So, we left Gib... a new found party island for those into rugby watching and karoke (who knew) and memories made....

After seeing 5 guys come in from their boat looking like they had shellshock who had been out in the force 9 with a tattered rolling foresail, we edged out of marina at 1am on Monday morning with more than a little trepidation. Exiting the marina was without event however, across the Bay

of Gibraltar we met a number of rapidly moving boats and with the amount of shore-lighting it was a little confusing, especially when Matt decided a zig zag course would suit best at one point. However, all was corrected and Matt helmed us successfully out of the bay and up the coast towards Tarifa remaining motor-sailing, with Paul and Aidi continuing to monitor direction and traffic.  A watch change to Hannah and Paul led to a point where the engine was switched off and we continued purely by sail, however, eventually with the current not in our favour we continue with aid from both sail and motor. Han is mastering her helming under sail, however, whenever she does it seems to rain, actually pour!!  However, we were happy whilst there was a large 3m swell from the previous Force 9, the wind was materially good at around 15 knots and the conditions based on the previous day, whilst not easy G&T sailing, were favorable, compared to what we had prepared ourselves for.

 

The key to leaving  at 1am was to reach our chosen crossing point for the Gibraltar Strait shipping channel at daybreak and therefore have a much less stressful crossing of this busy shipping lane. This proved to be a success with reasonable visibility and a stress free crossing, however, Aidie especially and Han to a certain extent have both suffered a little and will be writing letters of complaint to the drug company who make Stugeron and asked them to improve its ability to 'do what it says on the tin'.  Matt started a new role as 'Chief Cook and bottle washer', as much more skilled chefs (namely Adi and Paul), decided the galley was not a place to be and above decks was the place for them, simple fayre is Matt's speciality, but tea and sandwiches aside, we will see how the evening meal turns out.

 

Julia's flapjack is going down well and this afternoon we have managed to get ourselves sailing (rather than motorsailing), and are averaging 6 knots over the first 12 hours.