28-Sep-2008 Noon Position

Noon Position
36'38.0N/12'48.8E
Mediterranean Sea

• 94 nm last 24hrs
• 94 nm from Malta
• 830nm to Malaga, Spain
• Winds NW 5 knots
• seas calm

Team Sandpiper is back at sea and making way! We left Malta yesterday at 11am after a late morning spent getting the boat secured for sea and Amy packaging up some pre-cooked meals. Our next port will hopefully be Malaga, Spain 920 miles away. If the weather cooperates then we are hoping that this should take us 11 days or better. Malaga is Spain's western most port in the Mediterranean. If we make it, then it will be our only stop before we head south to the Canary Islands in mid October.

As we left Malta there was a boat/air show going on over the weekend. As we got to the west end of Malta a fighter jet from the air show flew down our starboard side, upside down, at low level. Then it spun around and did a low level pass right over the 'Piper while he was spinning 360's. A very nice farewell from Malta!

The winds in the Med come mostly from the NW, the exact direction that we need to go. But yesterday's forecast was for winds out of the N/NE. This allowed us sail till about sunset when the winds veered back to the NW, right where we did not want them. We have motored since sunset last night with light 5-10 knot headwind. We are hoping that these headwinds stay light, as predicted, so we can gain miles while motoring.

There is also a constant flowing easterly current in the Med. The seawater evaporates in the Med faster then any rivers can fill it up. So water from the Atlantic Ocean pours in to make up the difference. So till we hit the Atlantic, we will be fighting this current, giving us lower 24-hour runs.

Although it sucks to have to motor in light winds, it beats motoring into 20-30 knots of wind. We looked at many different forecasts before leaving, and from what we are seeing we should have a few days of light wings. Then the farther west we go the winds should veer around from the east where we are hoping to actually maybe sail.

We are just south of the W-E bound shipping lanes with lots of traffic overnight, but most of it staying away from us. We did top off on fuel before leaving Malta taking on 260 liters at 1.30 Euros a liter. That is over USD$5 dollars a gallon... Ouch. This is the first fuel we have taken in the Med since our last fill up in Egypt. We have done pretty good as Sandpiper's tanks were half full. $5 dollars a gallon is expensive, but it is better then in Turkey where everyone was paying $9 dollars a gallon.

One downer is our iPod shorted out at the bottom where it plugs in. Now we have no way to charge it, so no iPod! We tried to have this repaired in Malta, but no luck. Hopefully we can get it fixed in Spain, or else our Atlantic crossing will be awfully quite.

We are 40 miles south of Sicily's coast and we can listen to all there techno dance hits... fun. Check out the podcast 'Dawn and Drew Show' #802 where you can hear us phone in at the end of their show on their comment line. We are 'Show Biz Sailors'.

More in 24!!
Tom and Amy

---

Note From Ron: Here are a bunch of videos of this weekend's Malta International Air Show.

Malta

Anchored Valletta West Harbor
Malta
Mediterranean Sea
35'53.9N/14'30.0E
(Click on photo to see the Piper)

Malta has been a great experience this past week. We have been able to take care of many boat projects and even allowed for some exploring of the island.

Upon arrival we had no idea where we would anchor as this is our first country where we haven’t had any sort of nautical guide book. We found a spot and have been quite pleased with it this past week. Once we got the dingy inflated, we set out to find customs and immigration for a check in. It just so happens that we picked the perfect anchorage because their offices are directly across from us, making it the easiest and cheapest (free!) check in of all time.

Across the street from customs is White Sails Nautical Supplies and they have been great to us all week. We have had outboard engine issues and finally gave up and took it in. Within the day had it back with a new spark plug wire. We also purchased flags for our upcoming stops, a new hose for the water pump, carburetor cleaner, and we got the low­ down of how everything works on the island (i.e. laundry, buses, tours). With all the bashings we have been taking we needed to replace some webbing on the mainsail. So we were directed to Inside Out Boat Furnishings who hooked us up with UV webbing, and they also stitched up our American flag. Everyone here in Malta is super friendly and helpful. It is a welcome relief. It sure makes doing boat errands much more enjoyable.

With a few projects out of the way we jumped into full tourist mode and took a half day’s trip around the island on a double decker bus. There is quite a bit of history to Malta, and it is surprisingly a very metropolitan island. So they have the best of both worlds here. Just a few of the sights we saw on our tour include; the walled city of Valletta, Fort St. Elmo, Fort St. Angelo, Grand Harbor, Blue Grotto, and a Maltese Falcon sanctuary.

