Last Sunday Steph organised a day out on the boat with everyone. I’ve been before with Charlotte, Steph and Yana, but this time we also had Theo, Anna and their kids with us.
Life jackets for kids, check. Massive bowl of pasta salad, check. Beers, check. Cameras, check. Chill mode activated, check.
My niece and nephew have never been on a boat before, so it could have gone either way but they loved it! The waves were high and the boat taking to the sea at full speed must have made the whole journey seem like some sort of kick-ass roller coaster to them, giggling to each other as the boat bounced heavily up and down.
The sea that day was pretty rough so the captain suggested we go to the south of Malta where the sea would be protected from the high winds by the island. I’m not sure exactly the name of where we went, but it was this place. Not far off from the shore were fish farms – the captain mentioned that when the winds blow north, the smell of the fish food leaves a nasty smell making the bay not so popular, but as the winds were blowing in the opposite direction, we struck lucky.
As we pulled into the bay on the boat and while the captain was looking for a good place to drop anchor, we noticed water spewing out of one of the cliffs. Everyone was a bit grossed out thinking we were about to swim near a sewer, but it turns out that it’s just really warm sea water. The bay is set next to a power plant that sucks up the sea’s cold water to cool down the machinery and pours the warm, (still clean) sea water back into the bay essentially giving us a heated sea bay…
It was AWESOME!
The seas were clear blue, warm and deep. Perfect for jumping and diving off of the boat. Swimming underwater with goggles was really cool. As the water was so clear, the light rays shone through the sea to create beams of light all the way to the seabed and watching the schools of fish swim around with that effect going on was like something out of a movie. Times like that I wish so hard that I had a GoPro (hint hint, GoPro!) – I’m planning to get one when I’m back in the UK before departing on more travel adventures.
Charlotte and I swam to the rocky shore nearby. Sea Urchins (uh oh) and jagged rocks made it hard to climb out, but once we managed that we saw this bay filled with so much sea life. All the little colourful fish in rock pools, small crabs darting in and out of holes in the rocks and the kind of sea shells you buy on a bracelet (though these ones were still occupied!). We played around there for a bit, then my brothers joined in for a little explore before we headed back to the boat for some lunch.
Lunch on a boat after a swim just always tastes better than anywhere else. Pasta salad, fresh baguettes, cheese, meat, beer and Nutella (it’s all about the Nutella). Then just a quick ray-catching session on the front of the boat and another dip to cool off before facing the waves of fury on the ride back.
Back home – tired and relaxed – we got takeaway pizza from one of our favourite Sliema Pizzeria’s, Vecchia Napoli.
