And thus the good ship Prinsendam sailed on a south easterly course from Barcelona towards Malta. In command is Captain Tim Roberts who was one of the captains who came over from Windstar Cruises when it was still a subsidiary of Holland America Line. He has remained with us ever since. Today the most puzzling part was the weather. It was wind still in Barcelona and then in the late evening it breezed up while we sailed north of the Balearic Islands. Once passed, the wind died down again but late this morning when coming in the vicinity of Sardinia it started to blow again. And not just a little bit, there is a stiff breeze blowing out there, which has whipped up the waves sufficiently for the ship to be moving about a bit. Not bad weather but wobbly and thus quite a few of our guests are not happy campers. Tonight we will come in the lee of Sicily and hopefully the wind and waves will die down a little bit.
Our route from Barcelona to Gozo.
That is certainly hoped for as the anchorage at Mgarr on Gozo is not the most sheltered in the world. At the moment the wind is blowing from the right direction and that means that the island will act as a wind catcher and thus provide a good anchorage in its lee side. If that is the case then we have to see what the swell is doing at the anchorage. If it follows the wind completely then we are in good shape. If it decides to curve around the island than we might have some challenges. We just have to wait and see. Sailing on the Prinsendam is always a happening as the ship goes to places where other ships do not or cannot go. Gozo is a beautiful island with a rich history but it is not big enough to let 1000’s of cruise guests run around. The infrastructure is not ready for it and there is a distinctive lack of shops to keep the majority of those 1000’s happy. Gozo is all about culture. Even the souvenirs which you might want to buy (table cloths with lace fringes etc.) are more about buying culture than anything else.
As Malta & Gozo are very strategically placed between Africa and Europe it has always been in the middle of wars, invasions and all sorts of other mayhem which brought the local population a lot of grief but which also has resulted in a very rich cultural history. Romans, Arabs, Knight Templars, British Colonials, Invading Germans etc. etc. they all have been there and left their marks, good or bad, but definitely fascinating. So much that my wife and I went back there 2 years ago, for a week to see the islands properly and as you cannot do justice to it all with just a quick cruise ship visit. Plenty of museums to visit and I had only one complaint the island has a definite lack of 2nd hand book stores. It saved me money but I had hoped for better.
Navigation wise this is not such a busy area. There is a flow between the Straits of Gibraltar towards the Suez Canal but most of the shipping traffic veers north on the East side of Sicily and goes through the straits of Messina towards the Italian and French ports in the North West of the Med. The only thing which can be a hindrance here are large numbers of fishing boats but with the strong wind blowing outside I do not think that the navigators will have an issue tonight. Any self-respecting fisherman, who wants to live to see his grandchildren, is staying in port tonight.
For the time being this is the closest which a HAL ship will come to Tunisia. The company has wisely decided not to call here anymore until it has reviewed the situation in regards to the safety of our guests. Although no acts of violence have been brought directly again cruise ship guests, the latest flare up at the Museum in Tunis did involve guests from two cruise ships and that is something we cannot have of course. Hopefully we will be able to go back there one day as it is a great country with much to offer but we have to wait and see.
Thus tomorrow morning we will arrive at Mgarr roads on the East side of the island of Gozo and if the weather Gods favors us we can have a good day ashore here. The weather forecasts calls for a sunny day with temperatures of 16oC or 61oF. Perfect for sightseeing. Now we just have to wait and see what the wind and waves are going to do.
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