Weatherly Sailing Adventures
Arriving into Valletta Harbour in Malta is spectacular by yacht, with heavy fortifications surrounding the small entry into Malta, and a large cathedral with steeple above the walls.
We berthed at a marina after clearing formalities verbally with Malta Coast guard. I went to look for the Harbour master but found they were shut till Monday so had a meal out and a walk around in the night. The ramparts were lit up and the place looked interesting to explore.
The next day we went caught a wonderful old bus with curly chrome bumper bars and headlights. We passed a few other buses of character and realised this is a quaint theme of Malta transport.
At 1 o'clock every day a small group of uniformed guards come out to re-enact the firing of defence cannons. It was funny to watch how mechanical and orderly they were in the process to light the cannon, but a powerful explosion rang out with a plume of smoke and all the onlookers were impressed. I was lucky to capture the moment on my camera.
Malta's history was very interesting to discover from many great museums with a range of presentations on the knights of St John, the history of the island, the hospital set up by the knights, and even pre-historic rock dwellings. The architecture is a fusion of Arabic and European influences. The windowed balconies are a feature of Arabic design, I was told for women to be able to look out from their homes without being seen or going into public. They decorate many buildings throughout the town.
The Order of the Knights of St John are a prominent part of the island's public image, and history. In the time of the crusades the knights were forced out from Jerusalem, and later from Turkey, by the colourfully named, Suliman the Magnificent. Looking for a new place to set up home, the pope 'gave' them Malta for the princely rent of 2 falcons per year. They set out to build massive defences using the Maltese people for labour, and were later besieged by Suliman's forces again. Although very old he was determined to finally crush Christian rule forever. Suliman sent a famous ex-pirate, Dragut, as commander of a huge naval force. After many bloody battles, disease and wounds causing much loss of life, Dragut was killed. The Ottoman forces were defeated and limped home with only a 3rd of their original numbers.
We sailed off after a week along the coast of Malta in stiff offshore breezes, but smooth seas, and found some very pleasant anchorages, the best was on Comino island, in a tiny bay called the blue Lagoon.
Comino is the smallest of the 3 islands, and we walked up to see a Norman fortress and along the rugged shores to get a wonderful view over the island and nearby Gozo island.
We stopped in at Gozo and found a gas refill station and fortified town with yet more museums.
Gozo was a much quieter island than Malta, and more rural. I came across some locals playing bocci and stopped to watch awhile, enjoying the freedom of having time to do these things.
We sailed off late in the evening and under a full moon and a very fresh wind and lumpy seas, making us both seasick, and glad to get in to the small volcanic island of Linosa.
I climbed up the extinct cone and next day we had a look at the little village which was attractively painted yellow with red and green doors and window frames.
The winds and seas became savage, and I had to re-anchor Weatherly away from the shallow quay in a small cove. I stayed awake much of the night listening to the wind howl and watching the GPS tracking of the yacht from time to time to ensure we were safe. When the wind died down, we set off to the next of the Pelagic islands between Malta and Tunisia, called Lempadusa.
My electric gearbox lever had been knocked past it's normal range and had locked into reverse. I had to sail out of the harbour immediately we motored in, because I couldn't get it out of reverse gear once the engine started.
Just outside the entrance I stripped the control box down, found the mechanical fault and bent the contacts back to the proper range. It worked again and we motored back in and anchored.
The next day I was told to tie up to some fishermen or the dock because there was not swing room to anchor when the wind changes direction. The fishermen were very kind and gave us a lot of small fish and octopus to eat. We reciprocated by providing coffees in the mornings when tied alongside.
Cristi found a classic video made in Lempadusa, of the rough life and personalities on the island.
It was fun to drive around on a motor scooter and revisit the places shown in the movie.
