Chocks Away.......

Well here we are, GS raising a sweat just doing the dishes.  But we just don’t care.  We are in Gibraltar.  Yes, nestled under the famous rock in a tidy marina berth.

  

Portimao fishing fleet heads home

After a rocky ride from Lagos, we set WJ3’s hook (after remembering to switch the windlass on…whoops!) in Portimao in time to celebrate his Captainship’s birthday.  Pleas to Immigration officials to have our stay in Portugal extended early fell on deaf ears.  So, wagon ho, let’s gets this show on the road.  Gibraltar here we come!

We had a pleasant motor sail to Faro, dodging our first tunny net – a large and complex maze of heavy nets buoyed by masses of high-viz orange buoys.  Not good form to have it wrapped in our new prop on day one!  We then slid through boiling currents and upwellings at Cabo de Santa Maria to a nice little anchorage in the tidal lagoons inside Culatra Island.  Culatra is a barrier island protecting a vast swampy area; a haven for shellfish, fish and birds of all kinds.  And giant mosquitoes too!   The Cap’n, scented faintly of flyspray, was a nervous wreck the next morning….

Fishing boats off Cadiz

The weather was good; the current was right and distance now do-able in a (long) day. Let’s head for Cadiz.  I think we even sailed for a bit.  A string of deep water fish traps showed us the way and kept us on watch.  Spain put on its finest off-shore fog about 10 miles out.  We should have taken this as a sign of things to come but sailed on happily (ignorant) into an anchorage in Cadiz Bay near Puerto Sherry.  An energetic Sunday crowd cleared not long after we anchored, leaving us to swim peacefully in warm bay waters. The Atlantic is still quite cold for this time of year. 

Time to explore Cadiz on the way back!  Next stop Barbate, or so we thought!  Poor WJ3 bounced into the wind all the way out of the bay, dodging hazards aplenty round the famous Castillo de San Sebastian.  Now is the time folks, to re-read your stories of the famous Admiral Lord Nelson!  We are most certainly in his famous battlegrounds. 

Spanish Sunset

Grumpy wind gods seemed to follow us south along the coast until at last, our Cap’n could set a decent sail.  And so it was for some several hours.  We were lulled into a false sense of hope and as we neared Barbate decided to join a couple of other yachts who were clearly making a run through the Gibraltar Straits.   Bye bye Barbate…

Somehow we missed the bit in the Pilot that said Tarifa has 30-40kt winds 300 days of the year.  We could see a clear wind line ahead in the distance toward Tarifa.  Not only that, it was blowing east and the tide was running west.  Sigh!  We’re in for a rough ride.  No turning back!  We closed in to Tarifa’s point, still hurtling along at 7kts, and then were dragged on 2½kts more of current, through into the MED!!  Yessssss! 

Trying to find a Rock in a fog....

No sooner had we turned the corner than the winds eased, leaving us to admire a boiling, bubbling, swelling waterway.  Of course, as winds eased and the sun set, a nice fog settled in.  We strained to keep sight of freighters, ferries, and large fishing boats as we picked our way to a northern anchorage in Gibraltar Bay. 


 

The usual recriminations of course – don’t sleep late; make a plan; don’t sail into an unknown port at night…blah blah blah!  Still, we made it.  And as we set anchor, a well-lit Rock face revealed itself, just a little, just enough.  We were so excited!     

Here it is!  WJ3's cleared in at Marina Bay

From: Lagos, Portugal   Lat/Long: 37:06.3950N  08:40.2380W   Date/Time: 18/07/12: 1155
To: Gibraltar  Lat/Long: 36:08.2089630N  05:31.2270W   Date/Time: 24/07/12: 1245

Time Taken: 211.5nm (34hrs)  Distance (this year): 221nm (34hrs)

Distance Total (since 2008): 10448.5nm   Weather: Wind around the dial, up to 28kts at Tarifa.    

Fastest Speed: Riding the torrent through the Straits of Gibraltar 7.5kts SOG 9.5kts

(Blogger seems to hate tables.  WJ3’s Log format has been changed so as not to upset the vagaries of html.)