Monastir to Malta
Moving away from the African continent
After a few month in the sailors wintering walhalla, as so they call it. It was a also quite enough. You do feel the need to leave again. Im not sure if that is our travellers spirit or that you get fed up with the standards that you are used to, like having certain things available in shops or finding it hard to communicate with locals as you having to deal with a language you don't speak or maybe even all the boatwork just got to us. We were ready to get out and set sail again.
Deciding to go after a few months also entails to get yourself immerged in weather windows again. Somehow all this time there weren't much optimal conditions.
In Tunesia there is a very bureaucratic system to leave the port. You will have to get through police, customs and the gard national to be able to be cleared to leave.
WHEN THE POLICE ASKED US: "IS BOLONGO REALLY YOURS?
We had a little hick-up with the whole process. Bewteen arrival in Tunesia and departure we had changed the ownership/nationality of our boat to the Dutch nationality. However my little brain didn't actually showed the new paperwork to the police and customs. So basically they had no proof that we owned Bolongo, aah! Funny enough we made some good friends with the chief of police who easily guided us through the process, showed them the new paperwork and we were free to go.
The trip should take 175 nautical miles. We decided to take this route north of the island Lampedusa and Linosa. We first we had to pass the challenge of the island Kuriat. These are two small Tunesian islands right off the coast of Monastir. Where two of our sailor friend run a ground. Meaning their sailboats hit the sandy bottom and got stuck there. Apparently there are a few very shallow sandbanks around there.
A Scare From Our Good Friend
One day our good friend Bill left Monastir. For some background information, Bill is a an 78 year old American man and a very skilled sailor. Bill and I became really good friends in time we spend in Monastir. Bill nowadays always travels with crew but during his time in Monastir he was struggeling to find one. He finally decided to leave without a crew. The day he left we woke up on terrible weather conditions. In our heads we believed Bill would never in a million years would leave in those conditions. Then at 08.00 in the morning we got his message that he left 2 hours before. For our feeling a bit odd, but Bill was confident. Good on him.
However 2 hours later he sent me a text message saying:
"I have run aground on the shallow area south of Isla Conigliera! I can't get my main down. Can you go to the coast guard?"
My heart started racing, oh my lord. The man is in need of help! I took a (in my mind) sprint to the coast guard and alarmed then of the situation. When the boat is stuck in a sandbank and your mainsail is out the wind can tip your boat over. A very dangerous situation, and especially for a older man. Luckily the coast guard immediately took action and send a navy vessel to his location. In the mean time a fishing boat had helped dear old Bill taking his main sail down. The immediate danger was over and Bill now only had to wait to get towed out of the sandbank.
Getting back at sea after being in a marina for months on end wasn't easy for me. My seasickness really got a hold of me. It was a seasickness of feeling nausea though. It was more a scramble of the brain. My brain just felt imbalanced all the time i couldn't get a hold of any thoughts. It's really hard to focus on anything at that point. You can't focus on conversation or tasks. When the coast guard of Tunesia called in for identification I couldn't even spell our names anymore (it didn't help that you have to spell in the phonetic alphabet. It must have sounded really funny on the other side of the radio.
Luckily, after a couple of hours, the worst of the brain fog faded away, and I was able to start enjoying the sailing once more. However, unfortunately, the wind also died down. We had to continue further on engine.
Not even a little bit of breeze
(From then on, there was no wind until we reached the outskirts of Malta. The sea was very calm, like glass. Our boat, Bolongo, moved smoothly through the water. We sailed past a small rig, which was a great moment. The kids enjoyed it a lot, watching the sunset. Later, the night was peaceful with little traffic except a few tankers. We relaxed and watched Netflix until my turn was over. Around midnight, Reiss took over. The night was uneventful with clear skies. The next morning, I woke up early as the light appeared on the horizon. It was misty at first, then gradually became brighter. It was the most amazing sight as the horizon faded away and the sea blended into the sky.
Never did we ever seen such a beautiful morning. The serenity made you really feel humble in a way.
It was another full day of motoring all the way down to Malta. Around 3 in the afternoon we got Malta in our sight and the wind started to pick up. Finally we could get some sail up. Cruising the last leg to land.
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