orizaba
Well-Known Member
a bit of info on malta just sent to me by a friend who is there
We left Monastir on July 18th and motored to Lampedusa where we anchored in a marine park for a couple of days. Both the radar and the electronic chart proved their worth as it was very dark on our approach and we were able to drop the anchor exactly where we wanted without being able to see where we were. When we woke up in the morning we were in a very pretty bay surrounded by high limestone cliffs in clear blue water. It was everything that most people would envision as a Mediterranean paradise. It was so nice that we decided to spend a full day there and leave the next day. We went swimming without worrying about pollution, although by mid day there were about 50 boats in the bay ranging from small runabouts to large tour boats. No one anchored very close to us, although quite a few boats motored by to look at our flag.
Before we left for Malta we went into the little harbour of Lampedusa and stocked up on food. The harbour and town were very pretty and one can see why it is a very popular vacation place for Italians. We bought pork chops and hamburger which we have not has since we left Sardinia in early June. The moorage using your own anchor and backed in to the wall is free, but the harbour is open to the south so it would not be useable with moderate to strong south winds.
In the meantime, we have walked and bussed around the city of Valetta ( home to the Order of Knights) and some of the island. The old city of Valetta is surrounded by fortifications and a gi-normous wall dating back for a thousand years. The old walled city withstood a long siege with the Turks in the mid 1500s and the Germans and Italians in WW II. In the mid-1500s, 600 knights supported by 10,000 residents held off a Turkish army of 40,000. You can walk on top of the wall in places, but none of the forts are open to the public. I guess that they are still being used by the military.
Both Gozo and Malta have good bus systems. The buses run frequently and are inexpensive. It is quite easy to move around the island and we will try to see everything worth seeing before we leave as we may not be back.
Moorage at the government marinas is on the low side when compared to European marinas, but just about everything else, including food and services, is quite expensive. The Maltese Lira or Pound, is about $2.35 to the Euro, and we think that it is over valued. It is our impression that any country that has had an association with Great Britain is an expensive country, and Malta is no exception.
In any event, Malta is an interesting little place with lots of history. There are lots of fortifications but none of the forts are open to the public. You can walk along some of the walls, and there are lots of churches. The harbour is large, I think they claim that it is the largest natural harbour in the world. There are lots of recreational boats with the majority being motorboats. It is quite dry at this time of year and there are not a lot of trees or green grass. The fields are all barren earth and they missed their spring rains so there are few crops. It is also quite an expensive place to live in, probably not as expensive as Britain but a lot more expensive than Tunisia. However, we were lucky to get moorage at the government marina, Msida, which has a fortnightly rate of 146 Euros.
hope it is of use
We left Monastir on July 18th and motored to Lampedusa where we anchored in a marine park for a couple of days. Both the radar and the electronic chart proved their worth as it was very dark on our approach and we were able to drop the anchor exactly where we wanted without being able to see where we were. When we woke up in the morning we were in a very pretty bay surrounded by high limestone cliffs in clear blue water. It was everything that most people would envision as a Mediterranean paradise. It was so nice that we decided to spend a full day there and leave the next day. We went swimming without worrying about pollution, although by mid day there were about 50 boats in the bay ranging from small runabouts to large tour boats. No one anchored very close to us, although quite a few boats motored by to look at our flag.
Before we left for Malta we went into the little harbour of Lampedusa and stocked up on food. The harbour and town were very pretty and one can see why it is a very popular vacation place for Italians. We bought pork chops and hamburger which we have not has since we left Sardinia in early June. The moorage using your own anchor and backed in to the wall is free, but the harbour is open to the south so it would not be useable with moderate to strong south winds.
In the meantime, we have walked and bussed around the city of Valetta ( home to the Order of Knights) and some of the island. The old city of Valetta is surrounded by fortifications and a gi-normous wall dating back for a thousand years. The old walled city withstood a long siege with the Turks in the mid 1500s and the Germans and Italians in WW II. In the mid-1500s, 600 knights supported by 10,000 residents held off a Turkish army of 40,000. You can walk on top of the wall in places, but none of the forts are open to the public. I guess that they are still being used by the military.
Both Gozo and Malta have good bus systems. The buses run frequently and are inexpensive. It is quite easy to move around the island and we will try to see everything worth seeing before we leave as we may not be back.
Moorage at the government marinas is on the low side when compared to European marinas, but just about everything else, including food and services, is quite expensive. The Maltese Lira or Pound, is about $2.35 to the Euro, and we think that it is over valued. It is our impression that any country that has had an association with Great Britain is an expensive country, and Malta is no exception.
In any event, Malta is an interesting little place with lots of history. There are lots of fortifications but none of the forts are open to the public. You can walk along some of the walls, and there are lots of churches. The harbour is large, I think they claim that it is the largest natural harbour in the world. There are lots of recreational boats with the majority being motorboats. It is quite dry at this time of year and there are not a lot of trees or green grass. The fields are all barren earth and they missed their spring rains so there are few crops. It is also quite an expensive place to live in, probably not as expensive as Britain but a lot more expensive than Tunisia. However, we were lucky to get moorage at the government marina, Msida, which has a fortnightly rate of 146 Euros.
hope it is of use
