chrisgee
Well-Known Member
anyone have experience of wintering in Malta?
Malta Wintering
- Thread starter chrisgee
- Start date
Sea Devil
Well-Known Member
Yep! Good place. Marina good with all facilities, you can back onto a bank with a buoy holding you off with less facilities or anchor. Nice town - bit touristy but everyone speaks English and most things are not expensive. Manuel boat yard excellent.
MedMan
Well-Known Member
There is still a great deal of information about Malta on my website - link below.
demonboy
Well-Known Member
Damn useful website that, David.
absit_omen
Well-Known Member
We wintered there 2002/3. In addition to Med Man's excellent report may I add the following observations.
Msida Creek Marina would not allocate berths until after the Middle Sea Race around mid Oct. No amount of money would persuade them otherwise. We did not find the staff very helpful but reasonably efficient. They are a little 'jobsworth' when asked for anything out of the ordinary.
The Malta Maritime Authority tried to levy a 30% excess on full time liveaboards. Most ducked this by going away, or saying they had been away, during the winter.
There are no marinieros to look after unoccupied boats. The Authority recommends appointing an agent (a friend of ours did and returned unannounced to find two Arabs living on board!). The answer is to come to an arrangement with other liveaboards to watch over in the event of a Gregale.
Msida Creek (and Mgarr in Gozo) had a healthy community of roaches. These were encouraged by fishermen leaving their bait and other tasty morsells behind at the end of a nights fishing. On the main quay in Msida, these guys will be fishing right at your stern.
Marinas are good value, however, we found that other things such as food and booze were a lot more expensive and inferior to mainland europe. Locally grown stuff is rare before the rain falls in Jan.
It was supposed to be duty free but in reality, unless you are a visiting tourist buying junk, it is a bit of a struggle. We bought a Honda 10i Generator and the hassle getting it out of the country was not worth it. Prices of gear tends to be inflated because of the perceived duty free status.
When we bought the Generator, the main (and only) Honda Garage did not take credit cards. Neither did the Singapore Airlines Agent who expected us to pay cash up front for flights four months away.
Maybe all this has changed in the past three years. Having said all that Malta is a pretty unique place and one which, having left, you feel an urge to return.
Good luck
Msida Creek Marina would not allocate berths until after the Middle Sea Race around mid Oct. No amount of money would persuade them otherwise. We did not find the staff very helpful but reasonably efficient. They are a little 'jobsworth' when asked for anything out of the ordinary.
The Malta Maritime Authority tried to levy a 30% excess on full time liveaboards. Most ducked this by going away, or saying they had been away, during the winter.
There are no marinieros to look after unoccupied boats. The Authority recommends appointing an agent (a friend of ours did and returned unannounced to find two Arabs living on board!). The answer is to come to an arrangement with other liveaboards to watch over in the event of a Gregale.
Msida Creek (and Mgarr in Gozo) had a healthy community of roaches. These were encouraged by fishermen leaving their bait and other tasty morsells behind at the end of a nights fishing. On the main quay in Msida, these guys will be fishing right at your stern.
Marinas are good value, however, we found that other things such as food and booze were a lot more expensive and inferior to mainland europe. Locally grown stuff is rare before the rain falls in Jan.
It was supposed to be duty free but in reality, unless you are a visiting tourist buying junk, it is a bit of a struggle. We bought a Honda 10i Generator and the hassle getting it out of the country was not worth it. Prices of gear tends to be inflated because of the perceived duty free status.
When we bought the Generator, the main (and only) Honda Garage did not take credit cards. Neither did the Singapore Airlines Agent who expected us to pay cash up front for flights four months away.
Maybe all this has changed in the past three years. Having said all that Malta is a pretty unique place and one which, having left, you feel an urge to return.
Good luck
BobOwen
Well-Known Member
Just a reminder - Malta is in the EU now. No duty free - no import / export problems.
chrisgee
Well-Known Member
thanks for info everyone - very usefull yacht I have just bought is berthed into Msida paid for til April so I may have some loot over to get a roach killer in!!
buruda
New Member
Chris,
where are you in Msida? What pontoon? I'm also in the marina. Pontoon M. Tips with roaches. Use this gel called Maxforce or Combat. Order it off Ebay. Roaches eat it, and they die in the nest and kill all the others doing it. Take it from me, years of experience battling the devils. And spray your ropes and gangplank. Every week or so or after it rains. Also no cardboard boxes aboard. Thanks to those precautions my boat is roach free.
where are you in Msida? What pontoon? I'm also in the marina. Pontoon M. Tips with roaches. Use this gel called Maxforce or Combat. Order it off Ebay. Roaches eat it, and they die in the nest and kill all the others doing it. Take it from me, years of experience battling the devils. And spray your ropes and gangplank. Every week or so or after it rains. Also no cardboard boxes aboard. Thanks to those precautions my boat is roach free.
