36:32N 07:32W Position Update....Still approaching Gibraltar

The Snark on The ARC
Ben Little
Fri 3 Jun 2011 22:45
Hi folks,
 
This will be the last night time blog from the deck of The Snark. We are confident of being in port tomorrow as there is now less than 100 Nm to go to Tarifa, granted about 10Nm beyond that to get into Gibraltar but we are motor sailing at 7+ Knots (more motor than sailing) we should be able to keep that up for most of the night then we have to contend with whatever current, tide and wind in our face that the straight has to throw at us.  Just now we are getting an incessant pounding from some wave action surprisingly short and steep seas given the lack of a strong breeze.  I expect it is as a result of the strong winds that have been coming through the straights these past few days.  At least we are now safely on the inside of the shipping lanes after a brief moment of fun this afternoon while we crossed them all the major shipping is now to starboard and well away from us with the coast to port and we can just see the lights of Faro as we passed (now to stern of us).   
 
It will be great to be in port again and on dry land.  We have yet to find a final destination port so we will be staying in Gibraltar for a little while before moving on but plans are very sketchy just now.  Perhaps the next holiday this summer will be on a beach or somewhere new and the Snark will have a little while to rest and recuperate, we have covered approx 4500Nm already this season, not a bad effort considering it is only the first week of June. Next job is to see about getting some flights back to England I can't think further than that at this stage.  Well actually the job before that is to shave off 7 days of beard, not a pretty sight and more than a little itchy,  however I found that with the coider weather we were getting early on this leg the stubble helped protect against the wind burn which I suffered badly from on the way in to Horta.  In fact think hair cut, shave and good scrub are all in order to get rid of the salt etc.  The boat needs a good scrub as well.
 
When we get to dry land and an internet connection we will post our video montage of the trip, plenty of dolphin footage.  Perhaps the most remarkable feature of the trip was just how much sea life we encountered, most of in entertaining but we could have done without those jelly fish.
 
For those out on the water, happy sailing and keep in touch,
 
for those at home in England or elsewhere look forward to seeing you soon.
 
Ben and the Crew of The Snark
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