Malta's blue three-masted schooner

multihullsailor6

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The iconic blue three-masted schooner which has been moored in Sliema Creek for about 20+ years and which has provided many cruisers free berthing over the years is NO MORE! Usuable parts were removed on Wednesday and it was towed away yesterday to be cut up.

So all you freebie mooring fans will have to find alternative mooring in Malta from now on!
 

sailaboutvic

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That's a real shame although it was getting a bit ropey and only a matter of time before it sunk . Lucky we still know of one or two more spots .
I expect Morgan will now take the mooring over
 
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Nostrodamus

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We were there for a couple of weeks this summer and she became the go between between our friends moored on the other side of her and us. Fantastic as a place to put the cobb. We will miss her although it took me a full day cleaning the blue paint off our fenders. She will be missed and may she rest in pieces.
 

santelmo

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We were there in September but got moved away by Malta Transport after a complaint from one of the trip boat skippers. Sad to see it go but it had become an eyesore and it was in a dangerous condition. The steel deck was badly corroded, as were the forestay anchor points so there was'nt much holding the masts up. I have heard conflicting stories about its history but it must have been somebody's pride and joy at one time.
 

sailaboutvic

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We were there in September but got moved away by Malta Transport after a complaint from one of the trip boat skippers. Sad to see it go but it had become an eyesore and it was in a dangerous condition. The steel deck was badly corroded, as were the forestay anchor points so there was'nt much holding the masts up. I have heard conflicting stories about its history but it must have been somebody's pride and joy at one time.

That's one of the problem , people would moor to the starboard side and up set Morgan boats , even when they been told not too , so if you was asked to move you maybe because you was on the wrong side , we have used it for more years then I can remember and I have seen other use it for longer , it a real shame she gone ,
 
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Sounds like it was Captain Morgan's boat and mooring anyway

I expect Morgan will now take the mooring over

I mentioned this boat to an acquaintance (on leave from being Captain of a yacht based at Malta).

He told me she was called Sundancer and belonged to the Captain Morgan company (apparently she used to feature in their brochures, although she was never used for local trips herself). He said some of the yachts that have tied up to her over the last decade or so stayed for many months and one boat was there for nearly a year, refusing to move away, before the Police had to intervene because of threats made against the owner's staff when they asked him to move on!

Apparently there is a French cruising guide that put the word out that she could be used without the owner's permission and there have been problems with unauthorised berthing on this boat (and others nearby) ever since.

Don't think I would be very happy if that happened to me!
 

sailaboutvic

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So I understand MT have been trying to get it remove for years but they have a problem who the owners are , I guess CM have now own up to being responsible for it .
 
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Doesn't seem to be a problem with the owners, more about the visitors

So I understand MT have been trying to get it remove for years but they have a problem who the owners are , I guess CM have now own up to being responsible for it .

You might be interested to know that my acquaintance tells me that there was never any doubt about the schooner's ownership and he thinks she may have been removed by her owners not only because of her condition, but also because of the problems caused by all the boats mooring alongside her.

Apparently several squatting yachts have simply refused to leave when asked to do so by the owner's staff - in the case mentioned before this was sometimes so serious (death threats!) that the Police had to be involved. There were also problems with these yachts not obeying the Maltese directions to vacate the safety zone around the fireworks launching area on the nearby shore (if I understood him correctly).

As there are plenty of other large vessels lying at moorings there he wonders whether these will now have problems with visiting cruisers looking for the 'free' berth and determined to find one even though the blue schooner has gone, although he thinks they will get very short shrift indeed!

So we may not have heard the last of this story...
 

Nostrodamus

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The problem is that around that area there are mooring buoys everywhere which makes it impossible to anchor. As far as I am aware the buoys are owned by the tourist boats that are along the front and are only used in winter. The only other places around there to go are the marinas which are now so expensive and have taken up most of the inlets in grand harbour and down the bottom of the creek. It seems ridiculous that the whole of Selima creek is now out of bounds because of the massive amount of buoys that are there and are not used in summer.
 

sailaboutvic

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The problem is that around that area there are mooring buoys everywhere which makes it impossible to anchor. As far as I am aware the buoys are owned by the tourist boats that are along the front and are only used in winter. The only other places around there to go are the marinas which are now so expensive and have taken up most of the inlets in grand harbour and down the bottom of the creek. It seems ridiculous that the whole of Selima creek is now out of bounds because of the massive amount of buoys that are there and are not used in summer.

