Day 84 - Gibraltar
We woke to very little
wind once again, slipped our ropes from our mooring on the 14th
October at 9:18AM and headed off to Gibraltar 36:08.94N 5:21.46W We planned our trip so
that we would catch the tide through the straights, even though we had the
smallest fraction of wind against us the tides should be a lot stronger than
the wind. Well so we thought but then again there had been a stupid storm so
all of the surface currents were out of phase, not to mention the wind
increases dramatically as you enter the final straight coming into Gib. I have attached
a picture of the tidal streams that gives you some idea of how complex this
little passage is. Anyway we were off to a great start but we could just not
seem to find the tide so we motored into wind and tide for the entire day, not
what I call fun. On top of everything else I had still not caught a fish and I we
were now supposed to be in prime fish territory. We finally made it in to
the rock and what a view it was as we cruised into So eager as we were we
spent the next 10 day preparing Silky for the trip across the pond. There was
so much work to do on top of the already long list. I had to repair the engine,
exhaust manifold and water pump. Modify some of the running rigging so it was
suitable for Fi to handle on her own from the push pit, add on another Auto
Pilot just in case. We call the new pilot Arlean, Arties new friend. Lets
just hope I never have to use it but with out two of everything you may get
yourself in a pickle. We also added the final safety items we were in need of
specifically an EPIRB (See pic attached the EPRIB is being watched closely by
my nephew Oliver). Flares and a grab bag were also sourced and charts for our
new destination. Additional fuel and water storage was added again just in case
and the boat was provisioned for, I mean a heap of food. So much so that when
we eventually did leave it was a very weird feeling as Silky was a different
boat altogether not to mention she must of dropped an inch or 2 below the water
line. Oh I also put a window in the master cabin, a much needed window which
really helped with the ventilation. Every thing went fairly
well, and the next leg of the journey we decided to do one big hop to give the
boat a real good shake down, not to mention our selves. We wanted to see if we
could handle it on our own or if we would be better off with some crew. Anyhow we
were all very excited. Special comments by
Fiona: Actually
getting to It was here, that night that Ben and I changed our plans
entirely to give a year sailing the Med a skip and bring our Atlantic crossing
forward a year early. To be honest, I think I was the one that bought the
topic up and highlighted to Ben the benefits of crossing the I know my family and probably Ben’s will be very mad at
this, as I was supposed to be the one to “talk” Ben out of crossing oceans!
But over the last 3 months I’ve really taken to sailing and living life on the
water. In fact, what was once Ben’s dream of sailing the world has now become
mine too. In the beginning I was doing it for Ben, which is probably the wrong
reasons, but I had in my mind that I would always “jump ship” earlier and fly
home, or encourage Ben to sell the boat some-where and fly back to Our 11 days spent in Gibraltar was extremely busy with
getting the boat ready, buying all the safety equipment, modifying the boat,
stocking the boat up with food and lots of it. Even though our days were spent
with our heads down working away, our nights were spent meeting people from all
over the world doing exactly the same thing we are doing. To me, people we met
almost sound blasé about crossing the I was actually a bit sad to leave this place, having our new
friends wave us off the day we left. I was also a tad apprehensive and nervous
at the thought of 5 days out at sea, our longest so far. Day 84 Destination – Traveling Direction
–East Wind Direction – East Swell – Slight 1.0 mtrs Average Speed – 4.7knots Top Speed – 6.6 Knots
Through the water Total distance – 37.3
Nautical Miles Travel Time – 8.55 Hours Temperature – 24 degrees Crew
- Fiona (Very annoyed with wind and tide against us going through Straights of Gibraltar) Missing Work – Not Yet Expenses – €0 Next Destination – |