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"There's always a plan, but unexpected things happen and we just go with the flow. Though I do believe that fate and destiny often play their part"
sailing blog
Crossing open sea for 9 hours from one country to another is quite an adventure, but because our trip from Malta to Sicily wasn't our first, we were well prepared for the journey - by that I mean a full fridge and plenty of sun cream. Our little armada of three boats all set off just before dawn on Friday morning and as we passed under the towering black bastions of Valletta the calm water of the harbour quickly turned into an uncomfortable rough swell. All the forecasts predicted a couple of hours of "rock n' roll" until about ten miles off-shore, when things would settle down. Thankfully they were right and as the sun began to burn brightly, so did the sea ease off, making the rest of the journey a real pleasure. For the first four hours the wind was on the nose, which meant we had to motor. Then it backed towards the West, increased to around 12 knots, giving us a cracking sail (with engine on still) with speeds of up to 7.4 knots. Alas no dolphins joined us along the way, but we did see two giant turtles inches from the boat slowly paddling their way to goodness knows where. I thought I might have hit one it was so close, but given its rock hard shell was about the size of a small family saloon (slight exaggeration) I'm sure we would have come off worse if we had.
At 14:20 we were all tied up in Marina di Ragusa alongside the other boats, Nereida and Galene, whose crew members were already in party mode. Actually, our good friends from Malta are always in party mode, only when they travel abroad for a bank holiday weekend the fun factor goes up a few notches. Our first evening was spent in a rather posh restaurant on the promenade overlooking the startling bright blue Mediterranean. Naturally sea food was the sensible choice, so I indulged in a "misto", consisting of swordfish, prawns (giant of course), langoustines and grilled squid. To say it hit the spot would be something of an understatement. Nicki shared a whole fresh fish caught that day. She wasn't disappointed either! Saturday, we all went our separate ways. The lure of Italian clothes shops in a nearby town was too much for the Maltese contingent. Nicki and I spent the day walking and exploring the stunning area around Marina di Ragusa, with its glorious beaches, elegant seafront promenade and delightful residential villas. The town itself is very up-market, frequented by wealthy visitors from all around Italy during the summer months. There's no other way to describe the evening other than riotous. It was spent on Nerieda (the largest of the boats) and all ten of us shared plates of food fit for kings, all prepared by each of us in advance. In my case, I contributed a couple of trays full of baked garlic king prawns. The wine flowed, the jokes got more outrageous, the behaviour deteriorated and we all ended up laughing until our sides split. It was a quiet Sunday - I wonder why? Some chilling, some walking, some food shopping for more fresh fish and a rather more sensible supper back aboard Nerieda. In your dreams - I think it was marginally worse, or better, depending on your outlook. Monday morning really was a little slow. Some hangovers were clearly in evidence, although Nicki and I had not pushed things too hard, given that we had a long sail back to Malta ahead of us. We all set off at 9.00am in brilliant sunshine and a sea that was eerily calm. Sometimes it can look like gloopy oil it's so still. Probably just as well given the delicate condition some of the group were in. After an uneventful eight hours crossing, apart from more turtles, we arrived at Selmun Bay in Malta, anchored up and immediately dived into the crystal clear water. This was just a one hour stopover to freshen up before we motored for an hour and a half back to our base at Manoel Island Marina. Shortly after we moored up the light faded, and so did we. One glass of wine each to celebrate our safe return was enough to send us into a deep sleep, exhausted after another amazing set of memories had been created with the dearest of people.
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There are some days that are quite special, whilst others are just simply off-the-scale magnificent. A visit to Jane's sisters house is definitely the latter. Sue has a home to die for, which made our recent lunch invitation an occasion to be savoured. I could bang on about the wonderful time we had, but actually the pictures speak for themselves. After the prawn starter the main course consisted of a Vietnamese salmon curry, accompanied by fresh pineapple sautéed in soy, coriander, ginger and garlic. I was in such food heaven that I forgot to take a photo - but trust me...it was the best. And, unusually for me, I managed not to spill any food all down my nice new white shirt. Definitely a good thing when your washing machine consists of a bucket on the pontoon.
