Farewell to Valletta

By Tuesday 23 May we felt that it was time for us to say goodbye to Valletta and to go to have a look at some of the anchorages around other parts of the Malta archipelago. We topped up our tanks with water, paid for our mooring and slipped out from Dockyard Creek. It was clearly an auspicious moment because Birgu had run up all the flags to mark our departure.

SY Aquijo

Still moored by Fort St Angelo was SY Aquijo. After seeing her the previous day I had looked up her details. At 85 metres long, 15 metres wide and a draft of 5.23 metres, she is claimed to be the ‘world’s largest high-performance ketch-rigged sailing yacht’. Her twin masts are each 90 metres high. To put that into perspective, the clearance under the Golden Gate Bridge is 67 metres. Should you need a sailing break she is available for charter at a cool €400,000 a week in the summer or €450,000 a week during the winter (presumably in the Caribbean), plus extras and crew tips. I think that you even expected to take your own wine.

To add to the spectacle, Grand Harbour was full of cruise ships….

Noon day gun   

…. and our departure coincided perfectly with the noon-day canon firing from the Saluting Battery and the daily ringing of the Siege Bell.

Barry and Catherine’s apartment block is right next to Fort St Angelo 

Barry photographing us (or possibly the sunbathing ladies)   

Instead of heading straight for the entrance of Grand Harbour from Dockyard Creek, we actually made our way round into Kalkara Creek where we hoisted our mainsail. That put us right opposite Barry and Catherine’s apartment which meant that we were able to wave goodbye to Barry [Ed: and Lily, the cat].

Barry’s photos of BV in Kalkara Creek    

Barry took some great photos of us in Kalkara Creek; we’ll have to ignore the fishing boat and get closer next time.

Our last look at the Valletta skyline   

With permission granted from Valletta Port Control for us to leave Grand Harbour we motored out getting our last look at the distinctive skyline. We both felt quite sad to be leaving. We’d had a fabulous time based out of Dockyard Creek and we are indebted to Barry and Catherine for making this wonderful cruising stop happen for us. We have probably stayed in Malta longer than anywhere else (other than over-winter stops) since we left the UK but we have barely scratched the surface on what this historic island has to offer. I have no doubt that at some stage we will be back.

Maltese lobster pot markers   

Once clear of the harbour it was clear that there was not enough wind to sail and so we engaged the autopilot and settled into a steady motor up the east side of the island. Fortunately, the range was not active, so we could track close inshore. It would have been very easy to switch off and let BV get on with the passage but you have to have your wits about you in Maltese waters. The locals have a habit of marking their lobsterpots with transparent bottles which are easy to miss until you are almost on top of them. Needless to say, we kept a sharp lookout to avoid the possibility of getting one of the lines caught around our propeller.

Heading north up to Gozo   

Our plan was to head north to explore some of the beautiful anchorages around the island of Gozo. The fact that there was little or no wind was actually an advantage for us because it looked as if we might be able to stay overnight in Dwejra. Barry and Catherine had recommended this beautiful, almost circular, cove on the west coast of Gozo but anchoring is only really viable in settled conditions because the narrow entrance is open to the prevailing north-westerly wind.

Valletta, Malta