Miles Builder; Malta to Lavagna, Oct thru Nov 2023. Pt 2

Call to Action

On Thursday 26th October, I get this invite to join the Malta Lavagna Miles Building sail via the WhatsApp Group from Daria at Race your Dreams. Turns out there will be 5 of us on board, with the other 4 already at the Royal Malta Yacht Club, Ta’ Xbiex, converting Jua Kali from racing mode to cruising mode and getting everything ready for the trip. And the Skipper, Francesco, has already set the “no booze on board” rule for the entire journey. I’ll be joining them on Sunday.

Got my travel plans from Switzerland to Malta all sorted, and I’ve confirmed the accommodation for the first night at Le Margherite, Kalkara. Booked it through Booking.com. Packed my bag with 20 Kg’s of sailing gear for any kind of weather, even though I’ll probably only need half of it.

Saturday morning, the alarm goes off at 4:45 am and pulls me out of my dream and into the kitchen for some coffee and breakfast. Then it’s time to do the morning hygiene routine. Made sure I have my passport, ID, tickets, money, and travel adapters all in order. Locked up the apartment and hiked down the mountain to Ennetbürgen, Dorf bus stop to catch the 6:30 am bus to Altdorf Bahnhof.

With their Swiss precision, the SBB buses and trains rocked up and rolled out right on time in Ennetbürgen, Altdorf, Lugano, and Milano Centrale, despite all the repairs happening in the Gotthard Tunnel after that crazy derailment back in August.

Now it’s the turn of the Italian shuttle buses and Irish masters of travel, the cool cats at Ryanair, to show off their skills.

Gotta give credit where it’s due, the Orio Airport Shuttle Bus did a pretty decent job. They got me to Bergamo Airport without a hitch and without any freakin’ timetable. Just throw a bunch of buses on a loop, and no way you can screw it up..!

I totally checked my bag with Ryanair and breezed through all the airport security checks without a problem. Found my departure gate and just strolled around the airport shops, you know, doing some window shopping without any intention of buying anything. Saw the departure info boards changing flights from delayed to cancelled and found a not-so-comfy seat to witness the chaos as more and more folks waited for their flights to be called.

Got a message on WhatsApp from the Malta Lavagna Miles Building Group telling us that we gotta meet tomorrow at 6 AM on Jua Kali in Royal Malta Yacht Club in Ta’ Xbiex. They said we’re leaving early ’cause there are storms coming and we gotta outrun ’em to get as far north as possible.

Finally, my flight was called for boarding and we all stood outside on the airport apron in the chilly weather, just chilling and watching passengers get off the plane while the ground crew did all their stuff like refueling, unloading and loading baggage, and whatnot.

So, I hopped on the plane, squeezed myself into this crazy tight seat, and buckled up. I read the safety card and watch the pre-flight instructions, but honestly, the speakers in the cabin were crap and I couldn’t understand a word..!

Our flight FR7324 was kinda late, but then it finally took off from runway 028 without any drama. It went all the way south-south-east, with a heading of 157, yup, straight towards Malta. Smooth sailing, no worries!

The flight was kinda bumpy, and let me tell you, the landing in Malta was so hard that I’m pretty sure the plane needs some serious maintenance on its landing gear and structure.

I was lucky that my hotel transfer driver was still waiting for me at the airport with a sign that had my name on it. On the way to Le Margherite, I asked if he could pick me up in the morning at 5 AM and take me to the Royal Malta Yacht Club. He was really nice and agreed, even though it was already past midnight.

All aboard

It’s freaking Sunday morning, 29th of October, and my stupid alarm clock is making these annoying cockerel sounds, ruining my precious 3 hours of sleep. I quickly jumped into the shower and put on my sailing gear, ready to hit the ground running when I get to Jua Kali.

Outside my ride is waiting to take me to the Royal Malta Yacht Club. What a star.

