give Luna Azzurra a proper wash! She was covered in a salty crust and glittering in the sun like a diamond 💎
So, off we went, towards the French Riviera. Due to the absence of wind, so we had to use the engine again, oh dear! On our way we successfully fished a big unicorn balloon out of the water 🦄 – a little less damage in the sea!
At approx. 2 p.m. we arrived at the marina, filled up diesel at the fuel station and announced our arrival. Our berth was right there, at the entrance which suited us, since the marina was very tight. Unfortunately, boat washing was forbidden….again *aaarghh*….due to water shortage. Understandable, but annoying, nevertheless.
It was like an oven in the marina, but the surrounding was pretty, and we looked forward to visit the town. After the registering at the harbour office, we took a short stroll around and bought some fresh salad for dinner. Tomorrow we would do a proper visit and grocery shopping. We also planned to do some sightseeing, “Villa Kérylos“, a replica of an ancient Greek villa, seemed like a good choice.
Said and done! The next morning was sunny and hot again. Firstly, we did the grocery shopping, brought everything back to the boat and left again, in search for the villa.
On our way we were positively surprised what a pretty city Beaulieu is. We were definitely happy to have chosen this place for two nights.
Villa Kérylos amazed us! Is absolutely worth the visit and entrance fee (approx. 14 Euro). We enjoyed it very much. On our way out we realized that next to it lies the residence of the Eiffel family – might it be him, who built the Eiffel Tower, we were wondering…?!
Back at the boat we relaxed a little and later got ready for dinner. Nearby was an exotic looking Moroccan restaurant where we planned to eat. Sadly it was closed, so we chose an Indian restaurant near the marina. We sat outside but soon it started to drizzle whereof soon became a thunderstorm. At least we stayed dry under the umbrellas ⛈
However, the restaurant was – simply said – a catastrophe. I can’t remember having had such a bad service and the food could have just as well been something microwaved…. Very disappointing! ☹
Back at the boat we had a last glass of red before we went to bed. Good night 😴🌙
New day, new adventures! The last day in August had arrived!
The weather was a mix between sunshine and clouds, but OK so far. Shortly before 11 a.m. we said good-bye to Beaulieu-sur-Mer and headed for Italy. We wanted to get to San Remo today and anchor there.
Due to lack of wind, we had to motor-sail again. Too bad! After two o’clock we passed Menton and with Ventimiglia we entered Italian waters. The grey clouds were still present, together with the waves. Hopes were still high that it wouldn’t get worse!
After a bumpy ride we finally arrived at our destination and at five we dropped the anchor. Good holding this time, since it’s a sandy bottom 😉
And hey, the sun came out 🌞 We treated ourselves to a short aperitif and afterwards it was time to prepare dinner: Vegan, homemade burgers and fresh salad *yummy*
Unfortunately, the night was pretty uncomfortable due to non-stop swells….. Yeah well, always something, isn’t it?
Sep 24 2022
Along the French Riviera & Côte d’Azur – Part Two
Thursday, 18th August
New day, new problems adventures!
The portside toilet outlet was blocked! FANTASTICO!! 💩
So poor Patrik had to jump into the water and with a coil and my help the disaster was one hour later history.
Off we went towards Golfe de St. Tropez. As suspected the famous marina was fully booked. Unfortunately, also Port Grimaud – which would have been our favourite choice. In the end we settled for the Marine de Cogolin and booked a berth two nights!
And what a lovely marina that is: Exceptionally friendly and helpful staff, there is a water taxi doing its laps permanently in the marina and the ferry terminal into St. Tropez is just around the corner. We were very happy we ended up in this marina 😊
First we had to buy a new gas bottle (well two actually!) and bread. It was a long walk in the end to a “nearby” (depends if you have a car or not) shopping mall. At least we found what we were looking for and returned happily to our boat and enjoyed a well-deserved dinner!
The next day Patrik was finally able to give Luna Azzurra a proper wash, while Pascale and I went back to the mall to do some serious grocery shopping! Unfortunately, we almost forgot that we didn’t have a vehicle with us (except our old trolley). And it was HOT! So it took us a while to get back to the boat…. Patrik was already enjoying a beer when we arrived and after everything was stored, we made plans for the evening: Visiting the glamorous St. Tropez, including a nice dinner.
Well, around 6 p.m. we were ready, took the crowded ferry – which stopped at Port Grimaud to let passenger on and off – shortly after stepped on land the bustling city.
St. Tropez itself is beautiful but the people there, who must see and – more importantly – be seen, was a bit too much for me personally! Too extravagant, too exaggerated, too snobby, too everything…
However, after strolling around we started to search for a restaurant which wasn’t fully booked (that was a bit of a challenge). At last, we found a nice one, which was also willing to cook a vegan meal for me. Pascale and Patrik ordered from the à la carte menu.
