Porta Banus Arrival 36:28.93N 04:57.58W

The Return of Irene III - 2018
Louis Goor
Thu 14 Jun 2018 04:22
11.00hrs Wednesday 13 June 2018

Porta Banus Arrival

While Monday was a dull overcast and very routine day on board, Tuesday, the
last day of our Atlantic crossing, was a wonderful exciting day. The sun
shone from sunrise at 6am and by 10am we stripping down to enjoy the warmth.
We took the opportunity to hang out our damp oilskins to dry in the
sunshine. Late morning we spotted the Spanish coast for the first time and
in the afternoon the African coast appeared on our starboard side.

The approach and passage through the Straits of Gibraltar were packed with
incident and excitement. We enjoyed stunning views of the Atlas Mountains
in Morocco, the Spanish coast and the Rock of Gibraltar. We had a bit of a
bumpy ride as we approached the lighthouse at Terifa (the most southerly
point of Spain), but thereafter, it was all smooth sailing despite our
arrival when the tide was beginning to flow out of the Mediterranean. The
Straits were extremely busy with traffic, with sailing boats, freighters,
conventional ferries and hydrofoils coming at us in all directions,
particularly so at the entrance to the bay on which Algeciras and Gibraltar
sit.

When we crossed the path we took last October on the outward delivery
passage to the Canary Islands, we cracked open a bottle of champagne and
toasted the good ship Irene III and her owner Louis. So 'Cheers Louis',
Irene III is a very fine yacht.

Tim, the new skipper arrives at lunchtime today and Donald departs for
Dublin tomorrow and so it's onward to Palma Majorca.