Last Sail of the Season

It was all quiet on board now that our visitors had left and it was time to start planning our final passage of 2023. There were more strong north westerly winds forecast so we first headed for shelter back at Mellieha bay.

Once the wind passed, we had a calm couple of days which was a good opportunity to scrub the hull. After spending time in Siracusa a few weeks ago, we noticed that our bottom was no longer slippery, we had attracted some growth which was slowing us down, so it was time to clean it off.

There was some water sports activity in the very large bay with small boats and jet bikes speeding around, often weaving between the anchored boats. At one point a bike got too close to us before losing control and actually hitting ZigZag, unfortunately Paul was scraping the waterline and his head was also hit as it became a fender between the boat and the bike. Although feeling a bit dazed, luckily he managed to dive down under the boat to prevent any serious injury. Inexperienced people hiring jet bikes, often not in control, are very dangerous and this could have been a whole lot worse. After it hit us, the driver shouted a brief apology before speeding off, leaving Paul somewhat shocked in the water, and continued having fun speeding around the bay.

We were waiting for a suitable weather window to make our final passage to our winter mooring, but first we needed to check out of Malta and Schengen. Further strong winds and swell from the south west were forecast, so before this arrived, we sailed 18nm in a light westerly wind south towards Marsaxlokk, passing Grand Harbour as a huge cruise ship was negotiating its way in. By mid afternoon, we arrived in Birzebbugia bay and anchored in our usual spot close to the shipping terminal.

After a couple of days with 30kt winds, it all calmed down again and it was a lovely sunny day, there was not enough wind to sail so rather than more motoring, we took the bus to Valletta to check out.

We walked down to the port through Herbert Ganado Gardens, a terraced garden overlooking Grand Harbour.

The process was very easy with the immigration police and customs all in one office. They were at first reluctant to stamp our passport as they said that we shouldn’t have been stamped in. If only it was that simple and we could travel freely without having to get passports stamped at borders. Unfortunately, other countries haven’t interpreted the rules in this way and insist that we check in and out! Eventually the Maltese immigration police reluctantly stamped our passport and we were free to leave. We walked back along the waterfront which is lined with a complex of stores and warehouses which were built during the 18th century, and waterside cafes overlooking the cruise ships docked in the harbour. This is obviously where the rich and famous hang out.

With one final walk around Valletta we did some provisioning before returning back to Ziggy. Many of the shopfronts still retain their old fashioned signs.

The following day, the weather was favourable to set off on our final passage of the season to our winter mooring. The journey was 184nm due west and we estimated that this would take approximately 35-40 hours depending on the wind. We lifted the anchor at 3am to hopefully arrive during the afternoon on the following day. Although the sky was dark, the anchorage was lit by the thousands of lights at the shipping terminal and it didn’t feel like the middle of the night.

As we came out of the bay there was a light northerly wind blowing with a 1 metre swell, Ziggy was rolling around causing the sails to flap so we fired up the engine and motorsailed around the southern point of Malta and then set our course due west.

There are many parts of Malta that we didn’t visit this time, we have not yet explored any of the more remote bays along the west coast, or the neighbouring islands of Gozo and Camino, so we’ll save that for next time.

After a few hours the sun rose and the wind picked up from the Southeast so the engine was switched off, the main came down and we sailed with just the Genoa averaging 5.5kts.

The wind continued to steadily increase throughout the day and we were happy to be making good speed in the right direction.

After the sun went down, the swell had reduced and the wind remained constant, we sailed comfortably through the night. It was very quiet at sea with no other ships around apart from a few small fishing boats and fishing pots to look out for. The night sky was full of stars and a bright crescent moon lit our way.

In the morning there was a flying fish lying in the cockpit, I hadn’t notice it arrive but did hear a small thud during my watch which must have been when it landed. It would have given me a shock if it had hit me when it flew into the cockpit during the night.

The wind dropped, as did our speed, as the sun came up on our second day. We had already covered good distance and so continued to sail slowly for a few more hours until the wind completely disappeared and the engine was back on. It was another hot and sunny day, there was not much going on around us, a couple of big dolphins swam by and a small bird stopped for a rest for a few minutes before continuing on its way. We were surrounded by miles of blue sea for several more hours until we could eventually see the coast of Africa ahead.

Our destination was Tunisia where we had booked a marina berth at Monastir. As we approached, the wind increased to a force 4 so the sails were hoisted again. The swell was building and grey clouds descended upon us, it looked stormy ahead and we had a very lively sail for the last couple of hours towards Monastir.

We arrived mid afternoon and the marinero’s came to welcome us at the marina entrance. They directed us to a small space tucked in among other boats, my first thought was that there is no way that we will fit in there. However, they managed to ease us in, with help from the people on our neighbouring boats slowly pulling our stern in with ropes on either side and a dinghy pushing our bow into position. Finally we were in and unlikely to be moving any time soon.

It has been a great summer, we’ve been to many new places along with revisiting some old favourites. Here are a few of this seasons sailing statstics:

We had 156 days at sea and 14 days out of the water in Marmaris boatyard.

Total nautical miles: 1644

Our longest journey was our final passage from Malta to Tunisia which was 184nm and took 36 hours.

Furthest North: Erikoussa 39°52’69”N

Furthest South: Monastir 34°46’76”N and with a longitude of 10°51’01”E it is also the furthest West.

Furthest East: Finike 30°80’98”E

We visited at least 19 ancient ruins!

Now that we are safely moored for the winter, we have to go through the Tunisia checking-in process which we have heard can be quite an experience.