Portugal to Gibraltar
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September 2009
Birthday boy in Cascais,
Portugal. For his birthday? Fish gutting scissors, of course! What
more could a boy want? A socket set,
apparently! Having decided not to try to get to
Almeria to get the alternator probs fixed before Charlotte arrives to visit us
in Gib, the pressure is off, so we're off to Lisbon to be tourists and maybe
find an electrician who knows English and alternators! So, a
lovely 2-hour sail up the river Tagus.
In Lisbon made contact with an electrician
who seems to understand English and the problem. Also, met a bloke
called Carlos who can sort any problems you have… at a price!" You want
Butane? I can do butane. It's not legal in Portugal to refill bottles, but I can
get it done! You want taxi? You
want Internet? I can do it!" Went into Lisbon and "did" the Gulbenkian
Museum -"Look at the lovely Lalique jewellery, Darling” and the maritime museum
- " Goodness me, surely that can’t be another model
boat?"!! And yes, the electrician can fix alternator
but we need a gadget from the UK to “make it even better!” So we
stayed in Cascais for 10 days waiting for it to arrive!
Trad
Portuguese boats in Cascais. At last, found Mike a socket set for
his birthday, lucky boy (to add to fish-gutting
scissors)! Mr. Alfonso Zagowla, the electrician,
appeared at 9.00 AM and left at 1.30 PM having fitted the new
gadget! Mike has repaired the fridge
again and is now battling the engine control panel. All this on a couple of hour’s
kip! I am going to bed on my own as Michael is
“waiting to watch the fridge work!”
And also, “when it gets a bit darker, he's going to put the anchor light
on!” He has a
very interesting life!
First
thing the next morning engine failed to start -serious loss
of humour! In Portomao we met up with Mark and Sue from
Makushla (another Bowman 42 – No 6 of 9) who came over for coffee and afterwards
we went to their boat for drinks-lots of them!- Fun evening, hoping to catch up with
Makushla again in the Caribbean next year. A very pissed dinghy back to
RT! Faro to Port Sherry, today's "not working" item is the sat phone! Going to ring the bloke to tell him it’s
broken – Oh no, we can’t – cos the phone’s bust!
Then on to Cadiz, lovely market, very busy,
very noisy. Torre Tavira Camera Obscura for a guided look round Cadiz. Saved a
lot of walking! No bars to speak of in the marina so we are stuck in the middle
of nowhere!
Sailing into Gibraltar bay, only to find there was no room in either marina. Not a happy bunny! Fought our way to the
anchorage at La Linea where, eventually, the wind subsided and we
had a relatively peaceful night. Next day, think the bloke at the
marina took pity on us and said we could have a berth for one night
on the strict understanding that we left the next day "whatever the
weather".
The statutory chandlery visit, revealed, as
usual, that the chandlery at Gibraltar still has nothing you want to
buy! Next day, groveled for 3 more nights in the
marina "because we've got our daughter visiting!” And, eventually, he agreed! So Kate to the hairdressers and Mike to
the airport, next door, to collect Charlotte in the rain, poor
thing! Charlotte writes; raining in Gib, so we
had to “do” the high street! Woke up to glorious blue skies. The Red Arrows are in town especially
for my visit. Hotfooted it up the
cable car to the top of the rock where we ended up having the best seats in the
house! We were so engrossed in
watching them that we thought the other tourists who shouted at us " it's behind
you" meant the Red Arrows, rather than the big monkey that was about to climb
over Dad and steal his bag!
Post lunch Goldsmith snooze on deck in the sun
followed.
I fancied the beach and a swim in the sea,
so Dad and I wandered off to the nearest beach. Dad checked the sea temperature before
leaving and told me was only 18°!
"It'll be fine", I said but I have to admit after having a paddle, it was
too cold to go for a dip! This
afternoon consisted of Dad, noticing the fridge pump wasn't working, taking it
apart, a lot of bashing of hammers and screwdrivers, a short rest break for ice
cream -yum! Pump not fixed but put
back together anyway, whereby it decided to start working
again! We spent 4 days in lovely sunshine waiting
for Hannah and Will who arrived Friday 25th. So incited! We walked up to the fishing shop to buy a
gaff (to land the really big fish we are going to catch!) and then I
walked on up to the airport to meet them.
Hannah writes; arrived to lovely sunshine, made the most of it and sat
on deck for lunch, drinks and afternoon tea.... And then nibbles, and downstairs for
supper! (Hannah’s entries seem to be all about food!) Shopping
(or shopping!) in the high street for video cameras, digital
cameras perfume and watches.
Seriously soaked and cold!
Rushed back to the boat for T and biscuits. Out for dinner at the other marina.
(To be fair, there isn’t a lot else to do in
Gib!)
The Grovers comparing
vidcams! Full English breakfast, but not at breakfast time! Then, up the rock to see the
monkeys and Saint Michael's Cave. The sun shone most of the day and
it pissed it down the rest!
Kedgeree on board for dinner. Today the sun is out! So, another trip to exchange
the video camera that didn’t work and sunbathing before we left for
the airport.
Finally, got our hands on the replacement sat phone, (after several trips
to the Customs House) fitted it and it worked!
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