The forecast was for strong Easterly winds for the next 5 days, with increasing strength to a gale on Sat / Sunday. So we decided it was time to leave. The plan was originally to go to Tarifa to do some Kite surfing, but with this wind it was likely to be too much for our level of kite surfing, so we decided to continue to Gib to ensure we could get our fight home next week.

We left at 11.45 and motored hard against a F6 –7 wind into the Gibraltar straights. At times boat speed was as low as 1.5 knots as we bumped and slammed into the big waves. The scenery was amazing with high mountains in Morocco and hills of Spain. Some guy’s were out wind surfing and flying along much quicker than us under the engine. 

At Tarifa the wind increased further and we slammed into big waves!!! Once passed the headland the conditions improved and we finally started to make some forward progress. Arriving in Gibraltar bay at 21.00. We laid the anchor and felt tired and satisfied we had made this key milestone in the trip.

Tarifa again in big seas

Mountains in Morocco

The Rock of Gibraltar from anchor in the bay with WiFi :o)