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MALTA
Thanks tocenturiesof seafaring, theMediterraneanislandsofMaltaandGozoare
meltingpotswithauniqueblendof cultures. Sowhatbetterwaytoexplorethemthan
aboardahistoricsailingship, beforetakingtothewater toseewhat liesbeneath?
W H AT E V E R F L O AT S
YO U R B O AT
Words
JANEWRIGHT
Photography
MELIZAMYBURGH
F
or me, a boat is like a woman: I either love her or
I don’t love her. And I love this boat.” Captain
Alexander Sammut is deadly serious when he’s
talking about the Stereden Ann Esperanz, an
elegant, 30-metre teak schooner. It’s 7pmand we’re berthed in
the sun at the GrandHarbour Marina just beneath Valletta,
sitting under a canopy on deck, nursing cold beers.
As the surrounding limestone battlements and
bougainvillea-strewn apartments turn fromgolden to dark
honey, Jorge, the Basque shipmate, brings aboard some stores
for our trip, while Kiwi cookWill is down in the galley creating
a simple dinner of fresh sea bass and salad. Our inscrutable
captain surveys his craft, running his hands along the smooth
wooden rails as he tells us the story of his ship.
A replica of a late 19th-century French fishing boat, the
Stereden Ann Esperanz is a double-masted sailing yacht
with full rigging, including three topsails – an old-school
beauty amid a flotilla of bling-bling pleasure yachts. Tome,
she has the look of a pirate ship; I peer up at the rigging half
expecting to see a Jolly Roger, but there’s not even a crow’s
nest. Still, you can feel that this is a ship poised for
adventure, made to pitch and roll on the high seas. It's a rare
treat to experience a boat built by craftsmen in exactly the
same way it would have been 100 years ago, right down to
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TRAVELLER