36:11.08N 05:56.07W Friday - leaving La Linea before daylight feels special and we slip past the shadow of the Rock to ease our way round the big tankers and container ships sitting quietly out in the bay.  Gibraltar bay is always a mass of lights and it’s difficult to pick out the ships from the shore lights behind them.  Add to that the local fishermen in their tiny boats and it’s concentration time.  Luckily it’s getting lighter by the minute and we arrive at Punto Carnero a little early, while the tide is still against us.  We were expecting a light easterly in the Straits but instead find a light westerly, not ideal but not too much of a problem.   Then we discover that the tide doesn’t turn in our favour as expected and, for a few minutes, there’s real doubt whether we’ve got the tactics right after all, especially as our neighbour in La Linea was full of stories about people who’d had to turn back.  However, Gordon surmises we’re not close enough to the shore and as we move inwards our speed over the ground reassuringly rises - the channels of current are much narrower than we’d expected.  >From then on it’s plain sailing (sorry!) out into the Atlantic and we reach Barbate in good time.  It feels so good to be on the move again.  The photo is of the lighthouse at Tarifa – surprisingly uninspiring for the gateway to the Mediterranean.