Yacht Hitchhiking Finale: Arriving in Valletta, Malta from Corfu, Greece

Two and a half days on a yacht gives you plenty of time to contemplate your next moves. That’s exactly what I’ve been doing on the boat.

The first day on a boat is always a little awkward because you don’t have the sea legs yet. But one can become accustomed to it quite rapidly. We had a prediction of zero wind, but in the end, we sailed most of the journey. My captains/drivers had three days to arrive in Malta because they had a meetup with their child. That’s why they had stocked up on enough fuel. We could have motored the entire way from Corfu to Malta. Luckily, that wasn’t necessary.

With no WiFi, I couldn’t update you people. With only five cigarettes left in my pack, I had to stretch them out. At first, the boat owners didn’t want me to smoke aboard, which I agreed to. But then they said it was okay if I sat all the way on the back of the boat and made sure nothing touched the boat. That was fine with me.

[Edited to add: I’ve since quit smoking completely. If you’re a boat owner and would love my helping hands aboard your ship, save my CrewBay profile or Find a Crew profile for later, or contact me with your plans.]

But smoking very little and not being online didn’t feel like a ‘loss’. Especially compared to the insane amounts I’ve experienced and learned about sea sailing and this yacht. Before this, I only sailed in dinghies like Optimists, Laser 2000, and this sailboat called a ‘Valk’ in Dutch.

If you haven’t been on a yacht at sea before, let me paint you a picture. There is nothing around you besides the sea and sky. You orient yourself and the yacht by the sun and obviously satellite navigation—it is 2015. Sunset and sunrise are the highlights of the day, a moment where we would gather on deck to be witnesses. I always thought that the Mediterranean Sea was but a small place, but damn, it’s an endless place to get lost in. Seeing land is both exciting and a sad moment; that’s where the journey ends with me and the amazingly generous people who took me on board.

No hashtags needed for this post. (at the Mediterranean Sea)

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