We arrived in Gibraltar on the morning of Saturday 10th
October, after a 14 hour overnight sail from Cadiz. The Straits of Gibraltar were
bewildering and exhilarating: one moment we were cruising at 10.5 knots with
the help of the currents, and within a space of 200 yards it felt as if someone
slammed on the brakes, as the speed suddenly dropped to 4.5 knots, as counter
currents took their hold. As the sun rose, the fog and mist cloaked the Atlas
Mountains in Morocco
to the south, and the Rock of Gibraltar to the north, and left an amazing clear
passage for us that reverberated with the sounds of the fog horns from the
ships shrouded in the mist from either side. We were surrounded by dolphins,
but spoilt by greater bow waves in the vicinity, they chose not to ride the
smaller Talulah bow waves for long.
We have been in Gibraltar about 11 days now, and were
joined by Shane’s cousin Gill and her husband Richard for 4 days, on
their way to Rhonda, Spain. We had a fantastic time
with them, and it was lovely to be distracted from boat duties, wash the oil
off, and set sail for Ceuta, North
Africa, on 17th, a 4 hour motor-sail. It was nice to
be in the sunshine again (we are berthed in Gib under the Rock Cloud, from
where we can see blue sky and sun all around except above us!) and land on
another Continent. Ceuta (known as Sebta in Morocco) is one of several anomalies in Morocco: a
Spanish enclave, since 16th Century. It had a reputation of being a
smuggling base in the past, but now has a small, friendly marina from which to
explore the town. Having been recommended a fantastic Moroccan restaurant out
of town, we jumped in a cab and were driven at high speed around small back
roads, to a dead end, and a dead restaurant. We ended up in another empty Moroccan
restaurant where we feasted on tagine and sweets, so back to the boat to soak
it up with whisky and port. The following day we had an awesome sail on a beam
reach, back to Gibraltar, the dolphins dancing
with us part of the way. Last night we decided to eat Argentian cow again,
Richard and Gill’s last night with us. After a huge thunder and lightning
storm all night, and hard rain, they left this-morning for the rest of their
holiday in Spain.
Our reason for stopping in Gibraltar is to sort out
the boat repairs and get the parts we need, and stock up for the Atlantic crossing. We have been so frustrated with lack
of chandleries and availability of what we need, and are waiting for parts to
arrive from UK.
It is not somewhere we would choose to spend 2 weeks, however we will make the
most of our time here, and explore more of the historical Rock over the next
few days, before setting sail for the Canaries……
Sunrise over North
Africa
One of many Container Ships emerging from the
Moroccan mist
Approaching the Rock of Gibraltar
Ali untangling wayward main halyard from radar
Richard steering a straight course from Africa, whilst Gill gives him a hand …
