Next day we set off quite early, if the wind plays ball we should only have a day sail to Gibraltar. Of course the wind does not play nice and we end up having waves and wind against us. We tried to cheat it by staying close to the coast but we had to bite the bullet and set off across the bay directly toward the Rock that we can see quite clearly now, along with the coast of Africa on the opposite side.
So, on we went, the wind got better soon enough and we were able to sail, although we had to keep the engine on as the waves where stopping us dead in our tracks and we were not making the progress we had to. Richie had to catch a plane early in the morning we had to make Gibraltar tonight. And we did, we approached the rock at sunset, all around us were huge tankers and other vessels at anchor, never seen so many in one place and definitely never saw them so close up. Between this and the dolphins swimming around, this made for a memorable arrival to Gibraltar.
Night soon fell and we had to navigate the entrance to one of the busiest port in the western world in the darkness. A lot of huge boats were at anchor but some weren’t and it was an exciting approach, complete with pilots boats and their big lights zooming all around the place. As for the tanker’s shadow emerging from the harbour wall with us realising quite late that the shadow was actually moving, that was exciting too.
We finally made it around midnight to the Ocean Marina, right by the airstrip where we moored up next to a super yacht. Ian had to do the customs declaration there and then whilst we cleared up the boat. The temperature had dropped dramatically and we all opted for hot chocolate with Cointreau to warm us up before we went to bed… it was just so cold.
!5th September
Richie took off in the early morning by foot to the airport which we could see from the deck. They were actually cleaning the runway when we got up. Ian had arranged for the mechanic to meet us at the other marina Queensway quay, nearer the town and probably quieter being away from the airport. So we set off early morning. Glad we did move, the marina is far better looking there and less commercial. All the chains of restaurant you can find in the UK are all around the Ocean Marina, complete with a floating casino…not quite our scene. Queensway is far more low key and much more agreeable, especially if we have to have the engine out and stay for up to 2 weeks there.
Hallahalla’s plane is in the evening so we have all day to explore Gibraltar, or so we thought. Kevin the mechanic, rung and wanted to see the engine straight away so we made our way back to the marina and we had lunch while Ian conducted business. He came back with a big smile, it did not sound like we were going to have to lift the engine out in the end and the oil leaks would soon be fixed. Monday morning first thing this would be taken care off.
By this time, Hallahalla had to set off to the airport, so we accompanied him just for the thrill of crossing a runway between 2 bodies of water…they do close the road which is the main road to Spain when a plane is taking off or landing. I had both the boys doing their airplane impressions when crossing the runway, complete with the noises.
By the time we got back to Mr X, we were absolutely exhausted and it did feel a bit weird to be back just the 2 of us after a week f having company.
16 September
A bit tired from the last few days, we are taking it easy, Ian is tinkering and worrying while I do the washing and tidy the boat up. We even managed a snoozette in the sun.
We go for a short walk in the afternoon, not far, just up to town. The wall of the old battery is outside the marina across the road. It looks like a lot of buildings have been put up in recent years, encroaching on the sea. And it is still going on with the noise of piles being driven into the sea bed. We found a nice little garden a short walk up the road; it is lovely with a pond in the middle and exotic plants and flowers. It is busy with kids running around and families picnicking. Climbing up over the city wall, we found ourselves in front of the church …. with a children playground in the middle of a roundabout. The kids are all in their best clothes, pretty frocks for thr girls and smart shirts for the boys, guess it it is the done thing to play on swings. Main Street is behind the church and it is now very quiet. All the shops are shut, only a few pubs and restaurants have some customers outside. The temperature has dropped dramatically. It seems that morning and evenings are cool with a few hours in between of hot burning sunshine. Main street is pleasant at this time of the day, there is none of the rush and crowd we have seen earlier the day before. Most of the cruise ship people have gone back to their floating hotels and it does feel like wandering around a small town in the UK. The building above the shops frontage are nice with loads of Spanish touches, like brightly coloured shutters, ironwork balconies, tiles and plants everywhere. It must get pretty cold soon; the shop windows are full of winter coats, boots and jumpers, not really attractive to me at this stage. At the end of the main street is Casemate Suare surrounded by the old military buildings, the place is taken over by bars and restaurants.
17th September
The nights have been so very cold, much more than I expected. The rock itself cast a long shadow over the town and the marina in the morning. It is still dark at 8.30 am which is not conducive to getting up bright and early. Very often this week the top of the rock is shrouded in clouds or thick mist, only lifting up midmorning. As it is a bit overcast, we thought that it would be the perfect day to climb the Rock. We set off on the further side of the island and work or way up through the old rambling streets, up steep steps. Some of the old buildings are falling apart. Again, some of them are beautiful but in a sorry state, boarded up and crumbling. There are a few which looked abandoned but are still lived in despite the bad state of repair, guess we have found the less affluent part of town. The views on the bay are fantastic. Everyone living in Gibraltar must have a view of the sea. Climbing up further, we cross what would be described as council estates, like you would find in inner cities anywhere. Not inspiring buildings. We finally arrive at the Moorish castle which is the entrance to the national park at the top of the rock. We hardly walked more than 200 metres and we are surrounded by the famous monkeys. Fortunately a coach party has arrived and they are making a fuss of them. Ian is keen to walk the whole length of the hill, so we do not stop at any of the caves and museums dotted around. Although it all sound fascinating stuff, I would rather be in the fresh air and the sunshine admiring the sea, the surrounding bays and Spanish hills in the distance. The climb is arduous and steep in places. There are loads of remnants of military buildings and structures dotted all over the place, it is not hard to imagine the strategic importance of this bit of land: what a stronghold it must have been in past centuries, there is no doubt about it. All along the climbing road there are huge iron rings which were used to drag up cannons to the top. You can just imagine how hard this must have been in the hot sun.
