Malta

This web page describes a portion of a 7 week trip with S/Y Thetis in 1996 from Greece to Malta, Sardinia, Ustica and Calabria in Italy, and back to Greece. The portion described is our stay in Malta. It is illustrated with maps and photographs, also included are some historical and geographical descriptions of the places visited as well as several links to other related web sites.

 Overall Route 

Map of Malta

Detail Map of Malta

Brief History of Malta

Tuesday September 24, 1996 Day 12

I wake up at 6:30 and I notice that Lewis is up also. I guess getting up early has become a habit! After coffee I went to a Bank and changed money and also bought a telephone card with which I called Pitsa. Nikos, it turns out, did not go to US after all, he is at home. I call him and he answers the phone. He went to "Halkidiki" and not to "Ameriki" as Mary had told me. So much for Greco/American/Filipino communications. Nikos tells me that he is interested in joining me in Sardinia when Lewis leaves. I then bought a battery charger and a long extension cord so that we can connect to shore power. I also found the local Autohelm dealer, but they are not open yet.

As I get back on Thetis Mr. Paul Mizzi comes and tells us that now we have to relocate to our permanent berth. So, we raise the anchor and move about 50m away without any problems. Next order of business is to get the radar reflector repaired. Lewis winches me up the mast and I remove the reflector and its holder. Lewis has brought me a mountain climber's gear for climbing the mast but I have not mastered enough courage to try it yet. I will need to experiment on my own in a quiet anchorage. We install the new voltage regulator and rewire the sensor wire from the start battery to the service battery. It seems to work as it is producing 40 a. We then connect the charger and a water hose, we stow the storm jib and tidy up the boat. Lewis, who did not like inflating the zodiac by hand, opens the electrical air pump and finds that the switch has melted; he repairs it with a wooden clothes pin, which he shapes with his Swiss army knife.

The harbor is bustling. There must be a few hundred boats of all descriptions. A truck full of fresh produce, bread, and other groceries is making the rounds of all the boats several times in the morning. The diesel truck arrives and we re-fuel. Several craftsmen, riggers, divers, carpenters etc. ask if we need anything. Yachting here is a serious business!

We then go ashore. Lewis has great difficulty in going in and out of the boat from the passarella due to his acrophobia. We call Paul and ask him if he could arrange for us to rent motorbikes so that we can explore the island. We walk to the Autohelm dealer, yes they may be able to fix the bad indication problem but they need the wind sensor. I have to climb the mast again!

In the early afternoon the motorbikes are delivered. We take a small exploratory drive. It is very scary driving on the left side of the road on a motorbike. I call Alice again. She sounds very relieved that we are safe. She has already sent e-mail about our arrival to Cynthia and Corinna.

In the early evening I prepare to climb the mast again to remove the wind sensor. As I start, a pretty young lady in the sail boat next to us, flying the German flag, also starts climbing their mast. Lewis is very much captivated by the mast climbing lady. Later, Peter comes and looks at the radar reflector stud. Yes, he can machine a new one in stainless steel, not in cast steel, which can be brittle, like the old one. This will cost us 40 #M (about $100). He wants 10 #M now so that he can buy the steel. I give him the money and the broken stud with some apprehension since I do not know if he is honest. He promises to have it ready by tomorrow evening.

We drive our motorbikes to dinner. We cannot locate a Maltese restaurant but we end up in an Indian one. It is OK but nothing special.

Wednesday September 25, 1996 Day 13

After coffee, I ran a few errands. I take the wind sensor to the Autohelm dealer. They will tell me tomorrow if they can fix it.

Back on the boat we start getting ready to go to sight seeing. Valletta, the old citadel,was built by the Knights of St. John after they were chased away from Rhodes by the Turks. Finally we take off with the motorbikes. The traffic is very heavy and driving to the left is hair-raising.

Valletta is wonderful and very photogenic. We see many churches, palaces, gardens, fortifications etc. It is also very hot. The streets are all very narrow, a true mediaeval town. No cars are allowed within the citadel but all the main streets are crowded. The place is bustling with activity and street vendors. Many outdoor cafes and restaurants. Unfortunately we cannot see much of the interior of the Grand Master's palaces because they are all being used as government buildings. In only one of the buildings there is a small museum of the Knights of St. John (picture on left).

In the afternoon we drive to Gnejna, a beach recommended by Paul. It is on the SW side of the island north of Rabat. The drive is interesting. Getting out of Valetta is quite an experience due to the heavy traffic. The whole island, which is not very high, is very densely built. It has the highest population density in Europe with 366,000 inhabitants. They are descendants of the Phoenicians and the language is a strange mixture of Arabic and Italian. The buildings near the town are high-rise but there are many private houses further out.

Map of Malta with links

On our way we drive through the city of Mosta. Mosta has a famous cathedral with a very large dome. During the war a German bomb fell and went right through the dome but did not explode. This, of course, was attributed to a miracle.

During our drive we see a few farmhouses built with local stones.

The Gnejna Bay beach is at the least populated section of the island. It is very pretty but the water is nowhere as clear as in the Aegean. Lewis has no interest in swimming. While I am in the water, he rents a beach umbrella and a chaise long and he has installed himself near some attractive young things. Unfortunately there is a strong wind that continuously dislodges his umbrella and he spends considerable time chasing it.

We drive back the long way along the East coast through Ghadira and Mellieha Bay and via St. Paul's Bay where St. Paul was shipwrecked on his way, as a prisoner, to Rome. This drive allows us to see a good part of the island. It is about the size of Samos, if not smaller. The East coast is mostly built up but rugged. Scuba Diving appears to be a big thing here.

