Velero Sun Odyssey 410

The local operator is very professional

We had a brand new Sun Odyssey 410 "Fortnite" which was faultless and 4 crew (2 newbies, 1 competent crew and me, the Skipper). Castellammare di Stabia is about 30 minutes from Naples International, pre book your taxi with https://www.airports-shuttle-express.com. The Captain's Corner restaurant in the marina is great for coffee and lunch with very friendly and nice staff. The base manager, Gianluca, is very professional and polite. It should be borne in mind that the Castellammare di Stabia area is very deprived with high unemployment and low incomes, so I wouldn't advise venturing into town. Having said that, the base team did organise for a local supermarket to pick me up from the marina and drive me free of charge to their grocery store for the week's shop (20 min drive each way). I'd definitely recommend that option. The Amalfi cost has no natural harbours, so research marinas and availability before you go. We went from Castellammare to Ischia then to Capri to Amalfi Town to Positano to Sorrento to Castellammare. Re marinas, Capri is a nightmare, not challenging to navigate but Capri Marina Grande seem to hate charter boats as they rely on superyachts for the majority of their income. So on arrival at Capri for our PRE BOOKED bert we were 'greeted' by the most useless/negligent dockhand in history (Vicenzo, about 30 years old, 180cm, tattoos on his left arm). He did a bowline but when we requested a slip, he simply walked away and swore at us. Luckily a German crew next to us helped. On the opposite end of the spectrum, there is a James Bond-esque marina chap at Amalfi Town marina, Giulio. He was absolutely AMAZING, worth going to that marina just for his close quarter skills. When we arrived at Amalfi Town, I thought Giulio would simply guide us in on his rib, nope! He rocked up to our transom on his rib, jumped on, took the helm, max revs and parked our boat through impossible gaps at max speed. Suffice to say the ladies on board were, shall we say, somewhat 'excited' by Giulio's exploits in a 50 Shades of Grey sense! Positano only has mooring balls, and they charge you for two nights if you arrive before 5pm. If you're planning this trip, we found the ladies on board wanted to stay in Capri for 2 nights and do more bling shopping!! we only managed 1 night and I didn't hear the end of it!!! Amazing scenery and very reasonably priced restaurants all over Amalfi