Fw: Storyteller in Malta

Storyteller
Tue 24 Apr 2007 06:15
 

We arrived in Malta to find we were booked int a hotel that made Fawlty Towers seem like the Ritz.Unfortunately it was prepaid, but it was only a short walk from the boatyard where Storyteller was up on the hard.It's been fun catching up with our Malta friends and not so much fun doing the hundreds of tasks that need to be done to get ready for the season. Having spent a couple of days scrubbiing off the winter's dust we experienced the infamous gregale, a horrid north east gale which made the boat dirtier than it had been before. Luckily we were in a pretty protected part of the marina,although as you walked down the dock it moved so much that you felt that you must be drunk.There was no way anyone could go up the mast. We were just lucky that we went back into the water before it struck, since the yard came to a standstill.
Putting the boat back in the water was reasonably uneventful, although the travel lift knocked the top off our Iridium phone aerial. Not sure who's going to pay for that! There's still some new equipment to be installed but with a good weather forecast we hope to be on our way to Sicily on Thursday.I've replanted my herb garden which a friend minded over the winter, so we will have good supplies of fresh basil, rosemary and mint. The garden shops are full of seedlings and there's a delicious smell of stocks in the air. It's time to get cruising!