Welcome to the sailing yacht Malua and her master Harry Watson
Smith and crew.
Malua is the culmination of my life-long dream to build a boat
and sail into the sunrise,
visiting distant shores, and experiencing new
cultures.
Built in Australia in 2000, Malua undertook an extensive
cruise
through the Pacific -
New Zealand, Tonga, Fiji, Vanuatu, before being shipped to the
Mediterranean in February 2007. During year five we tried to pass
through the rivers and canals of France but had to turn back. It is now
time to travel westwards
via the Atlantic and the Caribbean.
We enjoyed the Med, the culture and the people we meet but new horizons
need to be crossed.
Current Cruise - Atlantic Crossing 2012
Malua has been in the Mediterranean for five years so it is now time to
sail weststward towards America. Last year we tried to travel
through the rivers and canals of France to come out in the English
Channel. As you know we had to turn back to the Med. This
year Malua started on the Franch coast and cruises south to the boarder
between France and spain then to Ibiza for a little sunshine and
beaches before crossing back to Spain and the coast towards
Gibraltar. Here we stayed before leaving the straits for the
Atlantic coast of Spain. We are about to enter Portugal,
depending on the weather we will reach Lisbon befor turning to Marocco
and then the Canaries. We will leave before
the amarda and reach the Carebbean before Christmas. From there
is any ones guess.
read
more ...
Why the French canals for the summer of 2011. We so enjoyed the
French speaking Corsica we thought we would enjoy France! We
still have to take some weight off Malua before we can go into the
shallow canals but if we can reduce the draft Malua is off to Paris
then on to the English channel. The summer has started and a very
different adventure has just begun. The mast was in a rack in
Port
Napoleon but landed up in La Havre. We started up the rivers and
canals of France during one of the driest spring on record, then it
began to rain not before disaster struck. We are returning to the Med.
read
more ...
Mediterranean 2010 - Corsica, Riviera and Cote D'Azure
The 2010 summer
cruise has started. Malua was launched at the end of April where
I stayed in the Ionian until the end of May when I colected Denny
who arrived via Athens. We sailed pass the south of the toe
of Itally to Sicily, through the Straits of Messina and
then north up the west coast to Capri where we stoped for a few
days
before crossing over to Sardinia. From there we sailed north to
Corsica to the wedding and the best cruising in four years of being in
the Med. We left Italy after cruising Elba and the Gulf of Genoa.
France Riviera and the Cote D'Azure with all its glitz was next.
We will winter at the mouth of the Rhone.
read
more ...
Mediterranean 2009 - Greece, Croatia and Venice
Starting in Marmaris, Turkey, Malua sailed
westwards through the Cyclades to Athens, through the Corinth
Canel to the Ionian Islands, then north through the Agean to Venice,
returning to Greece via Croatia and Montenegro. Malua was
hauled out in Preveza Marina,
Greece.
read
more ...
From Marmaris we sailed north along the Turkish
coast,
through the Dardenelles and Sea of Marmara, to Istanbul. We returned
past Gallipoli to cruise the uncrowded northern Greek Halkidiki
peninsula. Then a quick dash to Kos
and into Turkey to haul Malua out for the winter.
read
more ...
Mediterranean 2007 - Eastwards to Turkey
In
February 2007 we shipped Malua from Australia to the Med via the Panama
Canal. She was off-loaded at Palma de Mallorca in Spain in
April 2007.
April and May were spent cruising the wonderful Balearic
Islands (Spanish), Sardinia (Italian) and Corsica (French).
Then on to Rome for two weeks and south to Amalfi, sailing
past the
volcanic island of Stromboli to Sicily where we had some memorable
experiences. Setting off again from Syracuse, we stopped for
a
while in the Greek Pelopponese, home of the Spartans and the original
Olympic Games. Then followed a leisurely cruise through the
Cyclades to Kos, Symi and Rhodes. Our journey ended in
Marmaris,
Turkey, where we left Malua, on the hard, under a gum tree!
read
more ...
Blogs and Pictures:
I can be contacted at: 
Our Adams Cruising Yacht - Construction and Fit out
While in Australia, we cruised on Malua to the following
places:
Malua's hull and deck were built in Newcastle, Australia and
the fit-out was completed by Camrod Marine Pty Ltd in Canberra,
Australia. Launched in September 2002, Malua has been put
through her paces in the
Tasman Sea and the Pacific Ocean. After sailing 10,000nm in
2004, I reviewed the equipment and I am happy to say that there is not
a
single piece of equipment I would change, except for a third bank
of batteries (400ah) which I added to increase the time before charge
during a long
ocean passages.
