After 8 weeks of moving around marinas and berths, we are finally settled in our permanent berth at Msida Marina for the winter. But, it hasn't felt like winter at all as yet so we've been making the most of the gorgeous autumn climate here by taking up scuba diving! Having talked about getting qualified for many years back in the UK, (since diving on The Great Barrier Reef 9 years ago) we took the plunge here in Malta's beautiful, warm clear waters and are now seriously hooked. Following 6 weeks of pretty intensive training, we are both now PADI Advanced Open Water divers and proud owners of our own equipment and tanks. On our arrival we had no idea that the country's reputation for outstanding diving has made it one of the most popular destinations for Scuba Divers in the Mediterranean. It boasts spectacular rock formations, arches, tunnels and caves with exceptionally clear blue waters, along with prolific marine life and exciting and historical ship wrecks. We have completed 14 dives to date on Malta and Gozo (including 2 deep wrecks) and hope to log another 20 over the next five months, further improving our skills and preparing us to dive alone safely from Hitrapia during next seasons' cruise. We're really excited about our new hobby and feel it goes hand in hand with our life afloat. But with our travelling adventures now set to take us below sea level too, it may slow our progress even further!

Ground level Malta is proving just as enjoyable. We have a small but friendly gathering of live-aboard boats here for the winter, 4 of which wintered in Lagos with us last year, so we're already one big happy family. 'The Black Pearl' Tall ship is our local bar, Internet provider and restaurant, and hosts fabulous parties every Wednesday night with DJ, dancing and free wine! When it comes to the simple things in life, we're regular visitors to the 16 screen cinema complex, a 20c bus ride away, catching up on the latest Hollywood Blockbusters and Mr Maxims pie shop is a favourite street food stop off, just 40c a pie!

It's hot and sunny in Malta! We arrived after a 23hr passage on the Maltese Independence Day holiday (21st). We sailed the first half of the passage with a good F6 and moderate to rough seas, but the wind weakened and we had to motor the last 13hrs. From what we've seen so far, we really like it here and are looking forward to exploring the island in more detail over the next 6 months. We have yet to secure a winter berth, which no marina will commit to until November. We have already caught up with a number of cruisers that wintered with us last year in Lagos. They are also hoping to winter in Malta, so there should be a strong liveaboard community here to share social events.

While waiting for weather, we decided to hire a car (Smart for4) with our cruising friends Jack and Patricia of SV Whoosh and visit the 'Valley of the Temples' at Agrigento and the ancient temple site at Selinunte. Both locations contain numerous fascinating Greek temple ruins dating from 600 to 400BC. The museum at Agrigento was particularly impressive, containing many Greek and Roman artifacts recovered from the sites. Driving in Sicily was a little intimidating but not too bad once we got used to being on the wrong side of the road, although they do practice some very dodgey overtaking manoeuvres!

After 2 days at sea, we made a late night landfall in Sicily, Friday 8th September, entering the port of Sciacca, one of the oldest towns on the island, founded in the 7th Century BC. Having waited in Sardinia yet another week for favourable winds, to no avail, we finally made the decision to make the 209nm passage sadly under motor and set out with light winds from the SE, the direction we were heading. Under the spotlight of a full moon, we experienced an unbelievably calm passage over a glass-topped ocean. The wind direction did shift to a favourable North Westerly, but sadly too light for us to sail, so we tediously motored the whole way. The trip was extremely boring, the only brief highlights being encounters with the ocean's wildlife. We saw a few dolphins; a couple of porpoise; two turtles - one small, the other huge; some large jellyfish and we think a large whale, about the size of our boat, just breaking the waters surface with it's knobbly back. Having been here just a couple of days we're still finding our feet but the Sicilians seem very friendly, welcoming and helpful, despite a frustrating language barrier (our very basic Italian is not understood here as it was in Sardinia?). Whilst completing our paperwork to check-in to Il Corallo Circolo Nautico (yacht club), we were served chilled water and espresso coffee, given gifts of a calendar and a bottle of local Sicilian wine and introduced to everyone, including the President. Later that evening we witnessed Sicilian operatics from 3 men in a beautiful, lateen rigged small boat. One singing, one playing guitar and the bearded skipper rowing and smoking his pipe!