We departed Licata at 0615, waved goodbye to Sicily until next year and enjoyed the beautiful sunrise with our breakfast.     The seas were a bit lumpy during the crossing but we were entertained by some of the largest dolphins we have seen and a baby dolphin.      There was plenty of traffic and surprisingly, a fair number of net buoys, despite the incredible depths,  to avoid.       Our arrival brought us to the Blue Lagoon  where we dropped the anchor and immediately took a swim in the crystal clear water.    The Blue Lagoon is off the island of Comino which is between Gozo and Malta.

On the west side of Gozo we anchored in a  circular bay that is somewhat protected by a large rock in the middle of the entrance.  The cliffs around the bay, Dwejra, are very steep.

Bella Luna at anchor in Dwerja Bay

Bella Luna at anchor

We took the dingy and went north to a passage through a large cliff that opened into a inner shallow bay.   This is a major tourist stop, but also a great place for scuba diving.    We enjoyed a cup of coffee and watched all the activities surrounding the divers.

Tunnel in to Dwerja Lagoon

Dwerja Lagoon

Karolina, who sailed with us in the Balearic Islands, lives on Malta so she took the ferry to Gozo and met us at the Mgarr Marina for the remaining couple days of our sailing  season.

Mgarr Marina integrated in nature

We returned to Dwejra for a lovely clear evening looking at the stars.    There was a Swedish couple also at anchor who saw our Swedish flag and cheered.   Roland went over to talk to them.  They live on Malta part time and their boat “Ragata”  is registered in Malta which is why we did not notice them when we arrived.   They graciously sent  gravid lax back with him.    What a TREAT!

Bella Luna & Ragata at anchor in Dwerja

Our next anchorage was on the north side of Malta which offered protection from the southerly winds that had kicked up.    We went ashore for lunch and sitting in the restaurant looking out over the bay we felt like we were in the Caribbean.

Busy anchorage

Vickie & Karolina enjoying the Beach Club

It would of been a great place to stay that night but the winds were forecasted to swing to the NW during the night so we decided we would get closer to our winter destination and anchored in St. Julian’s Bay which is in the heart of activity near Valletta.    It is lovely at night with all the surrounding lights of the city.     The next morning we took a very short trip to our winter destination of Manoel Island Marina and Yard.

Final destination 2013