The past week has been unusually windy here in Malta and so sailing hasn't really been an option. Rough sea isn't our thing, even if the sun is shining. However, we took the opportunity to do some more polishing, with breaks in-between for a bit of socialising here and there. We've also been preparing Comino for the trip to Sicily this Friday with two other boats. There'll be ten of us in total which can only mean one thing - rowdiness and late nights!!! The forecast looks good for the twelve hour sail to Marina de Ragusa on the west coast and I'll post details of how we get on after we get back on Monday. One of the really funny things about Malta in the past was the number of old English cars you saw. Morris Marinas, Ford Escorts, Humbers, Triumphs and so on were still on the road here decades after they disappeared back home. Nowadays, they are a bit few and far between but the other day we came across this little beauty in a car park by the beach. The sad thing is....I remember these cars when they were new. Can somebody please go and find the fat lady - I just can't wait to hear her sing. That will be a sure sign to say it's all over - this hard graft I mean. Although we're back in the water, polishing the coachroof, cockpit and all the stainless steel bits is well underway. Nicki has also been busy waxing what seems like acres of teak down below, not to mention washing all our plates, glasses, pots and pans, including the cupboards they live in. It's like doing a spring clean but on steroids I guess. The problem is... if you don't do all this stuff now, once you set off sailing all thoughts of "work" go out the window. Up until a few days ago it wasn't clear whether we'd be able to stay in Malta after the re-launch due to the chronic lack of marina berths here. There are just so many people wanting a place they've even abandoned the notion of keeping waiting lists. However, all came good and we've been allocated a slot for the summer at our preferred location... Manoel Island Marina. Thanks Pierre (the boss man), we owe you one. As we tied up on Thursday it felt like coming home - Gzira and Sliema will once again be our shoreside stomping ground for the next few months. Our nearest Turkish kebab dispensary is just three minutes walk away from the boat - now that is what I call a result! And so we're nearly ready to move back on board - just another day of work and it will be time to slip our lines and go exploring. I mentioned before Nicki's efforts on the propeller - not bad eh! My weeks work shouldn't go without mention either. Comino is looking good - even if I say so myself.
The first few days in Malta were mainly spent chilling out with friends and yes....some rather sumptuous seafood did get consumed along with a few glasses of vino calapso. Well....one must ease oneself back into the Med lifestyle gently otherwise you might strain something! However, come Monday morning the real work of getting Comino back up to scratch began. I had organised for Ray, the main Yanma man in Malta, to come and do the special 1000 hour service, which entails dismantling just about half the engine. To cut a long story short, some things were not good. Water in the fuel system had turned to goo inside all the filters. The injectors were fouled up with soot. The saildrive gearbox oil was a pungent black sludge. The compression levels were well below par. The coolant in the heat exchanger had gone a nasty shade of green. The list went on, but Ray worked extremely hard over the following two days to put everything right, whilst I acted as his humble apprentice keen to understand how things had deteriorated so badly. I must be much more pro-active in future with my engine maintenance programme or one day we'll find ourselves in difficulty out at sea - not the place to start learning the in's and out's of diesel motor repairs. The lift-out had to be delayed by two days because of the extensive engine work, but on Thursday morning we left the marina and motored down Sliema Creek to Manoel Island Boatyard with a bit of trepidation about the possible state of our bottom. This would be the first time in two years Comino would be coming out of the water and lord knows what marine life might have made our hull its home. We eased ourselves into position under the giant crane and slowly the slings tightened beneath us. Up she rose high above the water revealing the toll two years takes on being submerged in the sea. Actually, it was no worse than expected. Nevertheless, the next week was clearly going to be damn hard work scrubbing, sanding, painting and polishing if we want the boat to look like brand new again. And so the daily routine of sweat and toil started in earnest. As I write (6 am on Tuesday 9th) we're ahead of schedule with two more days before we go back in the water. I must say Comino is already looking quite good, with today being all about polishing the gelcoat till it's got a mirror like finish. Pics will follow shortly of the final job - in particular Nicki's spectacular efforts on the propeller. In the meantime, here's some photo's of our trip on Sunday when we took a couple of hours off to go exploring around the island in our hire car. We couldn't resist going to Armier where we'll be anchoring for a few days to relax as soon as we're afloat again. Not a bad spot is it!!!
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A FEW PICS OF COMINO Click a photo to enlarge and use side arrows to scroll through. COMINO IS CURRENTLY HEREDID SOMEONE SAY SEAFOODOn our journey from Portugal to Greece we enjoyed amazing seafood almost everywhere we stopped. Finding the local fish market was always a priority because seafood was so plentiful and so reasonably priced. And, the displays were a feast for your eyes.
Locating a market sometimes meant pounding the pavements in searing heat, but if you kept your eyes peeled, you often came across a little clue. The pic below was a rather less than subtle advert for a fish market - it was eight feet tall.
Freshly cooked onboard, a plateful of giant prawns, baked in wine and garlic, washed down with a few glasses of local vino, was like heaven. Watching the sunset on the boat eating a meal like that was the epitome of "living the dream".
Now we're in Greece we've another favourite to savour. I'm talking about fried Calamari. It's usually good, but every now and then it's off-the-scale fantastic. At Natalie's Taverna on Kontokali Beach in Corfu, it was nothing short of epic.
We're based in Lefkas now and It's been a bit of a mission to find somewhere just as good. And we have. Rakias is a mere ten minute walk from the marina and this little fish market, with its very own taverna attached, is quite sensational.
Oh...and it's also worth mentioning that, on occasions, a bit of barbequed Octopus is on the menu at some of the tavernas we frequent. Can I resist....no. SUNSETS AND DRAMATIC SKIESNo filters, or any other monkey business, have been used to enhance these images.
OUR ADVENTURES FROM THE BEGINNING CATEGORIES
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