After saying goodbye to Hans and Karen other sailing friends embark in Marina di Ragusa. Peter and Corine are joining us on Kabaal for another trip to the fascinating islands of Malta.
Our anchor drops in the perfectly round and well protected Qala tad Dwejra on Gozo, populated this time by many large jellyfish. Swimming amongst those creatures is quite spectacular as they turn to bright orange once you are underwater.
The hidden inland sea, reached by an underground rock passage,is populated by fishermen and divers. When climbing the mountain we see from above the divers plunging into a large blue hole which must be fathoms deep judging the color of the deepest aquamarine.
From Gozo to Malta and we hoist the gennaker to make the most of the light wind, time to let the drone fly. Another calm night at anchor allows us to admire the stars above the sea.
Valetta is visited, from Birgu where we found a berth for Kabaal, we take the ferry to the town. It is hard to get lost in this town since all the roads are laid out in a rectangular pattern. The interesting combination with the seaviews visible at the end of most streets make for a special ambiance to walk around.
In Valetta we take a bus to Mdina, the old capital. From the bus windows we can spot the impressive fortress like town from afar.
After bringing Corine and Peter back to Sicily our plan is to explore new horizons and sail to Greece.
Of course we are dependent of the weather and the forecast shows quite a bit of wind and thunderstorms so we set sail to our favourite sheltered anchor bay near Siracusa.
As it happens we spot the Michaela Rose whith our friends from Mallorca, Carroll and Tom, working on it. It is lovely to see them again and we admire the stylish yacht with Tom as a guide.
Siracusa has many interesting sites and we spend our time well by visiting the Greek and Roman excavations and the “modern” sixtys church of the Madonna delle Lacrime. This church, designed by the French architects Michel Andrault and Pierre Parat took nearly 30 years to be completed and has a distinctly different design from the baroque churches seen everywhere on this island.
Finally the weather looks better. showing a few minor thunderstorms which might or might not cross our track we think we can start our 264 miles sail to Greece.
Two nights later we set foot on the island of Meganisi. The pontoon where we moor belongs to restaurant owner Babis and we are allowed to stay as long as we eat in his restaurant at night. This not only provides us with a safe place to stay but with a delicious dinner as well and next day we say goodbye to Babis after a promising introduction to Greek culture.
Enjoy the movie