Month: September 2024 (Page 1 of 2)

We both agreed that the sail from Malta to Tunisia was one of our favorites of the season. We had a lovely beam reach from the south, followed by a beam reach from the north. Very little swell, it was champagne sailing the entire way.

The only distressing part of the trip was the regular radio calls to Lampedusa regarding migrant boats. Lampedusa is a small island belonging to Italy that is the most likely landing spot for migrants fleeing the middle east and Africa via Libya and Tunisia. With good southern winds, traffickers bring the migrants out in large dinghies/boats, remove the engine, and cast them afloat, with the idea that they will float toward the island where they will be rescued and either given asylum or flee on their own accord. We saw one such boat and reported it to the Lampedusa authorities, after getting close enough to confirm that it was empty. We have a sturdy boat that had protected us in all conditions. I cannot fathom the level of desperation that these migrants must feel to have to risk their lives in these types of boats that go out in sometimes awful conditions.

Our other bit of concern was a near miss with an Italian ferry around midnight. We were sailing through a cluster of fishing boats which move erratically (but usually slowly enough to avoid). I had noticed another vessel, which turned out to be a ferry. Unfortunately I lost track of the light combinations in the dark, and suddenly realized that the ferry was heading straight for us. Thanks to AIS I could hail the ferry by name on the radio. Though they responded right away, it took what felt like hours (was only a minute most likely) to confirm that they saw us. The skipper very kindly adjusted course so that we would not have to (difficult when under sail, it’s not like we can speed up), and wished us a good evening.

Though the wind was blowing only 10 knots, we triple reefed the main and only had a slip of a jib out to slow us down dramatically. We don’t like entering new ports at night, much less new countries. Additionally, Tunisia has many massive fishing nets that are not lit at night that we didn’t want to tangle with. We ghosted along and made it into port just after daybreak. Welcome to Tunisia!

Birgu is one of the Three Cities of Malta, across Grand Harbor from Valetta. It’s a bit of a pain to get to (dinghy, ferry, bus), but includes a ride on a traditional wooden dghasjsa, the Maltese water taxi.

It’s also home to one of the fancier marinas, and it’s home to the Maltese Falcon, a prototype to the Black Pearl who we shared a marina with last winter. But fancy as the waterfront is, wandering through the back streets of the village is charming. Every corner you turn has another beautiful little alley way.

The first time we visited, the local rowing club was celebrating having won the annual Victory Day Regatta for the first time in 42 years!

Marsaxlokk is a small fishing village at the southern end of Malta. We had originally planned on anchoring outside the village to ride out the winds before we got the mooring, so we opted to take the bus instead.

The village has a ‘shabby chic’ look due to the decaying limestone buildings at the waterfront.

Sunday is market day, when the fishermen bring their catch in and sell directly to the public. However, that means getting to town early in the morning, which we weren’t likely to do, so we opted for a weekday when things would be a bit less crowded. It’s still a charming place, just quieter. The boats (called luzzu) are brightly painted and have eyes painted on the prow to ward off bad weather.

Malta, but especially the city of Valletta, looks like it has been carved out of limestone (which makes up most of the island). Drab to the eye at the initial viewing, it’s fascinating as you look closer. The architecture is mostly baroque (based on building styles since the most recent earthquake which destroyed others) with little pops of color here and there. Under attack again and again through the centuries, everywhere you look you see fortresses.

From Sliema, it’s a ferry ride, followed by a bus (or a steep walk), followed by a lift up to the Baraka Gardens. From here you can watch the cannons fired daily at noon across the Grand Harbor.

The walk down past the city gates, takes you to the Trident fountain. Look closely, I’m pretty sure alien life has been found on Earth based on these sculptures.

Walking through town brings you passed church after church, the occasional palazzo, and many an official office building. Interspersed with that you’ll see the local touch.

Valletta is as much fun at night when everything lights up, as it is during the day.

Museums during the day turn into bistros at night.

Everything glows.

The Arab influence on the architecture comes alive (the Maltese balconies were inspired by the Arab mashrabiya).

You wouldn’t guess it’s already past the autumn solstice with the crowds still gathering!

Just after we arrived, a fellow cruiser reached out to Trip to see if we wanted a mooring in Sliema Bay. Yes, please! These moorings are privately owned, and fashioned in a way that has no rhyme or reason. You tie bow and stern on so that everyone is pointed in the same direction in a small space in the harbor. I rather think we look like a page out of Make Way For The Ducklings. Two fronts with potentially high winds were forecast, so we were happy to have access to one of the moorings. We added extra lines to secure ourselves.

Little did we know that we were surrounded by a dozen boats that are also headed to Monastir. We’ve never had the chance to meet so many ‘winter’ friends in advance, and it’s quite the social crowd.

Sliema is not the prettiest part of the island, but it does have a nice view at night of Valetta, the capital.

More importantly, everything you need for the boat is in Sliema. Well stocked supermarkets or laundry are a five minute walk from the dinghy dock. Ferry boats and buses are right there. Petrol and water for the boat down at the other end of the bay.

Chandleries are close and because we went with our local friends they broke out the secret beer fridge….

