Friends Reunite

After a calm night passage we arrived bright and early in Malta. We entered into the Grand Harbour at Valetta, and it is grand indeed. Flanked by high walls and beautiful architecture all around, this is one of the most impressive places we have sailed into.

We were on our way to meet up with our friends on sailing yacht Mrs. Chippy, with whom we spent the winter in Sicily. They are an amazing family with 5 kids. We could see that they were already waiting for us on their deck as we entered Rinella Bay. We dropped anchor as quickly as we could so we could spend time together. Soon enough the kids were all paddling back and forth between our boats and having a good time.

The Mrs. Chippy crew had discovered a great science museum for kids, Esplora. This became one of the kids’ favourite places in Malta – we ended up going three times in total!

One evening we all went out together for a meal in beautiful Valetta. After the waiter had more or less cleared his whole terrace to make space for us – a family of 5 and a family of 7 – we had fantastic dim sum and noodles. Afterwards we went for a wander around town and happened upon a religious procession. It was amazing. A big statue of a saint (Dominic, I believe) was carried through the streets. There was a marching band and lots of confetti falling from the sky! The kids had a blast.

Making New Friends

Our friends introduced us to another kid boat: Boag. The Boag crew is a family from New Zealand with Dutch roots, with two children on board. Parents and kids all hit it off right away and before we knew it the grown-ups were having beers on one of our boats, while 10 kids had fun in the water around us.

We got to celebrate one of the Mrs Chippys’ birthdays together: Nathan turned 8. They threw a fantastic party with a water balloon fight, piñata, and lots of yummy food.

After about a week the Mrs Chippy crew sailed on to Sardinia. It was great spending time together. We look forward to seeing them again in Spain.