36:21.3 N  05:13.8W

 

In Puerto de la Duquesa, a whole 20 Miles from Gibraltar!  We enjoyed our time there, but the winds from the East (Levante) has abated, so off we went.  Very interesting local microclimate, with clouds forming over the “Rock”, which allowed the locals to survive when the Spaniards cut off their water. 

 

You can see how the clouds formed by the rising air produced moisture which the Gibraltarians captured very successfully, and hence resisted the political pressure when Spain cut off their water years ago.  They now have a desalination plant, of course, but it is a tribute to British ingenuity that they were able to survive the Spanish pressure.

 

We saw various megayachts coming in to Gibraltar on our way out:

 

 

My thinking is that there is a group of gamblers “getting together” in Gibraltar for a high rolling table sometime in the next few days.  Another megayacht had arrived in our marina and was there for at least 10 days.  We also saw a private jet coming into the airport

 

 

 

 

As we closed in to our destination, I had to make two major course corrections to allow for Spanish fishermen.  They seem to lay 1 mile long nets across the ideal line between Gibraltar and this marina – as I approched their nets they came up to me flashing their lights, waving red flags and hooting.   I got the message, and had to divert out to sea, to get round their nets, but they are clearly a law unto themselves.

 

 

(Can you see the net behind him?  hard to spot even with binoculars)

 

Anyway, as we approached our destination, Lesley decided to get rid of some out of date pistachio nuts which were in a plastic vacuum jar.  They were definitely past their best, and so she chose the downwind hull, and chucked them overboard (for the crabs).  Unfortunately, she also threw out the expensive liner from the bottom of the special vacuum container!  It floated, so we put into effect all our learning about “man overboard”.  I turned the boat round, retraced our route using the AIS track, and sure enough, there was the floating liner!  Lesley then armed herself with the silicone colander.  This has the advantage of folding flat for storage, but deploys into an effective “catchit” when needed!.  The expensive liner was successfully retrieved at the first pass, and  we were able to enter the marina as planned.  A tribute to ingenuity and training.

 

The weather looks favourable tomorrow, so a long hop, but we might need to sit tight for 3 days after that- we shall see.