Upon inspection of the local grocery stores we were pleasantly surprised at all the great food (black beans and tortillas) and good prices. So we did a huge provision, spending so much money the store gave us two bottles of wine as a thank you. This was the most I have ever spent on groceries in three years.

It was also nice to have laundry done. The last load in a washing machine was done at my mom’s house over a month ago.

Being so close to Italy, the food has a strong Italian influence, and we have had some of the best meals in a long time. We treated ourselves to a nice meal out in the city of Valletta. The home-made ravioli and asparagus risotto were to die for.

Today we pulled into the marina for a water fill up and then to the fuel dock (1.30 euro/liter - a little over USD$7 per gallon) for a topper. We plan to leave tomorrow for Spain, or wherever the wind takes us. As of now it looks like the weather should be ok for the next week. If it cooperates then we will do a posting from sea.

One Love
Amy and Tom

One quick note for all the Popeye fans out there. Popeye the movie was filmed here.

Malta

Anchored at Valletta West Harbor
Malta
Mediterranean Sea
35'53.9N/14'30.0E
(Click on photo to enlarge waterspout forming)

This morning I feel like I have been riding ‘Mr. Toad’s Wild Ride’ for the past four days. If you have ever experienced this Walt Disney World attraction, than you know the whiplash can last for days after just one go. Our trip from Greece to Malta may have been the roughest, toughest, and most enduring passage in our last three years.

We started last Wednesday hoisting up our two stern anchors and cutting loose all the lines tied to the quay. While steering us out of the harbor I could see the white caps on the somewhat sizable swell that we would be bashing our way in to. After a brief ‘family meeting’ we decided those swells looked a bit much for us and we turned around and headed back to the harbor. This time we dropped the hook in the middle of the harbor hoping the winds would lighten up Wednesday night. If not, then we could try to make an early exit Thursday morning. We had triple checked the weather and knew a low pressure system was coming our way and we wanted to try to get out there sooner than later.

Thursday morning we hoisted the anchor and off we went. We still had white caps, just not as many as yesterday. The swell was big, but not stacked up, so we went for it. Once we stuck our nose out there, got on our track line, and of course the wind is coming straight from the west and it’s blowing pretty well. We thought maybe once we got away from land things may lighten up a bit. But that just wasn’t the case. So we powered through, making less than 2 knots, and bashing through the swells coming at us from all directions. The next time you do a load of laundry, watch the beginning of the agitate cycle. Then picture yourself in a small boat trying to make any sort of head way. Good times.

Some of you may be saying ‘Why not turn around?’ But if we turned around, then we would loose this weather window before the low pressure system arrived. So we stuck with it, and after a very uncomfortable first day the wind started to swing to the northwest. We were able to shut down the engine and sail. Not a comfortable sail, but at least we weren’t sucking up the exhaust fumes anymore.

Speaking of motoring... before we left Greece Tom stared at the engine pump one last time. he changed an impeller, sanded something down, put it all back together, sprinkled it with some magic dust, and we didn’t leak one drop of water the entire trip!

Saturday afternoon dark clouds start rolling in and I said to Tom "Hey! Look up there. Isn’t that a water spout (tornado) forming?" Sure enough in about one hours time we saw several water spouts forming all around us. Soon the winds were back up and out of the west again, so on came the engine. The seas had really picked up now too, and the waves we were taking over the bow were so full of water it was like a fire hose being sprayed directly on the dodger. Thank heavens for the dodger.

One of the waves we took even had a sizeable fish in it. When it came smacking on the dodger windows he left his scales all over the glass and deck. The winds were ripping at this point, and that new American flag we got in Turkey is now in need of repair.

Of course when there is wind and dark clouds then rain is sure to follow. And to add more excitement... lighting too. Lighting scares me at sea. Especially when you can see it hitting the water all around you, coming down in pitch forks. At this point we aren’t sleeping much and just trying to hold on.

Once morning came around the storm had cleared and took with it all the wind. We ended up motoring on and off the rest of the way to Malta and arrived yesterday (Monday) afternoon. We dropped the hook, had a celebration drink, a grilled cheese sandwich and hit the pillows. As of now it looks like we will stay a few days before our big trip to Spain.

Love to all,
Amy and Tom

Malta

Ron here... I just received a short note from Tom and Amy. They just arrived in Malta and are in a very small anchorage. He said "We just got in we took a big beating getting here."

Internet access is sketchy for them, so I except more in a day or two.

Ron