Malta is 55NM south of Sicily, which makes it about a 10 hour trip on Vega. The night before setting out we had sailed from Syracuse down to Porto Palo. As we upped anchor at 4am in Porto Palo there were fishing boats everywhere and we had to work hard to dodge boats and nets. As we left Sicily behind, the fishing boats were replaced by tankers and freighters; they were everywhere and sometimes very close. This really is a busy stretch of water and you need to keep a very good look out, I stopped counting as 30 tankers passed us in the first 6 hours!
The trip was quiet, with next to no wind so we motored all the way. Having the engine on usually means most wildlife is scared off, but not today, as we were treated to the most amazing dolphin experience we have had yet.
At about 8am, over 50 dolphins accompanied Vega on her way to Malta. They stayed with us for over half an hour…they came jumping towards us and then swam, dived, jumped, rolled and played in the water with us. They were in the bow wave, riding the stern wave and down both sides of us. It was incredible, not only could we see them in the crystal clear water but we could hear them communicating with whistles and saw the smaller ones rubbing themselves against the adults.
Check out the pictures. It was insane!!
a yacht more to life 
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