Saturday Kieran started the day with a laser tag outing and lunch at Baystreet with the football team. They then went for training and finished at 15.30.

As he was set to go out with his friends around 18.00, Charmaine and me went on the boat for some fishing bir rixa. Sea was clam with a low swell with no wind so we motored for a couple of hours but caught just 2. I think they were sawrell but not sure.

While we were out we ordered 2 pizzas to be delivered to the pontoon, and although he told us it would take an hour at the least he phoned us after 30 minutes saying he's on the pontoon! As we were still out, he arranged for another delivery while we entered and tied up. We cooked the fish and added them to the seafood pizza and they were great!

Sunday the air was fresh and there was a good breeze blowing. Kieran had a football match at Dingli which they won 3-0 against Mtarfa. In the afternoon we went out for a good sail up the coast in a fresh NE. Sailed up to Bahar ic caghaq and back in excellent conditions, in fact the sea was busy with loads of sailing boats.

Forecast is a bit unstable these coming days....

All invites were turned down today which was not surprising given the short notice. However I could not resist perfect weather conditions before the forecast turns bad so decided to go single handed.

Took a few hours off from work and left the pontoon at 14.30. Hoisted sails in harbour, removed fenders and put up the 2 fishing rods.

Just out of the harbour I found some 10 sailing dinghys which appeared to be racing just outside the breakwater and had to be careful to avoid them.

It was a good F4-F5 from the NW and I had a brilliant sail doing more than 6 knots. I took a course at 0 degrees and went out for an hour then tacked back and did it again.

Didn't catch anything as the boat was probably going too fast for tumbrell but being out at sea with very few boats was great. Actually caught a fish at one time but being under sail in lively conditions isn't ideal for reeling in a fish gently and it got away :(

On approaching the harbour around 18.00 I heard Valletta tower saying that the cruise liner was going out, and right on cue the pilot boat came to signal me and another boat to leave the fairway clear. I ended up entering just as the liner was existing and we played a bit in the wake with all the current in the narrow channel.

Was a bit apprehensive on the berthing but it went really well as the wind was from behind making it easy to keep the boat under control when going astern.

Sailing in company is better overall but a single handed sail every so often gives me a great feeling and builds confidence in the boat handling.

Last Saturday before school starts and I woke Kieran around 8.00am to go fishing for Tumbrell.

Kieran has slept really late and was sleeping in the cockpit except when we caught a fish...

We went up and down along the Sliema coast as further out it was quite rough. We had a few bites and caught 6 in all. Not bad for a few hours fishing.

Along the coast towards Zonqor then went further out. Caught 1 tumbrell without noticing and it came up like a peice of drift wood! Must have been there for ages :)

Coming in we had 2 bites at the same time bringing the total to a more respectable 3 tumbrell.

Probably this was the last outing after work for 2015!

Sunday morning we left home at 8.45 and had left the pontoon by 9.15. There was a nice breeze from the NEE, the sea was calm and the air was fresh with clear skies.

We hoisted sails and had a brilliant sail far out towards hurds bank during which we caught 3 tumbrell and 2 others got away. Having the fish bite while under sail is terrific but then its a bit of a hassle to slow down in the wind to recover the fish but we sort of managed. Even Charmaine caught one!

We then tacked towards hofriet and anchored in the hofra iz zghira. Since it was already past noon we immediately cooked the fish with some rice salad we had prepared from home and had a delicious meal!

We remained in the bay for a couple of hours after lunch, we watched a movie and swam a bit and then left for Kalkara around 16.30.

Going back we caught another nice tumbrell and another got away. Good day out!

On Wednesday after work i went out with Adrian and Klaus. We sailed to hofriet downwind doing a good 6 knots in a fresh F4. The bay was beautiful as the wind was from the shore and the water was crystal clear. There were only 3 other boats and it was really pleasant watching the sun get lower while having a couple of beers.

Around 18.30 we weighed anchor and had a fantastic sail back to harbour in 18-20 knots apparent wind, close hauled and heeling quite a bit. We also caught a small tumbrel and had another 2 bites which got away.

We moored up at 20.00 by which time it was dark. Since Charmaine and Kieran were also not home I remained on the boat for another hour, washing ti down and cooking the tumbrell with some rice and another beer....the only downside was that the TV was only clear on TVM which was showing Deceduti.... ;(

On Sunday we picked up Kieran's friends (Miguel and Andre) for a day out on the boat. We left Kalkara around 9.15 and headed up to Ghadira arriving around 11.00. The bay was relatively quiet during the morning but then it started getting more and more busy with boats while the beach was jam packed with sunbeds. We had a good day of swimming, fishing and going on the beach for ice creams and playing ball. Returning back to the harbour around 17.00 was like being on the M25 with all the marine traffic.

On Friday 21 August Kieran had a BBQ with the Muzew group at St Peter's Pool then came straight to the Mqabba nursery BBQ at 21.00. On Saturday morning we then left on the boat towardsCcomino and anchored in an extremely busy Santa Marija bay where the feast of St Marija was due to be celebrated in the evening after a spell of 40 years!

