We left Portopalo very early to head off to Malta, about 60km.
The Sea had very large swells! A little intimidating for me! We didn’t have a lot of wind but managed to sail . We had the main sail up and at times one other, makes the ride a bit smoother.
Cam seemed fine but the rest of us were a bit squeezy!

It was a long day, we arrived about 10 hours later . Seeing the Island from a boat was different than arriving at the airport... that’s for sure! For me, very special I never imagined this.

We headed into an area we thought we could anchor but it didn’t seem quite right. We left that spot and came around the corner to a beautiful area with an incredible view of the Valletta area .

The Royal Malta Yacht Club is right here as well and after calling a cousin here ( also a sailor) he gave us some good tips on where to take the dinghy.

We headed in to shore for dinner at the “ Black Pearl” an old ship now on shore and a restaurant. It started to pour rain, always good for a boat wash.

The next day we went in again to go and find a marine store. The back shower head needs to be replaced.
We were greeted by “ Joey” who is with the Yacht club.My cousin had called him, he said we could put the dinghy right at the RMYC. It was safe and secure there.

We found some part things and came back to the boat, Cam and Fred got started figuring out what was going on with the shower leaking.
They found a bunch of water and pumped it out. Cam could likely explain this much better than me!

Still need some more to parts to totally fix it.

The first touring we did was to head to Sliema and Balluta Bay. One, I wanted to see my Dad’s house which is still there, thankfully it’s a heritage site and can not be knocked down like so many of the other original Villas along the waterfront; and two, I was on a mission to have a a wonderful Maltese pastry called “ Pastizzi. They are so good.

It was incredible to share this with Cam ( I blabbed a lot about the pastries and Dad’s history ) Also to share with our friends from Kamloops... wow!

We did both and had a fantastic day.

Yesterday we went on the hop on hop off bus around the Island. This is such a great way to fit it all in and you have such s good view . First we walked around Valletta, I had a lot of memories from when I was here with Dad and my sisters. So glad I had that opportunity to be here with Dad because he could show us around and talk about his life in Malta.

Then back on the bus to Mdina the ancient walled village above . I love Mdina! You can imagine life there 500 years ago or so.

Malta has allowed buying passports- causing all kinds of unrest. Apparently the people that are buying passports are the type that can’t get one in other countries. It costs a lot of money . There’s building going on all over big cranes .Sad to see , the Island is not that big.
The people are protesting and trying to stop this, I hope they do.

It’s great to have Fred and Penny with us. Lots of laughs and many old high school stories.

We met up with the Kelowna couple we came across in Taormina. They were having their boat worked on here. That was fun to chat again . As life goes... it turns out they had friends in common with Fred and Penny .

We are having lunch today with my cousin David and his wife Hazel as well as a second cousin Edward ( we haven’t quite figured out how we are related yet lol)

Next stop Gozo.

Onward .
I’ll be back .