Maltese in attempt to sail solo from West Indies to Malta

Joanna Ripard

Last Monday lone sailor Eleandro Buhagiar finally set sail from Antigua in the West Indies and kick-started his attempt to be the first Maltese to sail 3,000 nautical miles from the Caribbean single-handedly to Malta on his 37-foot yacht, Mahina.

His voyage will take him to the Azores and Portugal before entering the Straits of Gibraltar into the Mediterranean. He hopes to reach Malta in two to three weeks’ time.

His family have not heard from him yet but Mr Buhagiar spoke to his mother before he set sail. His brother Ruben told The Sunday Times yesterday: "He sounded very excited that he was finally realising his dream.

"We are sure he is well prepared and hope he gets in touch with us soon. This is not the first time he has gone solo, but he has never sailed for so long alone before. He is constantly in our thoughts."

It is a dream Mr Buhagiar, 31, of Mosta, has nurtured for years. An electrical technician by trade but adventurous by nature, he left his old life in Malta behind in late 2001 and headed off to the Caribbean to work on boats. He is a self-taught sailor and proceeded to obtain a skipper’s licence.

He first spotted Mahina, a 1975 Swedish-built ocean cruiser, anchored in Antigua in November 2004. He bought her the following April and renamed her Mahina (Polynesian for ’moon goddess’) from LouiseBel. She is now registered in Malta.

Ever since, Mr Buhagiar has divided his time between working on crewed yachts around the Caribbean, the East Coast and the Mediterranean, and working on refitting Mahina, while sailing her around the Caribbean. His father Joseph travelled to Trinidad and Tobago and stayed for a month to help his son with the ambitious refit in September 2005.

Professionally, Mr Buhagiar is mostly involved in yacht delivery and freelances as crew for regatta races.

Between April 2003 and August 2005, he was a mate on Lolita, a Swan 56. Besides cruising duties, deliveries and maintenance, he was involved in transforming the yacht in racing mode, and participated in the Newport Swan American Cup in 2003 and 2005, Antigua Race Week 2004, Swan Worlds in Sardinia in 2004, and the Heineken and BVI regattas in 2005.

Closer to home, he participated in the Middle Sea Race in 2004 and 2006.

Mr Buhagiar told friends in his latest letter that he spent the weekend before he embarked on his adventure

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21/05/2007

The Times & The Sunday Times, Malta Page 2 of 2

"tuning stuff", and sailed to Phillisburg to buy a camcorder, "my friend for the next month".

He signed off quoting The Atlantic Crossing Guide by Anne Hammick and Gavin McLaren: "To live aboard a well-found boat and cruise in her over long distances is to experience a sense of independence and freedom that is almost beyond description... However, to reach this happy state you must observe the rules, which are simple but exacting: careful planning, good seamanship and vigilance."

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http://www.timesofmalta.com/core/print_article.php?id=262038

21/05/2007