Chasing the Summer - Heat and sand in Malta

By FrenchMonkey -
Tilly Mint is now one step closer to Sardinia, where she will be based for the season. 5 days was all it took to sail from Gibraltar to Malta, with a rather steady wind blowing directly from behind us and an incredible amount of traffic at every hour of the day and night. Overall an easy trip with the poled out genoa, and many dodging maneuvers - always keep in mind that the tanker coming straight at you doing 18 knots is about 12 times bigger than you, which mostly cancels any priority rule there could be... Better safe than sorry!

Leaving Gibraltar at sunrise
Dodging tankers - a national sports in Gibraltar!
So Tilly Mint and her crew are now happily docked in Manoel Island Marina, just across the harbor from the capital Valletta. Why happily? Because after 6 weeks of wearing foul weather gear, boots and beanie hats, we have finally found the Summer again! Yes, we might very well be spoiled, but you have to understand since we have started working in the yachting industry, we have forgotten all about winter, snow, cold, or even simply wondering if flip flops might not be the most appropriate footwear every single day of the year. Gibraltar might be very close to Spain, but the Britishness seems to win there and after warm days the evenings are rather chilly. So you'll understand our joy when every mile sailed in the Med seemed to take us closer to the weather we so cherish - by the end of the trip we could stand night-watches in t-shirts.

6:30am in t-shirts: happy crew!
Sailing into Valletta at sunrise was spectacular. The entrance to the harbor is surrounded by old forts and the whole city is built out of a sand-colored stone which turns gold in the early morning light. After the usual clean-up/sorting out paperwork and laundry, we decided to do some exploring, and found that Malta is a highly cosmopolitan, with influences from North Africa, Italy, Turkey and England. Almost everyone speaks English, which was good news to us, as Maltese is an interesting sounding mix of Arabic and Italian, with words from other random languages thrown in here and there. After 10am the heat reaches well over 30 degrees Celsius in the shade, and the sand (or dust?) that covers everything makes it seem even drier. After all, Africa is just around the corner! Captain Bill threatened anyone complaining about the heat to send them back to Gibraltar.

 




Comments

  1. Aaron GrayJune 20, 2013 at 1:04 AM

    Great stuff, guys! Enjoy the Med season. Hopefully, we will be able to catch up with you this summer. Cheers! --Miranda & Aaron

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Another Transatlantic Adventure

By -
Image
It's the time of year again for Tilly Mint to make her bi-annual migration across the Atlantic Ocean.  This is always an exciting time for me and Arwyn, as it marks the end of another rewarding season in the Caribbean, and promises new adventures to be had in far away places.  Every year, Tilly Mint heads to a new cruising ground for the Summer. In 2014, we were in England, Spain, Italy, and Malta. Last Summer, we cruised the Adriatic Sea, stopping in Greece, Montenegro, and Croatia. This summer, I am elated to say that we are headed for Norway! Throughout the Caribbean season, this has been a simple fact- a simple answer to a simple question. "Where are you going this Summer?" - "Norway." However, at this busy time of our year, it becomes a reality. It's not only a distant land in which we will travel in the distant future, rather it becomes the focus of the now. It now becomes our task to sail Tilly Mint roughly 4,500 nm across the Atlantic, down the
Read more

The perfect finish

By FrenchMonkey -
Image
An adventure ends, but another one is starting for Tilly Mint - in a few days she will leave the Caribbean to sail back to the Mediterranean with a new crew. After over two and a half years on board, Bill and I are taking a well deserved holiday, leaving Tilly Mint in good hands with our long time friends and highly qualified crew Arwyn and Andrew. Our last week on board couldn't have been better, with all four crew, the owner and his wife racing Tilly Mint for Antigua Sailing Week. A great time was had by all, and many emotional goodbyes were said. The crew is now working on getting the boat ready for her sixth Atlantic crossing. Fair winds and following seas to Tilly Mint and her crew, we sure will miss you!    
Read more

Big boat watching at the St Barths Bucket

By FrenchMonkey -
Image
Tilly Mint felt very small last weekend, as our charter itinerary took us to St Barths to watch the Bucket Regatta, which involves some of the biggest sailing yachts ever built. Here are some shots of the Saturday race. This is what the AIS looked like in Gustavia... Visione and Hetairos, last two boats to start Spinnakers are out on a short downwind leg The graceful Adela Schooner and ketches From that distance they almost look small...
Read more