Dgħajsa

During Hospitaller rule in Malta, the demand for a ferry service in the Grand Harbour increased as the settlements of Valletta and the Three Cities developed.

[3] The number of dgħajjes in the harbour is believed to have greatly increased in the 18th century, and Grand Masters António Manoel de Vilhena and Emmanuel de Rohan-Polduc issued regulations aimed at preventing the escape of Muslim slaves from Malta on board dgħajjes.

In the 1950s, Salvatore Formosa became the official boatman of HMS Surprise (K346), and his dgħajsa saw use in various Mediterranean ports, including Naples, Saint-Tropez, Rimini, Barcelona and Monaco.

[6] The use of the dgħajsa began to decline after steam ferries were introduced in Malta's harbours in 1882 and 1906, and later by the introduction of buses in 1918.

[3][4] Variants of the dgħajsa are still commonly used in the rowing regattas held in the Grand Harbour on 31 March and 8 September each year.

[10] The boats used in the races were initially identical to the water taxis, but from the 1930s they began to be built to be lighter and faster, losing some of the traditional aspects of the dgħajsa tal-pass in the process.

[13] Cyril Tawney's song "The Ballad of Sammy's Bar" mentions these boats in which the last line of every verse is "Call away the di-so".

Tawney appended the following note in explanation: "A dgħajsa is a Maltese gondola used by sailors for cutting across the creeks instead of going round them.

In Malta they are a legal means of sailors getting back on board ship if they miss the liberty boat.