Barbate - Gibraltar
Seaduced
John & Jane Craven
Tue 14 Sep 2010 10:39
Mooring the boat was a bit tricky, and this was the first time we have had to check with Air Traffic Control before we entered a marina due to the height of our mast. The reason for this became much clearer as we approached as the entrance to the marina is a channel running parallel to the runway. We are moored about 100 yards by water from the runway, and the terminal building is 8 minutes walk away - fortunately it is a quiet airport. After clearing the runway we realised that we were mooring 'mediterranean style' which is stern to the harbour wall. Our first basic error was not dropping the dinghy which meant I had to throw the lines to the guys on the dock whilst seated under the dinghy - duh! Secondly once we moored up we realised that there was no way in the world that we could get off the boat without a plank of some sort. Luckily for us there was a guy parked opposite who sold gang planks - the ones left behind by other boats - we asked if we could rent one for the two weeks we were here but he refused saying he would only sell, when we asked the price he said 5 euros and the deal was done - freedom and a beer in the bar. It is by far the tattiest plank in the marina but it does the job once we rigged it with ropes to allow it to swing back and forth without falling in the water - necessity makes you quite creative!
Gibraltar is a strange town - there are loads of pubs all selling English pub food and each trying to out do the other with their enormous mixed grills - it's very touristy and the shopping, although a lot of the usual high street shops are here, isn't great. Most shops either sell perfume, alcohol, jewellery or electrical goods as it is all duty free. The good thing is that the supermarket is Morrisons which means we can get all the things we can at home so can stock up on all the things we have missed most like flavoured porridge sachets and McVities ginger biscuits and hobnobs - the French and Spanish really don't understand proper biscuits - they are all flaky & sugary and hopeless for dunking in your tea!
The airport as I said is quite close, also the runway runs directly across the main road through Gibraltar. An announcement is made over loud speaker whenever a plane is due to land or take off so that people and cars can clear the way. The runway is so short that it curves up at the end to help the planes to take off.
Tomorrow afternoon we are going to do the whole tourist thing and find out why the English have fought so hard with the Spanish over the years to keep Gibraltar.