It was a bit windy after we arrived in Malta so we spent a couple of days in the little harbour in Gozo. A good base from which to explore the island. Our next stop was still on Gozo, a small rocky bay. We anchored and tied on to the rocks to hold ourselves in position. A great place for swimming and relaxing, or both at the same time. This is the top end of the same bay with a small beach and a food truck which fortunately sold ice creams.
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Well actually Gozo so far which is the smaller island next to Malta's main island. We had a 60nm sail across with little wind and lumpy seas, not our favourite combination. Due to a complicated set of circumstances we got complementary tickets on an open top bus for a tour of the island today. Like most Mediterranean islands Gozo has a long history of habitation and invasion dating back to ages ago. It has a strong catholic heritage and also a strong British influence. Prices are quite cheap and you can get meat pies and cornish pasties from the local bakeries. Lots of big churches on the island. Tomorrow we may go over to Malta itself.
Today's stop is Sciacca. The coast is quite exposed along here so we are in the harbour. The town is above the harbour, reachable by walking up 5000 hot sunny steps. This photo was half way up. At the top of the steps is the main square. A bit empty in the late afternoon. There are many old buildings built in the 14th and 15th century. Most have had very little maintenance since then and looking a bit rough. The town is renowned for ceramics and there are these ceramic murals and ceramic shops everywhere. Unfortunately too heavy and fragile to have on the boat. A very nice town to wander around for the afternoon, and they have good ice cream. Amanda's phone says 10,000 steps today (and quite a few up actual steps). Tomorrow we plan a big day of sailing in good wind which will take us to our departure point for Malta the following day.
We have just spent a very interesting day in Marsala. As we travel about we like to respect the local culture by drinking the local alcohol - Port in Portugal, Ouzo in Greece, warm flat beer in England, that sort of thing. Marsala the town is where Marsala the drink is made, a fortified wine like port. We went on a tour of the winery which was very informative. For you technically minded people here is a scientific diagram detailing the process. They say they have around 6 million litres of Marsala stored in these oak barrels, the oldest dating back to 1939. The smell in here was amazing. After the tour came the tasting which was also very informative, and yummy. In the evening we explored the town some more and the local eateries. Amanda's phone said we walked over 20,000 steps or 15km that day. This included some of the quieter back streets.
We have now moved on down the coast a bit, suitably loaded up with bottles of Marsala. We are heading for Malta, I wonder what they drink there? We have just sailed across from Sardinia to the Egadi Islands at the western tip of Sicily. This is the main harbour at Favignana. The 150 nautical mile crossing took us about 23 hours with good winds most of the way. A highlight was catching and passing a 40 foot catamaran going the same way. I took this photo from the back of the boat to show you how clear the water is. Just as well as I had to replace the anode on our propeller shaft which had come loose. Quite tricky underwater dealing with the little nuts and bolts, getting the old one off and the new one on. The local fish were quite interested. And after that a hearty breakfast to warm me up.
We are now at the bottom of Sardinia and shortly we will head off to Sicily. It is about 150 nautical miles so if the wind holds about 20 hours or if not about 26 or so. We are heading for the Egadi Islands which are off the western tip of Sicily. Not every day is spend lazing about in the sun. We went into a marina at Arbatax which means boat washing, laundry, supermarket, and other supplies to be purchased. There was a bit of lazing in between. We have really enjoyed our time in Sardinia especially the large bays with white sand bottoms and crystal clear water.
We are making our way down the east coast of Sardinia doing about 20 miles per day, or about 3 hours sailing. We are finding some lovely anchorages with few other boats. It's hot now, low 30s and the sea is 27 degrees, nice for swimming. Some parts of Europe are having a heat wave but we are OK. In the Med there is a bit of a crisis going on with the sea grass dying on mass. On this beach there are massive heaps of it washed up, there must be 100s of tons of it on this beach alone. It is the basis of the marine food chain so is of real concern. This was another anchorage of a scrap of beach surrounded by huge cliffs. It was quite swelly but we put out our stern anchor so we were facing into the swells and had a good night.
Tonight we are in a marina for a change of scene. First chance to use our air conditioning unit as we need shore power to run it. Tomorrow we will keep hopping and in the weekend we might sail to Sicily. One of the things we love about our travels on AG is the variety of places we visit. For example........... We started yesterday parked on the commercial quay at Olbia. A busy noisy place but good for shopping and dinner out. We finished the day anchored in this lovely bay. Peaceful and quiet once the day trippers all went home. With a pretty good sunset finish.
The part of Sardinia we are in now is popular with the super yacht crowd. Yesterday we anchored in a bay full of moorings for the super yachts. We could have a mooring for 150 euros or anchor for free. We anchored.
Yesterday we anchored in front of this old fort. It was built in 18something to repel a French invasion that never happened. Today is is a slightly crumbling ruin that is completly open for you to wander about at will. The old barricks. Gun implacements Lots of interesting tunnels. Where you might find unexpected things. And finaly todays photo of AG
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October 2019
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