Final days in Gibraltar

Mira's Web Diary
Gordon and Catherine
Tue 8 Apr 2014 14:03

These last few days in Gibraltar feel quite surreal.  Saying goodbye to people we’re unlikely to meet again, surrendering our library tickets, settling our chandlery account and going places for the last time all feels very final.  We’ve spent the last couple of days going through all the lockers again, this time with a view to balancing weight and being able to access sea-going equipment – a different priority to living on the boat in harbour.

 

So Mira is just about ready.  She now has her UK registration number and proudly flies the red ensign.  We took her out into the bay for the first shake-down sail today.  Virtually no wind but that was actually good because everything is new and/or strange.  All very successful - one twisted line, a non-working wind instrument and a few improvements in mind that will make life easier.

 

The next challenge is making sure we have all the correct paperwork before we leave Gibraltar and pass through Customs back into the EU.  Oh, and of course there’s also the challenge of actually getting out of the Straits – more on that later when I’ve figured it out!