October 31, 2015

Assos is a nice little town with a small bay, in which two boats find enough space to anchor free. The anchor-ground is not the best, it’s rather tough sand with lots of grass and rests of concrete slates and stones. Therefore it’s rather important to check whether the anchor really holds, especially as we are expecting strong gusts. – After an unruly night we set our sails and go further to Frikes on Ithaka. It rains till we are secure at the quay, – then the sun is shining again and we take a walk through the town. Frikes is nice if very small, but the quays are good and well protected with just enough depth for us.

Today (Oct 17, 2015) we continue our trip to Vathy (Ithaka) and anchor in the huge bay in front of Vathy. There is one other sailing yacht with an Austrian flag, – and of course we stop there with our Dinghy to say ‘hello’. Gitti and Andi are pleased and invite us to come on board, which we do. Afterwards they visit us at our boat and then we go to town to have dinner together. Again we had a pleasant evening with lots of fun by exchanging experiences and information.

In spite of the rain we go further to Meganision, an island next to Lefkas. Shortly after leaving Ithaka the wind starts to blow pleasantly from the right direction, thus we enjoy being sailed under the protection of our new bimini. Our target bay Ambelaki is nice if already a bit crowded, – nevertheless we will stay for the night. In the morning before leaving we visit a couple (she is Swiss, he is from the Netherlands) who live already several years in this bay. They have an impressive concrete boat which is almost independent from external sources, e.g. the heating and cooking is done with wood, – and nearly every device on the boat, e.g. the wind generator, has been developed and built by the owner.

It is October 19, 2015 and we decide to go to Preveza to check-out: bye, bye Greece.

Channel / Bridge to Preveza:

As expected the check-out procedure is not too easy: first we were sent to wrong places, than after finding the well-hidden office of the harbour police respectively coast guard they don’t really know what to do with us, but they are friendly. It seems usually the boats stay in the harbour and only the persons leave, but what is to do when taking the boat out of Greece? – After reading several times through the instructions of the transit-log, they tell us to leave the transit-log with them, which I don’t like at all. But arguing with the police is usually not recommended, so we only kindly ask them for a copy for our files, which they agree to. Theoretically we are now supposed to go to customs office; the nice police lady tells us to wait till she called the colleagues to see whether they are still in the office. They should be, because it’s only 4.15 pm and office hours are till 5.00 pm, but they aren‘t: it seems the colleagues’ clock don’t work as they should. Again we are surprised how nice the authorities in Greece can be, because they offered to bring our papers to the customs tomorrow morning, so that we can leave now. – And moreover, we didn’t have to pay anything, – great!

We hurry back to our boat, lift the anchor and start the long trip to Sicily / Siracusa, which is roughly 290 nm away. – The first shift is taken by Robin till 9.00 pm, the next by Iris till 0.00, than again Robin till 3.00 am; for all who did the counting: yes, it’s a 3-hour tact. In the beginning we have fair winds, but soon the wind dies and we have to start the engine, but at least we have a wonderful clear night with lots of falling stars, – certainly we won’t tell you our wishes.

On top we have a huge firework on the horizon, – either a big thunderstorm or weapon exercises? – the latter mentioned was forecasted but in the Northern not Southern part. However, as long as it stays were it is, we don’t care, whereas it’s already scary at this distance.

A new day and nice sunshine, but ‘zero’ wind; – again, it seems the weather forecast is like gambling and we are reminded to the forecasts of politics and business: it comes as it will and not different.

Diamonds are the girl’s best friends:

It is 1.15 pm and Robin is lucky and pulls a nice gold-mackerel on board, – thus the dinner is clear, whereas the Spaghetti Carbonara are postponed:

The next night comes, first we still move with engine and sails, but soon we can turn off the engine, – the wind is now strong enough, – great! Unfortunately, the night brings lots of thunderstorms which are all around us, – and I am very glad as Robin takes over at midnight. Naturally the thunderstorms go together with waves growing higher and higher, and shortly before Siracusa an even stronger thunderstorm is directly above us. Whereas a few minutes ago a school of Dolphins joins us and play with the 2-meter waves and our GrosDoux, – makes one feel a bit more relaxed.

It is October 21, 2015: after roughly 44 hours, we are in Siracusa!

What a surprise, the two sailing couples we met in Argostoli (Snow Goose and Isabelle) are still there. Even better, they have a space for us in a small private Marina where we can join them, – wonderful.

Although time was flying, we are happy having arrived, especially considering the weather conditions, we are glad that everything went well. Our GrosDoux showed us once more what a wonderful sailor she is, – and we are extremely proud.

After a hot shower we are prepared to have a walk to the town. – Aaah, what an interesting place, here you can stay for some time. The well-deserved Apèro in front of the Cathedral is a pleasure and the nice small streets of the old city promise lots of interesting things, – but that for another day, today we are far too tired and will have an early night.

Ten hours of sleep later we are highly motivated to start our excursions of Siracusa respectively Ortigia; – and it’s extremely fascinating, especially if you can ignore the neglect of the historical buildings. Nevertheless, the charm of Siracusa is for sure a visit worth.

Each morning is market, – wow, – I love all those nice exotic smells and the look of the fresh products, which are presented, – the choice is not easy:

movable grinding machine:

Enough is enough, – today (October 25, 2015) we continue our trip in the direction of Malta, with a stop-over in Portopalo. The weather forecast is good, let’s see how it comes. In the meantime the nights are rather cold with around 15° C, and we hope to have warmer temperatures in the more Southern area.

Portopalo is packed with fishing boats, but we are able to find a place for us and one for Snow Goose to drop the anchor.

Snow Goose:

The night is surprisingly calm, however short, because we have to start our trip to Malta at 6.00 am, which is roughly 60 nm away

sunrise:

Unfortunately the wind is not strong enough to sail, so we need the support of the engine in order to have an average of 5.5 knots, which we need to arrive while it is still day. Shortly after the sea-border Italy-Malta two dolphins show up, but don’t stay for long. We are not too disappointed as we need to watch the increasing traffic, which demands attention and we also have to avoid the one or other near-collisions.

Malta in view: – we made it!

The couple of Isabelle, who went one day earlier to Malta, recommend coming to the bay in front of Sliema, which is next to Valletta and well protected. The only problem is, the bay is covered with buoys, and we don’t know which one is used or free. We take buoys in the second row and hope nobody comes in the evening and sends us away. – We are lucky and Robin cooks his well-known Spaghetti Bolognese and we spent another nice evening (6 persons / 5 nationalities) on GrosDoux.

Next morning: Robin and Nikos from Snow Goose drive with the Dinghy around comparing the prices of the various marinas. The Creek marina has reasonable prices and is well protected, thus we decide to move our boats there, because we don’t know how long we can stay at the buoy and bad weather conditions are predicted. We will stay in the marina for several days, therefore can quite comfortable visit different places on Malta knowing that our boats are safe. – Sounds a bit like holidays…

Valletta: indeed a very special historical place. It’s difficult to decide where to look, everything’s so impressive, one doesn’t have so many eyes. Naturally, we have to visit St. John’s Cathedral:

…and for sure all the other nice places and views in / from Valletta:

Nikos + Sonja:

..that’s like the shoes look after soooo much walking:

One visit seems not enough!

The real adventure starts as we decide to do our trips to Mdina and Mosta via bus, all of us are clearly non-public-transport types, but Thank God! the locals are extremely friendly and supportive. In the end we find our way forth and back:

Impressions of Mdina: