Yacht JACK TAR: Crossing to Tunisia

Greetings from Port Jasmine Hammamet, Tunisia. Finally,we were able to achieve enough work done to enable us to set off from Malta. The parts for the furler finally arrived and the new lazy bag, after several returns to the loft for rework, was acceptable[?]. So, we set sail, tacking into a fresh 20 kt headwind as a short shakedown sail to the island of Comino between Gozo and Malta. It sorted out a few gremlins and we were able to spend a quiet though short night in a calm anchorage before an 0400 start for the crossing to Tunisia. A lack of wind saw us motor all day before a fresh breeze came in, just as the grib files had predicted, and we then had a cracker of an overnight sail in 18-20 kts of quartering wind all the way to Port Yasmine, arriving too early for the locals to be ready to receive us. Enroute we shared the sea with turtles, dolphins, swordfish and sheerwaters and negotiated our way through a large fishing fleet and around several unexpected offshore platforms [our charts, both digital and paper apparently out of date]. We were received by the local authorities without too much hassle and now find ourselves in a strange place. The marina precinct is an architect`s dream of acres of buildings for shops and accommodation, ninety percent of which is empty and obviuosly has never been occupied, surrounded by wide malls and collonaded walkways. Judging by what we see here and in the local surrounds you would not know that there had been any recent "revolution". The town area is comprised of miles and miles of hotels, all empty at the moment. Who knows if there will be normal season here? If not, then many of the locals will find things tough as they rely totally on tourism. Anyway, these are first impressions.