Mediterranean Sea

61 Isn’t that a beautifull present! It took me some time to come to this point: I am going to live on the boat while my eldest son Bart and his wife will live in my house in Holland. Wonderfull that they will use my uninhabited house but there is quite some cleaning up to do before they will be able to live here. Hopefully there is enough time, I will return to the boat in Gulluk Turkey in 5 weeks.

It is a true privilege: sailing from anchorage to anchorage in quiet and beautifull Montenegro. But Turkey calls once again for new adventures.This time it is going to be the west side of Turkey. The plan is to sail from Bar in the South of Montengro pasing Corfu and Albania, all around the Peloponnesus,sailing South then West, passing Crete, Santorini and Tilos to Datca, a port of entry on the west coast of Turkey.

Exactly 3 months after the port of Monastir closed it opens again and we are allowed to sail out. Hurray, Montengro openedup after Covid so lets sail there! Since June, 15 sailors coming directly from Tunisia should have no problem as they can enter the country without quarantine. After an intense 8 day sail along the coasts of Italy, Corfu Greece and Albania the port of Bar Montenegro appears. So I call port control and they ask very detailed questions….

Marina Cap Monastir takes very good care of its customers. Even when you arrive unannounced and simply ask to stay for a month, they find a place for you. What a nice place to be, it is clean, well organised and very quiet despite it is located in the center of Monastir. A lively circuit of world cruisers who winter here and many French and Canadian liveaboards. The month became 5 and then 8 months and the staff created a new spot for the boat.

Luckily there are no problems after the relaunch of the ship in Kelibia, everything is working as it should. So on the way exploring new grounds further South. 2 anchorages for the night in the shallow water along the sandy cost. Expect a visit from the Garde Nationale when you are not in a marina at night. They are just checking who you are, its for your safety. Then onwards to Hammamet Yasmine marina for a 3 week stay.

Back in Kelibia -again- after the beautifull journey to Tabarka, this time for hauling out. That means maintenance work to the underside of the boat like painting, polishing, service to the transmission and propellor, new zincs and epoxy repair on the iron part of the keel. A huge 250 ton crane lifts Malaka Queen out of the water using straps and hydraulic power. This is a bit exiting and scary too.

From the fishing port of Kelibia passing Zembra Island, once a notorious pirate island raiding Kelibia, now a UNESCO biosphere on anchor near Sidi Bou Said Then North passing Bizerte Exellent food on the way Malaka Queen in the fishing port of Tabarka Last town before the border Tabarka has a beautifull Genoese castle The North coast of Tunisia is mountanious and covered with dense forrest. Its very different to the South odd rock formations in the Roman port of Tabarka Tunisia, full of treasures to be discovered

This journey of 15.000 nautical miles around Africa started on September 20, 2018 in Tanga Tanzania. It has now ended with the wonderfull family gathering in Israel and an impressive 4 day tour through Jordan. Also there is no more sea to go more east, so lets go west again! The estimated maximum for this passage from Israel to Tunisia is 21 days at sea. Time to leave Herzliyya on June 3 for our destination port Tunis.

While sailing to Israel from Kemer we can already hear the Israeli navy calling every ship that enters Israeli waters. When it is our turn they call us and a long conversation with the navy follows as they want to know every detail of the ship and every crew member on board. 10 miles before Herzliyya a small navy boat appears from the heavy fog and comes alongside for a visual identification.