36:8.96N 5:21.3W

 

So here we are ...still!!! Its been over 2 months since we arrived in gib and we haven’t managed to leave yet. The weather is cool enough at night for a jumper, the days seem a lot shorter, we have partied ourselves out, the equipment we need has arrived (finally) and I found myself singing homeward bound as I sailed back into gib after teaching a sailing course for 2 weeks.... which all means it is definitely time to leave. Gib is NOT home. Its an  odd place ...bit of a cowboy town with loads of back handers and dodgy deals needed to get things done. They even call the border with Spain the frontier!!! I have had some work here though teaching sailing ....yes folks getting paid to sail. My first day skipper course went well despite difficult clients then I had a fairly knackering and traumatic 2 weeks with fasttrack yachtmaster candidates, we covered 850 miles in 9 days, sailed though a force 9 storm (see weather picture) and had a near mutiny when a couple of the candidates decided they didn't want to sail one  day and went and got drunk!!! After 8 days of not drinking myself you can imagine how that went down!

My last course was a gentle competent crew with 5 gorgeous northern lassies!!! which was a ball (see Magnum PI shot... need to grow a mo tho!) good luck for the future girls! Thanks to Pete and Carrie at Rock sailing for the opportunities! Thoroughly enjoyed it really.

 

Kirsty took advantage of all of this to fly home and party with friends and relatives whilst picking up urgently needed parts and supplies and sails all of which meant she just had to fly business class to get back so we could get the luggage allowance!! Thank god we have sold her house at last we need the cash to support her jet setting lifestyle.

 

Now we have Steady Eddie (see photo aka Hydrovane aka wind steering system) installed on the stern we have to moor bow to against the wall which means walking the plank on a daily basis. The plank being a scaffold plank that fell off a local scaffold lorry. This makes for an entertaining early morning run for the loo! Another reason we are desperate to leave.

 

A lot of ARC boats are heading through here and even more NARC boats including a few people from Fowey. As they leave se keep looking to the horizon and counting the days. We have one week now to fit a watermaker and test it out along with all the other kit, stock up on supplies and we are off out of the straits and onto Morocco and the Canaries.

 

Keep checking back the blog should now have regular updates.

 

Lee