First mate reporting today. Pete was a master of understatement in the last entry, as the last night of our crossing was entirely unexpected. No strong winds had been forecast but we got them anyway and we had to cross a very busy shipping lane with ships going right across our course on their way to places like Egypt and Morocco. I came up to do the 02.00 to 06.00 watch, but the boat was rolling badly and Pete had had to make sure we were not on a collision course with several ships already, one of which he had to steer away from at the last minute. There are rules (collision regulations) about giving way but in the end "might is right" and you just have to get out of the way of a much bigger boat! So Pete heroically said he would do the 2nd night watch as well, which meant no sleep at all. He then had to steer us into Valletta harbour, where we were guided in by Charlie, who is replacing our standing rigging. He jumped straight onto the boat and started dismantling the rigging, which was a bit disconcerting, then a couple of hours later, just when Pete thought he could get some rest, we had to drive the boat over to a crane, where the mast was lifted out and then drive back again.

We are now staying in Paul and Sylvia's flat in Attard and have caught up with sleep. We spent this morning in Valletta, which is a beautiful city, and are going to Mdina tonight, which used to be the capital of Malta and is beautifully preserved with fantastic views. We have to go back to the boatyard at 07.30 tomorrow to have the mast put back in the boat and hope to be back aboard on Saturday. it's very hot and forecast to be 37 degrees on Sunday!