Nostrodamus
Most of the mooring bouys in Sliema are not useable , don't even try to , some are just very small block or car tyres filled with concrete , only fit for very small boats , CM bouy are used in the summer months too if the weather demands it .
The big yellow belong to the yacht yard , if they are not useing them they may let you stay on them for a day or so , longest we had is a week before asked to move off them . There still a few places left to moor too but for now I am keeping them to my self as some yachtie will spoil it by doing stupid stuff and up setting the locals .
Not sure where Vexed is getting his info from , ( john by any chance ?)but we have used the schooner for years to moor to , and we never have had any problem with CM staff , at time thier given us a lift back and fro to the boat and even letting us have water . In 2012 we had about 13 boats in the spring follow us from Ragisa over to Malta and we found mooring for all the boats on and round the schooner and with the help of CM staff , not one problem , maybe because every one behaved well .
Up to that point CM staff didnt seen to know who the owners of the boat or if they did they didn't want to say , there only concern was that no one moored to the starboard side as it was too close to there mooring .
I think the stuff that being said about CM staff being threaten is nonsense , I can tell you from experience
That if the staff was threaten the guy who did the threaten would had chew off more then he bargain for , you don't want to messing about with them guys .
There are mooring bouys just as you enter sliema on the starboard , I would only every use them in very claim weather , a hell of a swell comes around that corner . And again you in claim wether you can go onto the wall by the road , other place to anchor is Kalkara or go on the wall by the sea scout , or better still Brizebbuga bay and Marsaxlokk you can at time pick up a bouy there belonging to the yard but ask first .
Off course the problem now is since Ragusa and Licata has opened each spring boat are making Malta one of there first stop , and for some reason everyone head for Sliema , god know why there lots of better places to go .
 
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Gordonmc

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Is there any chance of a photograph of the place/vessel described?

If you search for Google Map Malta and zoom in on Sliema creek on satelliet view the schooner is visible with four boats berthed against her.
She is/was parked just off Manoel Island to the west of the AFM bomb disposal depot.
I would have posted a pic of the Google map but I don't know how...
 

Blue Drifter

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Here is a photo - I was on holiday there over Easter (not sailing) and the apartment had a nice view of Sliema.

4b1ba8c5987eaca750c373bab09f46e6_zps49c32e78.jpg
 
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Bajansailor

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Here is a scanned photo I took of Sundancer at anchor in Carlisle Bay, Barbados when she came to the Caribbean on a cruise in the late 70's.

Sundancer_zpsebesyesc.jpg


Roller furling equipment was very rare in those days, and even then there were lots of rust streaks visible on her hull (maybe thats one reason why she was later painted blue?).

The background scenery has changed a lot since then - a couple of years after I took this photo, sand started building up on the north side of Carlisle Bay, and there is now an enormous beach by where these old warehouses are. Rumour has it that they will be demolished soon in preparation for building a high-rise Hyatt hotel here, which would be a useful addition to hotel capacity here, and especially as there are no hotels in downtown Bridgetown, unlike all of the other English speaking islands in the Caribbean.
 

sundancerpeter

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sundancer was one of the most travelled yachts in the world.Built 1971 in plymouth by Len Last and she achieved 25 knots in trials.She did 6 circumnavigations and numerous expeditions.Rounded the horn twice and was a brilliant sea boat...drawing 14 ft of water with a winged keel and two rudders-one aft and one under the forard mast.She was the fore runner for Club Mediteraine and other famous boats.Sad to see her cut up but she was well worn.
 

SundancerVincent

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sundancer was one of the most travelled yachts in the world.Built 1971 in plymouth by Len Last and she achieved 25 knots in trials.She did 6 circumnavigations and numerous expeditions.Rounded the horn twice and was a brilliant sea boat...drawing 14 ft of water with a winged keel and two rudders-one aft and one under the forard mast.She was the fore runner for Club Mediteraine and other famous boats.Sad to see her cut up but she was well worn.
Peter,

In 2016 and 2017 I walked around Malta and Gozo, the entire coastline, in the vain hope that I might have had a chance encounter with my old friend, Sundancer. Apparently, the poor old girl was cut up on Manoel Island in 2014. Bizarrely, I have even visited Manoel Island in the hope of a sighting. In all, I have visited Malta 7 times, purely for walking. Only today did I discover her fate. Saddened I never had that last sighting but there are some photos on here of where Sundancer was moored. Magical for me, as I have paced past this location dozens of occasions. I hope you are still alive my friend and haven't succumbed to Covid19.

Vinny Jones
 

sailaboutvic

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She use to be moor in sliema water front and for some years we use to use her as a mooring pontoon , begin of each season you would have three or four boats on each side ., at that time her masts still standing but her boom gone and inside was just one tunnel , in places there was small leaks coming from weld joins .
I may have some photos some where , if I came across then I post them .
Those where the days .
 
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