The weather turned out to be windy, but we were really protected in the bay, so it was inconvenient and nothing more. We checked our lines at one point though and were happy that we had two…… (we completely chafed through a line in the Caribbean and are always careful to check now during a blow)

It was time to leave Greece, but apparently Greece didn’t want to say goodbye. We were grateful that Greece has a bilateral visa agreement with the US that allowed us an extra 90 days beyond our Schengen 90 days. Apparently we had to pay for that good luck with the bad luck of trying to leave the country. Clearing out became a comedy of errors which took us a few days. Between the post office (trying to pay for an additional month of the tepai (cruising tax)), the port police (who said yes no matter how many different ways Trip asked a question), the immigration office (we visited three days in a row before we finally got our passports stamped), it could have been a new Monty Python movie. It’s really a good thing we were not in a hurry.

Of course in the meantime the forecast seemed to change every 12 hours and what looked like a good window (we needed 3 1/2 days) would suddenly not be a good window. I became wary of the CAPE index which indicates stability of the air, which is notoriously poor at this time of the season leading to numerous thunderstorms. We opted to activate our expensive Iridium GO satellite connection along with the offshore version of PredictWind, knowing that we could use it for this passage as well as the one to Tunisia before we cancelled the service again.

It was a good passage overall. We didn’t remotely manage to stay in a straight line, because the winds were constantly ahead of the beam, and we did a lot of hand steering to point as far into the wind as possible.

The forecast changed regularly and conditions we saw weren’t always following the predictions. At one point we were pretty discouraged, as the boat would regularly drop to 2 knots when we were motoring in messy seas with little wind. Would we have enough fuel to make it? This seemed like a no-brainer when we left. Suddenly we were caught between two approaching fronts with no time to put a reef in the main, much less put on our foul weather gear. Luckily, there was no rain, and instead the boat took off with the wind. Trip managed the helm while I played the main. Instead of petering out like most squalls do, this one dragged us along which we were happy to do. Eventually we managed to get the sail reefed (shortened), and I was happy to hand steer a well-balanced boat through the night doing well over 7 knots at times. There is nothing better than sailing by hand at night when things are comfortable. It’s magical to use the feel of the boat instead of your eyes).

We actually had to slow ourselves down as we approached Malta, as we did not want to come into an unfamiliar anchorage at night.

We dropped the anchor in St. Julians Bay at dawn, slept for a couple of hours, then went ashore to clear in and explore. Welcome to Malta!

It was time to push on to Tunisia for our winter berth, and to have some time to explore a new country before we flew home for winter. The weather window was good. Just one problem – I had come down with Norovirus. After a day of being so sick I wanted to die, and another day of sleeping and letting my poor stomach recover, I was beginning to feel human again. We moved the boat a few hours north to St. Paul’s Bay for a better spot for departure. Of course, I had just enough strength to pick up the new mooring and secure the boat before I needed another nap to recover from that strenuous exercise after being sick.

I was feeling better later in the day and we went ashore for a final dinner at the cutest little Indian restaurant (memories of Wednesday night curry night in Montenegro). Of course my stomach was still a little raw, so we wound up packing up most of the dinner and taking it with us, which made for tasty leftovers during passage.

The Maltese skies the night before we left did not disappoint.

When we first saw this aerial shot of Sliema we thought, cool shot of the harbor. Then we looked closer – see all the oil in the water? Someone in the Manoel Yacht Yard accidentally punctured an oil drum which leaked into the water. They managed to clean up the water pretty well in 24 hours, but it was a messy 24 hours hours with boats and dinghy hulls to clean ourselves, as well as the disgusting mess on the dinghy lines…….

We hadn’t had enough time in Birgu the first time, so we decided to go back and actually visit one of the many museums on the island. The Malta Maritime Museum, housed in the former Old Naval Bakery, contains artifacts from 7,000 years of life on the water for the Maltese.

Trip was particularly fascinated with the first display that we came across, that of historical artifacts used on ships throughout the ages.

The building itself, beautifully preserved, is a work of art.

Exhibits were very creative, going far beyond the traditional idea of ‘maritime’. There were many artifacts pertaining to the geology of the island. One huge hallway exhibit described the effect of pollution on the waters. And the final exhibit featured a film about the current human smuggling crisis (Malta lies smack in the middle of the route that most migrants take).

After the museum, we continued to walk along the waterfront and enjoyed the changing views.

Cruising friends had reported a fun day trip out to Rabat and Mdina (not a typo), so we decided to go check it out. The bus system in Malta is not the quickest way to see things, but the network is extensive and the side trips are a great way of taking in the island.

Mdina was Malta’s capital through medieval times. It’s entirely encased in a wall and sits on a hill overlooking the water – it makes for a dramatic approach by land.

Mdina was inhabited by the usual Mediterranean cast of characters from the Phoenicians to the Romans, and even Sicilian Muslims. As the population of the town grew, Rabat sprung up just outside Mdina’s walls.

Mdina was eventually replaced by Birgu as the capital under the Order of Saint John, and the population dwindled. At that point it garnered the nickname the ‘Silent City’. It’s remarkably well preserved, and makes for a great tourist attraction today. Game of Thrones even filmed here.

The doorways of Malta continue to enchant me with their sudden pop of color in the otherwise monochromatic sandstone buildings.

These ornate gates were not only beautiful, but functional as well. Families could leave the doors open, increasing air flow and allowing a view into the home (privately owned). Most importantly, passing animals (sheep or dogs) could not make their way in.

The door knocker itself is a work of art. Like the gates, the more ornate the knocker, the more wealthy and prestigious the family.