Day 84 - Gibraltar

Silk Sheets
Ben Shute & Fiona Kennelly
Tue 14 Oct 2008 23:07

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 Gibraltar Bay. There were a heap of massive ships just sitting there, waiting for something and as we cruised in between them we made our way to the marina only to be turned away back to Spain. There had been a huge oil spill in the bay from this horrid storm and all the marina’s had oil spill barriers up to prevent any contaminates from entering. So after much huffing and puffing Fi and I anchored out in Spanish water for the night and discussed our trip to date. All we could say was that the wind had been crap, really crap, and it was not a lot of fun motoring. From everything we had heard and from the people we had met all said the Med was meant to be worse so we both new what had to be done. A big change of plane was in order. We decided there and then that we would go to the Canaries and cross the Atlantic for a Caribbean Christmas.

 

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 Gibraltar was quite difficult.  It was not fun having wind on the nose and tide against us, which meant we were almost going backwards making little ground!  Arriving in the Bay of Gibraltar was a good feeling as this has been one of our main destinations and meant we were entering the Med.  We were both so excited but that soon faded when we were turned away from the marina and told to come back tomorrow when they will open the gate at 10am.  We were later to find out that the storm a few days earlier had ruined some of the moorings and with the other mariner wiped out, they were maxed out.  So we motored 5 mins away and anchored on the border of Spain and Gibraltar, beside the airport runway.

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 Atlantic sooner rather than later.  Hope I don’t live to regret it!

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 Australia.  But now I’m a changed woman!  I now want to do this for my own personal satisfaction and achievement.  And I can honestly say it’s the best thing (so far) that I’ve ever done.

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 Atlantic.  We did meet some great people and now good friends whilst in Gibraltar and we plan to cross the Atlantic at the same time, so we are in company.  Amongst those people we met were another Aussie boat with four on board – Del, Garry, Kath and Macca.  Each night around 5:30 we’d go aboard their boat “T Rex” and have happy hour.  During the day Del, Kath and I would cross the border and do our “provisioning” in Spain where the food was cheaper.  Other friends consist of Joe and Mercia on their 54 foot Catamaran, “Free to Be” from South Africa who are taking 7 years out to sail the world.  I was also envious of not only their massive boat but their crew, which consisted of 5 other people including 2 chefs, a musician, a marine architect and her husband also a navy chef.  Oh and not to forget the fellow Aussie chick, Becky and her boyfriend Alex who had just come from the Caribbean on a 54 foot Catamaran.  Becky is about my age and from N.S.W and told me that when you cross the Atlantic you stop counting the days and before you know it the journey’s over and you wonder where the time went.  She also gave me recipes and books to read for our crossing.  So I can spend my time making banana bread and pizza dough….hmmmmm???

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 – Gibraltar

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 –Canary Islands

 

 

 

 

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