On October 23, the weather looked a little more manageable for our trip to Malta so we departed Sarande in a light Northerly breeze. First stop was Gouvia Marina on Corfu, to pick up a package that had missed us when we stayed there. We then headed for the Southern tip of Corfu, in a flat calm. The engine stayed on with interruptions until well after we rounded Koutouris Point, largely because the Southeasterly swell was so high that the sails were slapping wildly inspite of a 6 knot Northerly breeze. Then, after sundown, the breeze increased and the sails went up. Shortly after that, an alarm came on which I had not heard before - the battery alarm. Odd, since the batteries were almost full! A quick look into the Amel manual revealed that the battery alarm comes on because of low voltage but also if the battery temperature is too high. Kincsem's massive batteries are installed under the cabin sole in the galley in a watertight compartment which is vented by an exhaust fan in the engine room. We opened up the cover of that compartment and while the first couple of batteries were at normal temps, two of the batteries were quite warm to the touch. The digital laser thermometer was showing 50C for those two - obviously not good. We turned off all charging, i.e. the wind generator and the hydro generator and monitored the temperature of these two batteries every few minutes. We were relieved to see that the temperature was in fact coming down, albeit quite slowly. Meanwhile, I climbed into the engine room to check on the exhaust fan for the battery compartment - and found a blown fuse. Replacing that fuse was easy but it was not easy to verify that the fan was now back operating. Best we could tell was that it comes on whenever the alternator or one of the 220V chargers is operating. So we turned on the engine and then the generator to check. However, it was now blowing some 20 knots and with the noise, we were not able to verify that the fan was in fact working. To avoid a recurrence of the battery problem, we therefore determined not to turn on the engine or charge the batteries with the generator until we had confirmed that the fan was working. Next we tested turning on the hydro and the wind generator: the temperature of the batteries was still coming down. That was an important point - in the windy conditions we were expecting, there was no need to charge with the engine or generator if the wind and hydro generators could be operating. So we continued into the night.

In the middle of the night, of course, the wind increased a lot from the North as had been forecast. Luckily, taking a reef is easy on Kincsem - pressing some buttons and fiddling with the genoa cars. Over the course of half an hour, we handed the mizzen and had main and genoa double, then triple reefed with winds in the high 20s. It was impressive how quickly the seas built from the North, directly opposite the existing Southeasterly swells. It was not a comfortable night although the moon shine was a nice touch and David kept the crew in good spirits with hot meals from the galley ....

The second night was a little better, although the wind was now blowing from the Northwest, putting the seas directly on our beam. Once in a while, a sea would break over Kincsem's starboard side with an impressive bang, followed by a shower of water over the entire boat. In our protected cockpit, however, all was fine and most importantly, dry thanks to the (almost) water tight cockpit awning.

The next day the wind went back to the North then the Northeast and we had some beautiful sailing in warm sunshine with poled out genoa and Code Zero all the way to a few miles from Valetta, Malta, where we had to turn on the engine (with the cover of the battery compartment off for ventilation). We reached Valetta Grande Harbor after dark, a most impressive way to enter that harbor with all the historic buildings at the water front brightly lit.

We stayed at Malta's Grande Harbor Marina a full four days while the forecast Southwesterly blow finally arrived.

In the Grande Harbor Marina

We saw a lot of Malta's main island and everyone agreed that getting here was well worthwhile the effort. Among the highlights was the St. Angelo Fortress right above the marina, the St. John's Cathedral in Valetta, across the harbor, and the incredible super yachts in our marina.

Valetta

St. John's Cathedral, Valetta

All marble

Here are some pics of super yachts in the marina.

70 meters long

Lots of varnish to do on this one - 50 meters long.

Most interesting to me is that Malta is really a cross roads between Europe and Arabia, but then more Arabia than Europe.

Typical street sign

Without knowing Arabic, one does not understand much of the Maltese language which supposedly is a cross between French and Arabic.

We've been here in Marina di Ragusa in Southeastern Sicily for a few days now and have been busy preparing Kincsem for the winter.

changing the fuel filter on the Volvo

The weather has not been cooperating - we really need sunshine and light breezes to take off the sails, for example. But with the great help of Christoph who's remained on board, we got everything done. We also had a great time in the evenings with the many long term cruisers in this harbor, including another Amel 55 from Australia.

Kincsem is now safely ashore in the Cantiere Navale di Ragusa. It took the yard crew 6 hours to get Kincsem hauled and put up on her steel stands - a new record in inefficiency. But all is well nonetheless and another great season has come to a close. We covered 2768 miles in 90 days of sailing, in winds ranging from 0 to 47 knots. Add to that 65 days at anchor or in ports. We stopped at 53 inhabited islands - 51 of them Greek. To say we've seen a lot is an understatement. It will take some time to organize all those pictures!

What's next for Kincsem? Next year, we plan to slowly make our way West to Gibraltar, starting with a counterclockwise circumnavigation of Sicily in the Spring. From there, I'm planning to sail over to Tunesia, then explore the West Coast of Sardinia, the West Coast of Menorca, and then the South Coast of Mallorca. From there, it will be coastal hops along the Costa Blanca and the Costa del Sol to Gibraltar. Across the Atlantic to the Caribbean from there? Not so fast. Lots of things to explore in Europe still which I haven't seen, so I'm planning on turning right to Portugal and Western Spain where we will find a spot for Kincsem to overwinter. And 2020? Well, if all goes well, 2020 will see Kincsem sail north to Western Ireland, participate in the Whiskey cruise in Scotland and reach the Faroe Islands, then back South through the Irish Sea to Northern Spain. If all goes well, we will sail her to Madeira and the Canary Islands and then across the Atlantic to the Caribbean in the late fall of 2020. Lots of sailing to do!

So that's it for this year. This blog will recommence in late March/early April of 2019. Meanwhile, keep those comments coming!