From this far up we can see our marina, and as I was scanning to see Mr X, I noticed that a submarine was being escorted out of the port by 4 pilot boats. Slowly they winded their way around the anchored ships and tankers littering the bay. Don’t think I had ever seen a submarine moving about for real before. Loved that.
At the highest point, where the telepheric station is, we found more monkeys. There are loads of them everywhere. Entire families with many youngs, tiny little furry things playing around like kids. The views are breathtaking all around. Plenty of tourists about though, and what must be the dearest shop in town. We start winding our way down and much to the delight of Ian, a lone monkey took a shine to my pink rucksack…the thing actually jumped on my back without any warning and tried to take it away. Ian stood there laughing while I was trying to get him off my back. In the end, a nice young man had to prise him off and scare it away; Ian was too incapacitated by laughter to help. Fat lot of good he was!
We ended up at the south point of the hill, met a couple who had climbed the precarious staircase around the end bit of the rock. We did take a look at it but we don’t think we can make it, too steep, wrong footwear and it is too late in the day to start hiking around on unsafe paths. Hopefully we will have time to do it later on this week. So we carried on going down with the couple and they gave us a bit of a taste of what living in Gibraltar is like. The fact that there is one supermarket, Morrisons, the fact that getting in or out can be a nightmare when the borders have long queues, the fact that the shopping is far better and cheaper in Spain. How safe Gibraltar is and how the kids are longing to get away to study elsewhere, not always coming back. All very interesting stuff. We finally reached the bottom of the hill. The trail leads to the Jewish cemetery. A peaceful place full of old headstones with magnificent vistas. Suspended walkways have been installed so as not to disturb the graves, allowing us to perambulate above the tombstones, plenty of places with benches where contemplation is encouraged and lovely old trees provide shade. Really liked this place. We are too late to go to the point and see the lighthouse; it is still a long way and dusk is coming. We will need to come back.
18TH September
Kevin and Stuart arrive on Mr X early in the morning. Ian is relieved when they diagnose 3 leaks only and confirm that they will be able to fix these as they have all the spare parts and that it should only take a day. No mention of lifting the engine out, which is a blessing. I leave them to it and went on a long walk. Ian had a ball, apparently both mechanics were like a comedy act. Kevin the older more experienced and Stuart the cheeky young slightly mad Scottish one. Both very nice and competent, they did a good job of reassuring Ian that he had a working horse of an engine and that it would go forever. Hopefully this will set his mind at rest for a while and allow him to worry about other things….
We went for another walk, on the other side of town this time and found the Trafalgar cemetery. Loads of history around there; between the moors, the pirates, Nelson and his men, there is even an early hominid skeleton, Gibraltar has been part of major events with wide ranging repercussions. Although today it seem the importance of Gibraltar is mainly as a trading port. Thousands of containers pass through every day.
19th September
With the engine fixed, we set about to do some of the jobs outstanding, it is hot and slow stuff and we are always missing something that cannot be found in our 4 toolboxes, or any of the endless boxes full of spare tucked in the back cabin, would you believe. So there it starts, the endless trips to the chandlers. As chandlers go, we are not so impressed. It is small and there is not so much interesting things in it. And it is quite pricey in comparison with Italy and Spain. Still we managed to burden ourselves with jerry cans for fuel with which we have to cross the whole town bumping into hordes of tourists just off the cruise ships. Funnily enough, a nice lady stopped us to ask if we had a boat…apparently she recognised our type, having had a yacht herself, back in the States, she was keen to share her story and wanted to know more about us… she did send us away before her husband came out of the shop. He was upset that he had to sell the boat and she did not want him to meet us to remind him…
20th September
The internet connection in the marina is really rubbish. Even by buying airtime with Gibtelecom, we can’t access the internet on Mr X. We have to retire every evening to the Waterfront, a nice pub on the other side of the marina. We don’t really mind, the prosecco is chilled and the music is actually really good. I managed to get in touch with Karen and she has now confirmed that she will meet us in Las Palmas from the 4th to the 8th November. She is coming with Pete?! Can’t wait to meet the lucky guy. I also noticed that Di and John were only up the road for their holidays. Knowing that they usually have a day in Gibraltar to pick up duty free, I contacted them and we arranged to meet tomorrow… brilliant, despite being only less than an hour away in London, I have not seen them for years. It will be nice to catch up with news and gossip.
Other good news, Ian has been trying to get a fifth crew member to cross the Atlantic, via the ARC website. It sounds like we may have found a young lady with loads of experience willing to come on board. It should make it easier for everyone and also more interesting….more stories to be had!
21st September
We did a few jobs around the boat this morning, nothing too involved as Di will probably be around by lunch time. A beautiful super yacht came alongside. Fascinating to see how easy it made it looks to moor up!
Lunch with Di and John on Casemate Square was great. We had a ball catching up on news of family and friends. Just as if no time had passed at all since we last met up about 8 years ago. Lunch was too short, could have kept on nattering for many more hours!
On the way back we swung by Morrisson, like at home, it was nice to pick up stuff that we had not seen since we left the UK, 3 months ago, like fishcakes and wraps. We did not go overboard though, only got fresh stuff to see us through the passage to Las Palmas, which shouldn’t be more than a week.
22nd September
Getting ready to go day… that involve tidying up and putting everything away so we can slip around 9 tomorrow. The tide should be with us and the wind does not look so strong in the straits tomorrow, thankfully, but yet again not in the right direction. We won’t get it going our way until we reach the end of the strait and bear away southward.