It turned out that Pascale’s boss had insisted to pay for our meal in St. Tropez (which was tasty by the way)! Merci beaucoup, encore une fois, Monsieur! 🥰
Afterwards we took the ferry back to the Marine de Cogolin and arrived at “home” around midnight. Bonne nuit, mes amis 😴
Saturday, 20th August arrived and we said good-bye to the bustling lifestyle! The traffic was crazy inside the Golfe de St. Tropez, superyachts and all kind of other motorboats criss-crossed each other, rushing somewhere, without any sense of respect or how close they overtook! Absolutely MAD!
Our next stop was the tranquil Île de Porquerolles, a beautiful island and nature reserve. Patrik and I were briefly there after we purchased Luna Azzurra and sailed her from Barcelona to Loano in 2018. And we promised to come back one day! Ta-daaaaa, here we were! 😛
The journey took longer than expected. At least it was a beautiful day, hot and sunny 🌞 Around 7 p.m. we were finally safely anchored, after three attempts, just outside (N-W) the marina. It seemed many other had the same idea, it wasn’t easy to find a suitable spot. However, here we were – CHEERS 🥂
Sep 17 2022
Along the French Riviera & Côte d’Azur – Part One
We’re back, after three and a half weeks on board Luna Azzurra. Amazing, how fast time flies!
This time our friend Pascale from Luxembourg joined us the first ten days. She came by train on August 12th and together we drove to Loano the day after.
We planned to sail to La Grande Motte, where she would take the train from Montpellier on August 23 and – via Paris – travel back to Luxembourg. She had already organized her trip home, bought her tickets and so on 🚂
Everything went as planned, the six hours drive to the marina, then grocery shopping, pumping-up our brand-new dinghy, the SUP’s, charging our brand-new e-propulsion outboard engine and generally settling in on board. For Pascale it was the first long sailing trip, so understandably, she was extra excited. Well, she loved her cabin, which was a good start 😍
Sunday morning arrived and although it was a bit raining and cloudy, our spirits were high and we looked forward to our adventure! Arrivederci Loano 👋
Unfortunately, Pascale didn’t feel 100% and Patrik and I tried to make her as comfortable as possible. At least the rain stopped after a while and the sun came more and more out. We even saw several pods of whales on the horizon, accompanied by a Whale Watching vessel.
We wanted to spend our first night anchoring in Diano Marina but the swells there were too annoying, so we decided to try our luck in Porto Maurizio/Imperia. The same swells there, so we continued our journey, hoping that San Remo would be calmer. Luckily it was and we enjoyed a sunny evening.
We warmed up our Chilli sin Carne which we’d prepared at home and – at least Patrik and I – had a nice evening. Pascale still felt a bit sickly and couldn’t eat much. She was sure it wasn’t seasickness, though, so our fingers were crossed that she would feel better fantastic the next day!
And *YEAH* she did! What a relief!! 👍
From now on ALL of us enjoyed the sailing trip, although the weather wasn’t always perfect. Especially, the swells at several nights made it quite uncomfortable, which was a shame of course. And we never really experienced this sea like a mirror, which is nice when you want to go swimming.
However, from San Remo we continued to Nice, where we anchored in Saint-Jean-Cap-Ferrat. The sun was out and the temperatures rose. We decided to stay for two nights and the next day we took the dingy and visited the town. Dinghy and e-propulsion worked outstanding, so we were more than happy with our purchase!
The town turned out to be a little gem, clearly worth to visit again, or maybe even book a berth in the pretty marina. Perhaps another time!
On Wednesday 17th August we woke up with rain and some thunderstorm 🌩
We left and our next anchor spot should have been with the Isle Ste Marguerite…. Well, we ended up close to Port de Crouton, since the shelter was supposed to be better there.
It was a bumpy ride with some drizzle, but at least not a long one. After two o’clock we dropped the anchor in the bay – and suddenly it started pouring down while I was at the bow *haha*
About two hours later we realized that we were slightly gliding – bad anchor holding – so we had to raise the anchor and start the anchoring process again. Well, this time it held!
Our bad luck continued though. When we wanted to start the stove for our dinner (potato wedges and vegan burgers) the gas bottle was empty. No worries, we always have a spare one on board! It turned out that this one was also empty……… CRAP! Someone in Loano must have stolen our full bottle and even had the nerves to replace it with an empty one!! F@#K!! 🤬
At least we had enough salad in the fridge, so it was salad and bread for dinner 😳
Well, we took it humour and added a nice bottle of wine – cheers!
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