In pitch darkness, I went from one jetty to another, desperately searching for the yacht but couldn’t find it anywhere. Finally, I messaged the Group on WhatsApp to find out where the heck we were supposed to meet. Simone replied, saying he was already sleeping on board. The others were still on their way from their fancy 5-star hotels. In accordance with Sods Law I did eventually find Jua Kali on the last jetty I went to. When Francesco and Daria, whom I had sailed with before, arrived, we greeted each other like long-lost friends with lots of love and hugs. Simone and Marie, who were new to the crew, gave us a quick introduction (we’d get to know more about each other on the way) before we jumped right into action. We dumped our stuff in the assigned cabins, divided the crew into two watches, stuck the watch schedule on the head door, did a safety briefing, and handed out safety equipment to everyone. With all that done, the yacht was prepped and ready to set sail…

Okay, here’s the lowdown on the crew:

• Francesco – Skipper, available to all watches as and when required. Bunking above the salon table.
• Daria – First Mate & Co-owner, Watch Team A. Bunking in the starboard stern cabin.
• Dave (Self) – Crew, Watch Team A. Hot bunking in the port stern cabin.
• Simone – Crew, Watch Team B. Hot bunking in the port stern cabin & salon sofa.
• Marie – Crew, Watch Team B. Bunking in the V-berth with most of the sails & starboard stern cabin when the weather is bad.

Setting sail – Passage day 1

At 07:57, we untied the lines and started our journey out of Malta, passing by Valletta and the Dragutt Shoal, and set our course toward Sicily and the Strait of Messina. The wind was barely there, so we mostly relied on the motor to sail, knowing that we had to cross the Strait within two days before the bad weather catches us.

Note: Less than two hours turn around time from arriving on board to setting sail. That’s pretty darn impressive..!

We quickly got into the swing of things and watched Malta disappear on the horizon to our southwest. The sea was calm and stunningly blue. We read books, listened to music, worked on our tans, gobbled up wraps of all different flavors, sipped tea, and chatted about the crazy things we’ve learned in “blindfolded” sailing lessons and knot school. A couple of sailboats heading to Sicily sailed past us, and we even had a brief visit from some dolphins, lots of green, loggerhead or leatherback turtles (I’m no expert), a few flying fish, and a ton of fried egg jellyfish (Phacellophora camtschatica). Some of the crew even claimed to have spotted alligators! The day ended with a picture-perfect sunset. So everything was pretty much like a dream. Little did we know that the calm was just the calm before the storm!

The Strait of Messina & entering the Tyrrhenian Sea – Passage day 2

Supper went down well and everyone managed to get a reasonable amount of sleep. It was a quiet night as we motor sailed north along the east coast of Sicily. The night lights from the City of Catania and other smaller Sicilian towns along the coast were clearly visible and very beautiful. I was surprised at how little shipping there was as we only came into to contact with a few other commercial ships entering the Strait or heading west towards Greece. All in all very relaxing so far…

The sun rose in the east over the southern tip of Calabria and threw her rays on the clouds marching north along the Sicilian Coast with dramatic consequences. The colours were out of this world and a full moon lingered in the sky refusing to sleep.

We went towards the eastern or Calabria side of the Strait to follow the shipping rules for crossing this waterway.

We gotta picture it like this: The Strait is split in half, there’s a virtual “centerline” right in the middle. It’s marked with a purple stripe on the map. Now, if you’re sailing south, you gotta stick to the west side of that line, which means you’ll be closer to Sicily. And if you’re going north, you gotta stay on the east side, navigating closer to Calabria. If you wanna switch from one side to the other, you gotta make a counterclockwise turn around the violet circle, which is like a roundabout on the map.

If you’re on a recreational boat, stay close to the coast on your right. But watch out for ferries passing between Messina and Villa San Giovanni, they always have the right of way. Especially between Capo Peloro and Messina, it’s a good idea to lower your jib and avoid sailing zigzag upwind with sudden changes of course.

Oh, and don’t forget to check in with the coast guard, even if you’re on a small vessel. Give ’em a call, let ’em know you’re entering and they’ll tell you if it’s a good time to go through the strait or if you should wait for the tides to change.

The journey through the Strait was totally chill, man! We didn’t spot any of those legendary creatures from Greek and Roman stories, you know? But as we cruised out of the strait and hit the Tyrrhenian Sea, things took a wild turn! Life on the ship went from all fun and games to pure, unadulterated panic and fear! Whoa!

Continued in… Miles Builder; Malta to Lavagna, Oct thru Nov 2023. Pt 3