Malta Island – June 1^st, 2004.

La Madonna Ta' Pinu longe les falaises de la cote ouest de Malte.

Early in the morning this day I and Hervé walked down the streets of Sliema towards the sea, where we had arranged to meet Godwin, one of the mechanical engineer working for the Malta Maritime Authority. He gave us a lift to Marsaxlokk Harbour, on the southern coast, and at 7.40am, the Madona Ta ‘Pinu cast off, on her way to Gnejna Bay where we had planned to start the prospecting. In order to reach the spot, we had to sail along the western coast; the wind was blowing moderately from the southwest, but it succeded to raise a swell strong enough to shake the boat. That coast forms a uninterrupted line of magnificent but sheer limestone cliffs, which means there isn’t almost any shelter to be found on this side of the island. We spent three hours sailing to the bay, which gave us plenty of time to prepare most carefully for our task. We immersed the magnetometer’s probe as soon as we finally reached our destination.

Meanwhile, in the North, the divers had started exploring the It-Torri Il Abjad cove, in order to try and find a searching method that would allow them to locate the wreck. A systematic survey made them zero in on a sandy zone where odds were on it lying there, hidden. One of the divers, who once saw the wreck, told that it could become visible for a time if the sand got blown off by strong winds, only to be buried again after a while.

Just before noon, our Algerian trainees called from Tunis and told us, with some relief, that the Maltese Consulate had delivered their visas at last. But they had still to wait for the next plane to Malta, next Thursday. We all rejoiced over this happy ending.