Off the boot of Italy, at the hub of the Mediterranean’s long history, sits an island your boat could call home. Simon Everett takes a flying visit to find out just how feasible a life in the sun might be . . .

My family’s links with Malta go way back - not least on the part of my Great Grandfather, who is buried in the Capuccini Naval cemetery at Kalkara. Naturally then, I have wanted to visit the place for some time and this year my wish was fulfilled. I already knew the climate and the history were big attractions but, with a full week set aside to explore the archipelago, I was keen to find out just how good it might be for the roaming boater . . .

Malta was once famously described as half a million Brits clinging to a rock, but it is actually one of the most cosmopolitan places on earth. The country is made up of four separate main islands and a couple of other lumps of rock sticking out of the sea. The two inhabited islands are Malta itself and Gozo, then there are two more in the same straight between Gozo and Malta, called Comino and Cominoto. Despite their proximity, the islands are very different in nature. You see, Malta is undergoing a spell of change, with tasteful, quality developments and berthing facilities being built in various places throughout the islands. But nowhere is this more acutely evident than around the main harbour in the Maltese capital city, Valetta.