31st May

We took advantage of our visitors hire car to do a big shop. Later I launched the dinghy and rowed Hester and Trewin round the marina. We finally managed to get the boat lifted out late afternoon. The grandchildren went to the beach while we stayed with Imagine. Her saildrive anodes had completely dissolved. Luckily I had some spares on board. The grease gun exploded while I was working on lubricating the props. It was their last night so went into town for a meal followed by their last ice creams.

29th May

While all the others went sightseeing in Scicli I spent the morning rebuilding the helm seat. Now we can lean back once again.

28th May

We finally got to swim off the boat. There was no wind when we got up and left to anchor outside the marina. David and Hester both went swimming, as did I. The only difference was I was in a wet suit. Later we practiced man overboard before entering the marina for lunch. In the afternoon our guests went to the beach.

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27th May

Today we all went to Ragusa. It's a wonderful spectacle, a jumble of churches, palaces and houses tumbling up and down two hills. Some of us had to take the bus but it all worked out well. Later Hester was winched part of the way up the mast and I went to the first spreaders to start cleaning.

25th to 26th May

Hester, Trewin and their parents arrived safely and took over the starboard hull. So far we've been shopping, taken Imagine out twice for a sail, launched the new kayak and paddled around the marina. We hoped to anchor off the beach for a swim but conditions haven't been right. Our visitors have been to the beach and swam there. Tonight we walked into town for pizzas and ice cream.

21st to 23rd May

Sunday was even windier so we were pleased to have made the crossing from Malta. Imagine is now clean again, I have fitted a socket for a new passarelle, we went to the market, have restocked and otherwise been reading and walking. We're looking forward to having Sophie and her lot on board tomorrow evening.

20th May

We are now back in Sicily, a bit battered but delighted to be here. The night was peaceful and we left at 6am to head north. We knew the wind would increase but expected no more than 15 to 18 knots. As it was we had four hours when it was more than 25 knots which wasn't much fun going to windward. Anyway with two reefs in the main and a scrap of foresail we plodded on. The boat was fine and there was nothing we hadn't done before. Still it was good to be in harbour, have a hot shower and a nap.

19th May

Time to leave Valletta. We slowly made our way up the north coast of Malta to Gozo. There we checked out with the border police. We are now clear to leave. We crossed the bay to a small anchorage off Comino. Here we will stay until we head to Sicily early tomorrow.

Fwd: 18th May

> In the morning we took the bus across the island to Mdina, the old capital. It was a beautifully restored small but perfectly formed fortress town on top of a hill. Just outside the town were catacombs, now cleared of all the skeletons but beautifully restored with EU funds. We then returned to Valletta for a late lunch, saw the war museum and a film about Malta before going back to the boat for the night.

17th May

We spent a peaceful night at anchor and cleared off in the morning as the tourist boats started to arrive. We drifted across the waters to Malta. The coast is rocky and largely lined by unattractive stone buildings. We anchored in a bay for lunch and then pottered along to Valletta where we berthed in one of the marinas. Later we took a bus into the old town to wander the streets and have something to eat.

16th May

Blue skies and sunshine today. We slowly made our way to the west coast of Gozo. We anchored for lunch in a circular enclosed bay with a small opening between the rocks among high cliffs. Later we made our back east and anchored for the night on the island of Comino, a small island in the passage separating Gozo from Malta. It's peaceful now but it's a very popular spot for day trippers. We expect lots of noise in the morning.

Re: 15th May

That's first out of 268 places to eat in the whole oh Gozo.

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> On 15 May 2017, at 18:08, david goldhill <davidrgoldhill@gmail.com> wrote:
>
> We spent the day hopping on and hopping off an open top tourist bus. The highlights were the citadel in the capital, Victoria, and the prehistoric stone circles. Lucinda is overjoyed because she managed to buy Bran flakes and Weetabix. They also had Marmite but we have enough of that in the stores. Tonight we're going to the number 1 restaurant on Gozo according to TripAdvisor. Can't be bad.

15th May

We spent the day hopping on and hopping off an open top tourist bus. The highlights were the citadel in the capital, Victoria, and the prehistoric stone circles. Lucinda is overjoyed because she managed to buy Bran flakes and Weetabix. They also had Marmite but we have enough of that in the stores. Tonight we're going to the number 1 restaurant on Gozo according to TripAdvisor. Can't be bad.

14th May

We slipped the surly bonds tying us to land and made the crossing to Gozo. We might as well have a motor boat. No wind and a slightly rolly sea that showed us we need to get our sea legs back. Once here we walked into the town above the harbour. Was it the capital, Victoria? Who knows. There was a big church and some men dressed in white and red cassocks dragging a statue of Jesus around town behind a naval band.

13th May

A day food little jobs and boat cleaning. We took John from further up the pontoon out for supper. By 10pm the town square was filling up and things were starting to happen. That's when we went to bed.

12th May

More baroque churches, a cathedral and a monastery and we're glad to be back in the boat. At lunch a film crew was working in an Inspector Montalbano episode. Lots of people had selfies with one of the cast so I took his picture. I've no idea who he is. When we got back Imagine was layered in red sand, a present from the south.


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11th May

It was overcast and the atmosphere oppressive. A strong southerly was blowing so we headed inland in our hire car. Air con would have helped but the car didn't have it. We saw the finest Roman mosaics in the world, and they were impressive. After a mediocre lunch we wandered in the drizzle around a town famous for ceramics. It was interesting seeing some of the interior of the island.

10th May

Well I did it. On with the wet suit and Scuba gear. The sail drives and props are now clean, more or less. The last sail went on and we're ready, more or less. We finished GoT, fantastic. But the forecast makes it impossible to head south so we've hired a car for a couple of days and will go off exploring.

9th May

If it wasn't for the weather we would have been ready to leave. The genoa needs to be hoisted but that will take less than 30 minutes in calm conditions. An underwater camera shows the engine intakes covered with marine growth but they both started and cooling water circulated. We won't be leaving for a few days as strong southerlies are forecast. We're told that this brings clinging red Saharan sand that gets everywhere. We'll try and be prepared. So time for a few minor jobs and a long walk. In the evening it was marina happy hour in the bar with about 40 other sailors, and then back to the boat for a couple more episodes of GofT.


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8th May

We weren't expecting light winds this morning but when we got up there was barely a ripple on the water. We took our chance and got the main and reacher on. The genoa will have to wait for another day. There was plenty still to do but Imagine is looking a lot tidier and ready for sea. We need a diver to clean the saildrives and propellers before we go. My underwater camera showed they were heavily encrusted with vegetation. And a strong southerly Sirocco wind is forecast for three or four days from Thursday. It looks as though we may be stuck until next week. Still there are worse places to be.


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7th May

It was too windy to put up the sails, but there were plenty of other tasks to occupy us. Last night we started series 6 of Game of Thrones. Two episodes last night and another two tonight.

6th May

We're now back on Imagine. We arrived late last night. Today we've started putting the boat back together. In the evening we had a few people over and set the world to rights over beer and wine. For those of you reading this can I point out it's a way of reminding me of what we've been doing and lets our girls that we are safe? There may be some wonderful prose and fascinating insights, but don't bank on it.

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