As we approach Sliema, which is next to our harbor, we get hopelessly lost in the heavy traffic. The street signs must have been designed by the same people who designed the Washington DC signs. By the time we make it back it is already dark.

While taking showers, Peter comes with the new radar reflector stud. I am very relieved as I pay him the balance. We walk along the esplanade looking for a restaurant. We locate a laundry along the way. A nice, old-looking restaurant strikes our fancy so we enter. It turns out that it is a British restaurant. The food is rather bad. On our way back, however, Lewis discovers a small Maltese restaurant on a side street which looks rather hopeful; we will try it tomorrow.

Thursday September 26, 1996 Day 14

First thing in the morning we stuff the motorbikes with our laundry and take it for washing. We then buy grease for the radar reflector and a new rope to replace the roller reef line which is getting dangerously frayed. The news from Autohelm is bad! Yes, the sensor can be repaired but they do not have the parts. They can order them from England but it will take at least a week and cost 60 #M. They do, however, have a new sensor in stock for 120 #M. Having very little choice, and after 2 years of putting up with an improperly working wind meter, I charge the sensor.

After these errands we are ready to become tourists again. We go with the motorbikes to Mdina, right next to Rabat. Mdina is a mediaeval town and the old capital of Malta before the arrival of the Knights of St. John. It is fantastic and in a very well preserved state. Everything is very clean. We spend the best part of the day wandering through the old streets and admire the view from the ramparts. But the wind is getting stronger and some black clouds appear on the horizon. As we were leaving this morning I noticed that a sailboat anchored near us had problems raising its anchor and I am now nervous lest they dislodged our anchor and with the rising wind it is now dragging. We start on our way back. In the heavy traffic Lewis and I are separated, he takes one turn and I take another. I get slightly lost again but eventually find my way back.

My fears are justified! As I get near Thetis I am confronted with a bad scene. Our anchor had indeed been dislodged and with the wind had dragged and our stern started to bang on the cement pier. Fortunately the Germans from the boat next to us put some tires as extra fenders and tied a spring line between Thetis and their boat. Thanks to their intervention we escaped with only a few nicks to our stern. Things could have been much, much worse! Since the zodiac is already inflated, it does not take very long to mount the outboard and deploy the second anchor. I used over 100 m of rope in addition to the 20 m of chain, just to make sure. In the mean time, with the strong wind and the extra strain of the spring line, the German boat started to drag its anchor also. Now it is our turn to help the Germans. Their skipper, Elke, the blond girl who was climbing the mast the other day, comes in the zodiac and we set their second anchor. Their boat is an old sail boat, longer but much narrower than ours, owned jointly by 8 young German school teachers who take turns using it with their friends. Elke is one of them, her boy friend, a very pleasant young fellow, is a physics graduate student.

Later Paul and Johna arrive and we have an ouzo at the cockpit. Johna will be going again to London tomorrow and is very sorry that he cannot invite us to dinner, unless we stay over for the weekend. We agree to get together with Paul tomorrow for dinner.

Now we go out to dinner ourselves. We try the Maltese restaurant that Lewis discovered last night. Unfortunately, it is packed and there is no room, but they gladly take our reservations for tomorrow. We eat, instead, at the nice Italian place where we ate the first night here. The food is excellent.

Back to the boat Lewis starts a long conversation with Elke and the other Germans. They come and see our boat, they admire our roomy and modern accommodations and our electronics. We go over to their boat and we admire the lovely old woodwork, but their boat needs a lot of work. Lewis goes and brings his old Scotch whiskey and we all have a drink. I am sleepy and take my leave but Lewis stays.

Friday September 27, 1996 Day 15

Once more, I climbed the mast to install the new wind sensor. I also re-installed the radar reflector and adjusted its retaining cord so that it will minimize large swings. The wind instrument, now seem to work correctly!

I went ashore and, after changing some money, I walked over the bridge to the marina office and settled our account, so that we can leave tomorrow. Lewis called the Maltese weather service, the forecast for the next three days for Malta and Southern Sardinia is 5 Bft. NW today and tomorrow, 4-5 NE on Sunday, decreasing to 3-4 W on Monday. Based on this, we decide to leave tomorrow.

We spend most of the day on errands. We first went to a super market, very large with lots of British and Italian products. I was looking for a jar of capers but since I could not find any I asked. They did have some, by the kilo, on the cheese counter. Also there they have excellent Parmesan which they cut and grind for you. Good breads also. We carried all the groceries to the boat and then returned the motorbikes. We also bought some extra cord and glue with which I repaired the wall upholstery which had come loose in the watermaker area. We then emptied completely the water tanks and re-filled them with the hose.

In the evening Paul Mizzi came ready to take us to dinner. We counter-proposed taking him. After a wonderful Mediterranean round of arguments, he accepted. We timidly proposed Lewis' restaurant but asked if he knew of another better one but definitely offering Maltese food. It turns out that Lewis' restaurant is rather well known and he, Paul, had been planning for some time to try it. The food was excellent! It is a family run place and we were served by the owner's daughter, a most attractive young lady. We had some typically prepared fish, with tomatoes, peppers, and onions, rabbit, which we were told is very Maltese, and some Maltese sausages. All very good.

On the way back, I called Alice and told her that we will be leaving tomorrow and my next communication will be from Sardinia. I tried Nikos, but he was not in so I left a message, the same with Cynthia. I then tried Corinna, amazingly enough she was in and I had a very nice chat with her. I do miss them all. Lewis called his son, Joshua, and Inga.