36:10.977N 05:56.018W Barbate

Ariel of Hamble
Jim and Valerie SHURVELL
Sun 16 Aug 2009 13:18

36:10.977N  05:56.018W   Barbate

 

14.8.2008       Puerto Sherry Marina, Cadiz to Barbate

 

An early start was made at around 6.30am to try to sail South, before the heat of the day brought on what seems to be the usual strong daytime breeze.

 

A fair breeze and we sailed fast on a close reach past Cabo Roche staying inshore trying to stay away from the Tuna nets that can stretch and cover several miles.  The next part of the passage we were sailing close hauled onto an ever strengthening wind.  The next point was the famous venue of the battle of Trafalgar.  Cabo Trafalgar is an impressive sight and we sailed through an inshore passage avoiding the Banco Trafalgar. The wind was now around 25 knots and the sea was breaking over the Banco Trafalgar.  We cut through the inside with the depth going down to 5 metres.  Once through the wind became even more and the next 5-6 miles to Barbate took nearly 2 hours into gusts of up to 35 knots, 10 foot waves and conditions as described by a lady sailor on a Sadler Starlight 39 from North Wales that we have met on our travels as

“ absolutely dreadful wasn’t it darling”.

 

It was with relief that the harbor was entered. Barbate is a town that has grown historically on the Tuna fishing industry.  Now it seems to have declined to a much smaller and restricted affair that is subject to small EEC quotas to try to try to stop the complete extinction of the Blue fin Tuna in this part of the Northern Atlantic. Now 70%  of the population are out of work.

 

Seems like we may be stuck here for a day or two because of the ‘Levanter’ wind.  A local condition caused by High pressure over Spain and the Azores and Low pressure over the Sahara.  This causes strong Easterly winds, reported currently in the Straits of Gibraltar of over force 8.

--
Jim Shurvell

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