With friends on the way to Malta and a fairly tight schedule we had to get underway in less than ideal conditions, the normal Northerly wind decided this week was the week to flip to the South West, directly from Malta.. obviously. Not only that but it was only going to offer 5-10 knots for the vast majority of the next six days interspersed with 25knots off the coast of Italy. Day one went ok, slow sailing in relatively flat conditions. When the wind died we decided a good technique was to just bring in the sails and wait for the wind with no engine on. Not a great idea but with the potential of not enough wind to get there we were concerned she might not have enough in the tank to motor there so stuck with it. Cue sox hours of rolling and slamming from side to side. Lovely. The next days saw a huge increase in wind overnight on night two down to staysail and three reefs in the main and still doing 7.5 knots. Then we got a little luckier and for the final couple days the sea flattened out and 7-10 knots was enough to slide her along at 5 knots. Sailing then became a little more enjoyable! You are not allowed to anchor in Grand Harbour so dropped into St Julian's at 0400 when we arrived. The next morning was spent sleeping then in Malta Happy Hour starts at 1500 and lasts until 1900 so....

After 8 hours of engine and 'sailing' at 3knots and rolling around in the swell we gave in and pulled up at a stunning anchorage on the west coast of Kefalonia. Time to arrive in Malta, 5 days, so the wind better play ball a little more tomorrow!

Great sail screaming down in the North West. Guest sailor onboard who loved helming so made the whole thing all that more enjoyable! Gave the pigs some veg on the beach and stroked a piglet then cruised on for dinner. Engine decided to play up on approach overheating again then the anchorage took us a good few attempts due to the amount of boats but not a bad day!

Slow start due to last nights shenanigans. Tried some wing foiling in the morning, turns out that it is actually pretty hard.. more practice needed. Got underway to meet our friends in Meganisi and after rounding the corner north of Kalamos we were met by westerlies that continually rounded to prevent much progress, standard Ionian winds. Eventually they gave in and we made it over to the particularly stunning island of Meganisi.

Great sail over to Kastos with a new helm taking the reins. Hit 8.2 knots at time as the wind came through the gap south of Meganisi and the forecast of 10 knots was actually a whole lot more. Kastos was super busy but managed to find a spot and spent the evening sampling the Negronis at El.A bar until far too late/early....

Hung around waiting for the wind to kick in, which it did right on cue as is the way in the Ionian. Straight out into 15 knots up to 20 as we reached the island. Close hauled all the way and arrived to "pig beach" where the Nassau meets Greece.... Pretty full anchorage on arrival but found a spot stern to ready to harass the pigs in the morning with selfies and apples.

Wind against to no wind to 25 knots of wind, sheltered behind Ithaca then great wind for 5 miles towards Atokoa then no wind and lots of swell... Turned for Ithaca and obviously then the wind was coming at 15 knots from the land.. Overall not a major success but we got 8 knots out of her and was absolutely flying in the swell. On arrival the bay was too full and too much side wind to take up our normal spot so popped around the corner. Then added "fix aft shower" to the jobs list...