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Date: 04 Aug 2011 22:11:04
Title: 35 53.776N 014 29.939E Velletta, Malta
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We arrived in Valletta from Porta Palo at about 7:30 last night. Several calls on the radio brought no response from the marina so we went flaming in where the pilot book said the customs dock and office was supposed to be. They moved it about 6 months ago and we ended up docking side too under the 'Black Pearl' old boat used in the filming of Popeye and now a bar and grill.

Security came down to move us out and one of the boaters, Louis, argued on our behalf in Maltese to let us stay the night. In the morning they moved us to an open slip. We also had to move again this evening. Plenty of docking practice. Louis asked if I wanted a ride into town. With him driving me around I was able to get all of my business done in one fell swoop, customs, immigration, port police, check in and pay at the marina, vodaphone internet and phone, and arranged to pull the boat out of the water at 1:00 tomorrow. The only down side is that they are taking the travel lift out of service for 15 days so we will be more or less marooned for a piece. I was thinking about 7 days would be enough if I got a decent crew to work on the boat. Thank you Louis! Louis has a sail boat here, is in local real-estate, has a wife who does not like to sail, and is a really great guy!

We really need to fix the stuffing box seal (the gismo that keeps water from running into the boat along the rotating propeller shaft) as it is leaking enough that when the motor is running the bilge switches on about every 15 minutes now. If the bilge pump would fail on one of these long passages it would not be good. How many hours can you work a hand pump and sail the boat. As long as the boat is out of the water I might as well have the antifouling re-done and a few other things I had scheduled for Spain.

Mary flies out on Saturday so I will be ready to go into work mode for a few days at least. Malta is a neat place sort of like a continuous military fort. It has a little of the feel of Bermuda but is a lot bigger. Everyone speaks English and most of the TV and signage is in English. It is very hot here like back home right now and I am not excited about staying on the boat in the yard without AC or refrigeration... but it does cool down at night. We will look into hostels as well.
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