People continued to increase throughout the day and by the evening there was quite a crowd in front of the minuscule old chapel where mass was being celebrated by the Gozo Archbishop. It was an amusing sight with elegantly dressed old ladies sitting next to beer drinking bare bellied youths! There were even a few street decorations along the dirt path and some stalls with long queues and the compulsory fireworks marking the end of the feast.

On Sunday we then went to Ramla l-Hamra where we remained for most of the day swimming in clear waters. We tried fishing but we only caught a tracna...again!

In the evening we went to Marsalforn and ended up staying there till Tuesday morning! We passed the time snorkelling, strolling, eating, sleeping, watching TV and fishing and other stressful activities :) We also took the bus to Rabat on Monday morning but found Portelli with empty shelves so Charmaine had to use the tal linja card for a second time to go up in the evening to stock up on non diet snacks.

Snorkelling bore some fruit and we managed to do pasta with rizzi and Kieran caught another octopus from the paletta near Ghar Qawqla.

On Tuesday morning we left Marsalforn to Mgiebah where we spent a few hours and had a good few hours playing on the tiny beach next to the swimming zone and snorkelling around. There were a lot of fish in the area but we only managed to catch a nice strillja.

Around 15.30 we weighed anchor and sailed to Kalkara in a light north-westerly arriving there at 15.30. Just next to the Azzopardi fish farms there were a couple of large fins going round on the same spot probably some dolphins feeding but as they were some distance off we could not be sure.

A very good weekend overall and hopefully we'll manage to put in a couple more before summer is over!

We left Siracusa late morning after going for a coffee in town. The dinghy sort of held but it was deflating slowly and needs a proper repair when back home.

We then sailed to Marzamemi and entered the marina early afternoon in a strong breeze. The ormeggiatore directed us to a berth which was heading the wind and I knew we were going to have problems entering.

In fact as I tried to reverse the boat in place the bows were blown off and we ended up stuck in a corner between boats. Thankfully there were other Maltese boats and they came to help us handle the boat in place. This was the worst berthing ever but at least we ended up in place with no damage done.

We then went on the beach and later n the evening went to the centre to eat and walk in the crowded square and promenade.

We left Marzamemi Monday morning and arrived at Kalkara at 16.30. It was a relaxing trip and we saw 2 large dolphin and a turtle when we were quite close to Malta.

So we can now say that the journey planned during the winter months with the objective of visiting Stromboli has been achieved and we had a good time getting there. In fact the main destination was the 490 Mile journey itself.

We had some apprehensive moments including the currents and winds off messina, rough seas off catania difficult berthing at Marzamemi and above all finding the deflated dinghy at Siracusa.

However the highlights during the 15 days travelling were seeing 3 active volcanoes, swimming in bubbling bays with black beaches, bathing in mud pools, catching fish and octopus off stromboli, watching dolphins and sailing between the villages of the islands.

Good memories and we can say that we have widened our horizons.

The day started badly with the morse control for the throttle jamming when we were still tied to the pontoon. After dismantling the cover panels I found that the central bolt holding everything together was completely loose and the plates were wobbling. I tightened it and we were ready to go.

As we went out of the harbour there was a large swell and it became stronger as we went further out. As we were crossing the bay of Catania the boat was really alive as the wind and swell were strong but from behind. We were surfing down the waves and regularly hitting 9 knots, exhilarating!.

At one point we had a very strong fish bite on the rod and it started taking out line rapidly. I spent some 5 minutes taking in line only to have it pulled back out. I foolishly tightened the drag to make it harder for the fish but immediately after there was a very strong pull and it broke the line :( We rigged another lure but did not have further bites.

With the wind behind the boat was constantly shifting direction and the autopilot was struggling to keep it on course. Finally it gave up and although the motor was turning the gear wheel wasn't! This meant steering by hand the rest of the way to Siracusa.

We anchored in the harbour, inflated the dinghy and went to town. We had a good time wandering through the old down, did some shopping and had some refreshments.

When it was time to go back we went to the dinghy and found that 1 of the 3 tubes had a split seam and had deflated! It must have been the sun warming the tubes and increasing pressure until it split the glued seam. We sat on one side and gently started motoring out holding the deflated tube by hand to keep it above the surface.

Some boats passed close by staring in disbelief as we hobbled up and down in their wake. As we were half way, the motor started feeling hard to turn and when I looked back the rigid part of the tender was coming apart from the tubes and the motor was going under....this can't be happening!

I slowed down the motor and we made the last few minuted keeping the deflated side, the back of the dinghy and motor by hand above the surface until we made it to the boat....phew! Once we were on the boat we had a laugh at the comical situation but Kieran was not amused as he had been really scared!

I patched the dinghy with the repair kit and added 2 bolts to the rear to assist the glue. I also managed to fix the autopilot by replacing the broken plastic studs with stainless ones.

On the positive side the dinghy problem happened now when the trip is almost over. If it disintegrated when we were still on the islands it would have been a disaster.
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