Off to Malta! Out into the open Mediterranean! – I don’t know exactly what I’m doing. With a leaky pontoon. Without any telephone or internet contact to the “outside world”. And on top of that, one of the displays on a Suzuki engine is malfunctioning … But something is driving me forward. – I want to go beyond Malta and make a wide arc south of Sicily to visit the most remote islands that still belong to Europe. I want to go to Lampedusa and Pantelleria too. – My ArgoFram carries me even without pontoons. They are only there for stability in higher waves. There are no high waves now. And I can’t make phone calls anyway from a distance of 10 to 20 km from the nearest antenna on land.
Soon I enter one of the bays around Valletta – and am “intercepted” by radio; someone wants to know who I am, where I come from (as if that weren’t visible via AIS) and what I’m doing here. At least I get a good tip on where to moor and spend the night: the sophisticated yacht harbour below the old town itself… perfect, stylish, and comparable in price to the celebrity harbour in Sochi… I’m speechless.
No complaining. Because they find me a spot, even though they are officially fully booked. I am accommodated with the local moorers on the other side of the bay, so I have to walk a little further – but so what. Sanju, a tall, very friendly “assistant” who came here from India on a work visa, is highly educated and has landed here on his adventurous journey to Europe. He is the perfect person to talk to. He even offers to pick me up or bring me here with the marina RIB … Anyone who spends so much time on the water like me, day after day, doesn’t need more comfort, but exercise! Sanju quickly realises that I am not his usual clientele, I don’t wave dollars (or euros) around, but I am open to learning about things that are new to me, about him, his career and his goals. So we chat and I sense his hunger to go far – maybe he’ll make the leap to the UK? Maybe the USA? He’s working on it day and night. And he’s earning his modest income here at the harbour for now, because Malta is specifically looking for skilled workers – obviously taking advantage of overqualification and high motivation – and gave him this opportunity (as he expresses it).
Soon I am standing in the old town, where Indians and Pakistanis dominate the street trade with mobile phones and internet connections (all of them probably came here on a work visa and then got “stranded”?) … And I buy my new mobile phone, swap the SIM card, have the new thing configured – and am connected to the world again. And I hope that all my photos, notes, etc. on my old mobile phone will remain stored or somehow accessible after my return. And if not, it doesn’t matter, I’m doing this trip for myself. For my experience. I am curious – and even if I won’t be able to document this curiosity, I will still have lived it. So I enjoy the wonderful evening sun here on the high square at the gateway from the old town to the bus station.
Marko has now contacted the pontoon manufacturer – the supposed branch office here turns out to be a poor marketing vehicle: good for sales, but zero service. What next? – Just keep going! The ArgoFram will carry me all the way to Marseille.