And it's Hey Am Off To Sunny Spain!
Rhiann Marie - Round the World
Stewart Graham
Wed 21 Oct 2009 13:54
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This Is guest blogger Mhairi Moffat who joined the
Good Ship Rhiann Marie in Estopona on Wednesday the 16th
October after leaving Drumnadrochit at around 10am on Tuesday the
15th having driven to Glasgow and staying overnight at a dodgy
hotel .I was delighted to board my flight to London and then on to
Gibralter. The flight was fantastic and with the glorius weather I could
see all the way from Glasgow to Gibraltar - I had never flown in to Gib so was
looking forward to the landing as the traffic has to be stopped for the plane to
land as the road runs across the runway. Stewart and Trish had found
out about travel for me from La Linea (the otherside of the border in Gib)
but the timings were tight so I had to act quickly when we landed so I
asked a friendly Policeman (with a HUGE gun) where I would find the bus station
and he said to me keep walking - so I did and thankfully
found a friendly Spanish woman with no English and me with no Spanish and
eventually between us worked out where I needed to be!! The
first bus I saw said Malaga so I asked for Estopona and was gestured to throw my
bag in the hold so I jumped on the bus and before I even had my money out the
bus was away absolutely brilliant 15 mins ahead of schedule - after a 45 minute
journey I saw the magnificent mast of the Rhiann Marie so I started to furiously
push the stop button of the bus but it kept going but eventually it stopped in
the terminal I breathed a sigh of relief - Stuart and Trish met me from the bus
and welcomed me to the sun and we took the short trip down to the Marina - on
board the rest of the crew were there to greet me with a very welcome Gin
and Tonic ! They had all enjoyed a day out in Marbella and were relaxing
aboard but after a quick shower Trish,Rhiann,Aimee,Stuart and I decided to
sample the night life. We had a couple of drinks in Renaldos and then went
for a slice of Pizza and then to bed for my first night
aboard! The very gentle rocking soon had me
sleeping.
Waking up 8 hours later refreshed and ready for
Sunshine and Sailing. We had a leisurely morning, Trish went through the
housekeeping and house rules and after a safety brief and
paper work done on shore we set sail for Gibralter after we were out
of the Port and having dodged all the fishing boats with huge
nets there was time for Stewart,Craig & Stuart to put the Spinaker
out - what a magnificent site to see - Craig up on the bosuns chair to
the top of the mast to take some video footage as you can see from the
photograhs it was no mean task 28 metres above us - after coming
down he then went out on the Rib with the Rhiann Marie Private Papparazzi
(Stuart) to take more photographs they had a brilliant time zooming round the
boat taking pictures and videos!! We sailed on and us girls sunbathed
until we neared Gibralter. We saw some flying fish just as we went round the
West side of the rock that were swooped upon by the many seagulls that
surrounded us as it was close to a mussell farm !! Stewart was busy
stowing away the Spinaker so he asked Rhiann to take the helm she is turn asked
me if I would like to help her so the blindish leading the totally blind and the
help of Auto Pilot we negotiated our way into the Queensway Quay in Gibraltar
36:08N Position 005:21W after docking there Rhiann,Aimee and I went
ashore to get some medicinal supplies - (Gin, Rum etc.) It was a
beautiful evening when we walked along to Ocean Village Marina to Biancas for
our dinner.
Next morning Trish and I went and did what we do
best shop & lunch - along the High Street in Gib is very similar to being at
home but warmer and the shops are smaller we stopped int he Casement Square for
lunch and then back to the boat - As there was still a bit of work to do aboard
Stewart,Trish I decided we would leave the workmen the next day
and go on a day trip so leaving Trish in the galley making a lovely
curry Stewart and I went off with our jobs list and the task of finding a
day trip - travelling by luxury transport (Mountain Bike and back
pack) we started to cycle along the pavement very soon we were forced to cycle
on the road in the start of the rush hour traffic
- we then had to go to the airport and this meant a trip across the
runway quite surreal !!! No joy with day trip though so we would have to just go where
the first bus would take us!
Next morning Trish Stewart & I went off
exploring so we took a taxi to the border and walked in to La Linea where we
found a bus going to the village of Tarifa for 3.50 Euros each!! When we
arrrived we were a bit disappointed to find a line of closed shops in what
appeared to be a one horse town - after walking towards the marina we found
beautiful narrow streets with terraced areas with cafe bars in the middle the
town seemed to be partly surrounded by a castle wall we had lunch in a very
Spanish Restaurant of what we thought would be Tapas - No we got sandwiches
& tomato salad along with green & black olives and local bread
- very nicely washed down with a bottle of Rose for the bargain price
of 7 Euros each - most impressed we had a look round the town. That evening
the younger memebers of the crew were going out for a night in Gibraltar leaving
us oldies to decide the plan for the morning!
Next day - a trip to Morocco - some of the younger
ones regretted the night out as we sailed and they had hangovers -
soon cured by a Pod of dolphins swiming along the bow great
excitement - we arrived in Smirr 35:45N Position 005:20W absolutley
beautiful marina after doing all the paperwork Stewart told us that he had
organised a day trip for us ending with a a traditional Moroccan meal - we set
off with our guide Rachid in a minibus to the town of Tetuan we passed many
beautiful apartments and hotels along the way the town was a hustle and bustle
of tourists and locals and the Spainards that came in to the Souks (markets)
after a short walk along the streets of the many bars for just men (women are
not allowed to be in the same bar as men our guide assured us there was a
place for women but we did not see any!) we came to the Souks what an eye opener
- no health and safety or food hygiene here we past fantastic fish,veg and baked
produce stalls when we came to the butchery department poor Aimee who was
nursing a wee hangover looked at the wrong time just as one of the heads were
being chopped off a chicken!! On our way round the market we saw
all sorts of things from spices to beautifully coloured silk threads, and even a
small house flitting - removal of furniture in Tetuan is quite a feat as one man
we saw had a table on the top of his head - Rhiann pointed out that we not only
had Rachid but we had Tableheid!!! The smells in the market were
particularly pungent and just when we thought things could get no worse - a trip
through a tannery yeuk it was the smelliest place I have ever been in little
tanks each with the different hides curing, we quickly watched the rest of the
process and were taken to the inevitable carpet salesman quickly followed by
spice sales and then on to more carpets and ceramics! After being told the
history of the town we ended our tour with a Moroccan meal of Soup similar to
minestrone, Sheesh Kebabs and a kind of fruit curry samosa, followed by
chicken (Not eaten by Aimee) and couscous with veg ,melon and a piece of
baking and a very sweet mint tea. Stuart who had nearly fainted with it
all was not tempted by anything to eat at all apart from melon (which was a lot
sweeter than we get at home). After a sound nights sleep we sailed back to
Gibraltar and it was play time for the younger ones out on the gib in the bosuns
chair and a quick dip in the ocean (coming soon youtube videos).
Trish and I went for quality time with our babies (Craig & Stuart) up the
cable car to vist the Apes then on to Morrisons to do the provisioning for the
rest of the week.
Disaster struck for me then with a reminder on my
phone to check my booking in time for plane home - I quickly realised that I had
completely messed up my flight home and found that I had to go home on tomorrow
(Wednesday) and not Friday as I had expected!
Wednesday morning Stewart and the rest of the crew
left Trish and I to catch up as it will be a while before we see each other and
I packed ready to go home. My trip on the glourious Rhiann Marie is one
that will stay in my memory for a long time and I can not thank Trish and
Stewart enough for their Friendship and hospitallity giving me this wonderfull
oppurtunity - and hope it will not be too long before I
am sittting at this very chart table writing out another blog. Moran Taing.
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