Malta to Italy

Another update on our progress. Anna joined the crew in Valletta and after a night there we then anchored up in the Blue Lagoon. That night we had our first dinner guests on board with Peter, Ruth & Will from Time Warp, who brought some delicious food. The following day was a holiday in Malta and it seemed that everyone with a boat descended on the Blue Lagoon. The wake was insane! We set off that afternoon for Sicily with the intention of reaching Corfu and reached Siracusa on Sicily after an overnight passage. We enjoyed two nights anchored in this lovely town (note to anyone in our footsteps, following this town has the BEST laundrette ever, so friendly and cheap).

From Siracusa we set off for Corfu. During the day the conditions were very calm, the water barely rippled in places, and we were treated to amazing displays of agility by the tuna who were leaping out of the water. During the night however the wind picked up more than had been forecast and so we made the decision to divert to mainland Italy instead. We continued our passage through the following day, once again the wind dropped and the sea was glassy. This time we were treated to leaping Swordfish and more wonderful dolphins.

On the morning of the third day we decided that, rather than making for Brindisi we would stop at Otranto, on the southern part of the heel of Italy. After taking on water we moved to anchor in the bay and get some well-earned rest. And how lucky we did as we found ourselves anchored with another Scottish boat, Islay Mist from Shetland, with two girls Alisha (6) and Kaylee (5) on board. Since then we have travelled north to Brindisi together and spent a week in the marina due to strong northerly winds. The girls have been getting along fantastically as we are on the same pontoon only one boat apart.

We haven't seen much of Brindisi centre, but have found lots of goodies for the boat (and one or two things for ourselves) at the out of town shopping malls. We've also replaced the outboard which was stuck in reverse, and got the fridge fixed (it had expired its coolant gas in Tunisia). I think we have many reasons to thank the winds for blowing us off course from Corfu. And we couldn't have covered so much distance in such a short time without Anna on board helping out with the night watches. Thanks Anna!

Our onward plans are to Croatia to meet with Viv and family who will be joining us on the boat. And we'll undoubtedly be seeing Islay Mist again as we're more or less on the same schedule.